Mirko Norac was born on 19 September 1967 and is a former Croatian general of the Croatian Army, and a convicted war criminal.
20 Facts About Mirko Norac
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Mirko Norac was the first Croatian Army general to be found guilty of war crimes by a Croatian court, in 2003, after his case was transferred from The Hague to Zagreb.
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Mirko Norac was born in the village of Otok, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, now part of the Republic of Croatia.
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In September 1991 Norac left the police force and moved to Gospic, where he took part in the assault against local Serbs and Yugoslav People's Army units.
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In mid-September 1991 Mirko Norac was appointed commander of the 118th Brigade of the Croatian Army.
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Mirko Norac became the youngest colonel of the Croatian Army, and was appointed commander of the 118th Brigade of the Croatian Army.
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In November 1992 Mirko Norac was named the commander of the 6th Guards Brigade which was renamed to the 9th Guards Motorised Brigade.
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Mirko Norac disobeyed his order and responded back to Croatian president that: "the only general whom he knows is Vjekoslav Maks Luburic".
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Mirko Norac took part in Operation Maslenica in early 1993.
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Mirko Norac went on to command Operation Medak Pocket, during which time war crimes against the local ethnic Serb population were committed.
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On 15 March 1996, Mirko Norac was appointed commander of the Knin Corps District.
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Mirko Norac reportedly attended the meeting, among a group of masked and unmasked soldiers and civil policemen, which later raided houses in Gospic and took custody of ethnic Serb civilians, informing them that they were to be interrogated.
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Mirko Norac organised and directed the executions of the civilians in a desolate area near the town, executing one woman himself.
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On 8 February 2001, an arrest warrant for Mirko Norac was issued by the Ministry of Interior.
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Mirko Norac was allowed to do so but used the opportunity to escape.
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On 24 March 2003, Mirko Norac was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
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Mirko Norac served his sentence in Glina, where he was allowed, on at least one occasion, to go home for a weekend to visit family in Sinj.
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Mirko Norac was released on probation in November 2011, after serving no more than eight years.
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On 8 July 2004, Mirko Norac was transferred to an ICTY courtroom in The Hague where he pleaded not guilty to all five charges brought against him.
20.
The Croatian state attorney's office launched a case on 17 December 2013 to force Mirko Norac to pay 111,000 euros, the amount awarded in damages to relatives of victims in two separate wartime incidents.