The two officers of the Croatian Navy from Split, 46-year-old M.B. and 42-year-old A.J., had to defend themselves in a criminal case at the Split Municipal Court. Judge Marina Pavić delivered a verdict of acquittal, which is currently not yet final, while the prosecution has the right to appeal.
The Criminal Department of the Split Police handed over a criminal complaint against the two men in June 2022. The senior captain, as commander, and his deputy, four years his junior, a lieutenant, were charged with having, in February 2019, jointly and in collusion failed to enter into the ship's log the details of an incident involving a mine countermeasures vessel with which they were conducting a tactical exercise in the sea area to the south of the island of Šolje.
The crew of the vessel at one point felt the friction when the keel of the ship scraped against the sea floor. The deputy commander dived into the sea and inspected the bottom of the ship to determine if any damage had occurred to the vessel. The data on what happened and the damage sustained were to be entered into the ship's log in accordance with the rules, but this was not done.
The State Attorney's Office in Split requested that the court sentence them to six months' imprisonment suspended for two years. Under the Criminal Code, a penalty of between six months and five years is prescribed for an official or responsible person who enters false data into an official document, book or file, or who, by their signature, certifies such a document, book or file with false content, or who by their signature or official seal enables the creation of a document, book or file with false content.
The Split State Attorney's Office stated that the HRM commission had established that the damage to the ship was due solely to human error and negligence, as the ship had approached the islet of Radl in the Split channel without reason on that day. The prosecution argued that the captain of the corvette and the lieutenant commander had sought to cover up the incident, hence the failure to enter the damage, or indeed the fact that a dive had been made to inspect the damage, into the ship's log.
The representative of the commander, M. Jović, stated in his closing speech that the then commander of the HRM had stated in his testimony that the ship's log only recorded incidents in which the integrity of the ship was compromised or the crew was in danger, which had not occurred in this case. The hull of the ship was checked twice by professional divers who did not notice any damage to the vessel. Both members of the HRM stated that it was correct that the ship had scraped against the bottom and that the damage caused by this had been repaired.
The representative of the client, M. J., requested a verdict of acquittal for his client, as he had not previously been convicted and his service in the HRM had been impeccable up to that point. The commander of the vessel stated that this criminal proceeding had had a very negative effect on them over the past four years, as they had not been able to advance in their career to a higher rank as a result. The representative of the client, H. Bralić, in his closing speech, pointed out that the vessel was resistant to possible explosions and that it was not clear what influence the fact that the vessel had suffered a scrape would have on the condition of the vessel and the safety of the crew.
