1992 European Community Monitor Mission helicopter downing

1992 European Community Monitor Mission helicopter downing
Part of the Croatian War of Independence
Podrute Kaposvár Varaždin Zagreb Novi Marof Željava Air Base The map of Croatia in January 1992. Serb/JNA-held territories are highlighted in red.
Type	Aircraft shootdown
Location	near Podrute, Croatia 46°10′21″N 16°13′50″E / 46.17250°N 16.23056°E / 46.17250; 16.23056
Objective	ECMM helicopters
Date	7 January 1992
Executed by	Yugoslav Air Force
Casualties	5 European Community observers killed

The 1992 European Community Monitor Mission helicopter downing was an incident that occurred on 7 January 1992, during the Croatian War of Independence, in which a European Community Monitor Mission (ECMM) helicopter carrying five European Community (EC) observers was downed by a Yugoslav Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, in the airspace above the village of Podrute, near Novi Marof, Croatia. An Italian and a French officer and three Italian non-commissioned officers were killed. Another ECMM helicopter flying in formation with the attacked helicopter made an emergency landing. The second helicopter carried a crew and a visiting diplomat, all of whom survived. The incident was condemned by the United Nations Security Council and the EC. As a result of the incident, the Yugoslav authorities suspended the head of the air force, and the Yugoslav defense minister, General Veljko Kadijević, resigned his post. The events followed the end of the first stage of the war in Croatia and closely preceded the country's international recognition.

The MiG-21 pilot, Lieutenant Emir Šišić, disappeared after the incident. He was tried in absentia together with his superiors by Croatian authorities, convicted, and sentenced to extended imprisonment. Šišić was subsequently arrested in Hungary in 2001 and extradited to Italy, where he was tried, convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 2006, he was turned over to Serbia for the remainder of the sentence, but was released in 2008. Two other Yugoslav officers were tried in absentia in Italy and convicted in 2013, while Serbia was ordered to pay monetary damages to the victims' families. The victims were posthumously decorated by Italy and France.