The Court for the Protection of the National Honour of the Croats and the Serbs in Croatia – a retrospection of the prosecution of Mate Podrug, Dicmo

Autor je na temelju neobjavljene arhivske građe i malobrojne literature istražio i prikazao djelovanje Suda za zaštitu nacionalne časti Hrvata i Srba u Hrvatskoj s posebnim osvrtom na Srednjodalmatinski okrug, koji je imao sjedišta u okružnim Narodno-oslobodilačkim odborima. Sud je ustanovljen u travnju 1945. i djelovao do rujna te godine. U radu je autor djelovanje i donošenje odluka suda, koji je u navedenom razdoblju osudio najmanje 81 osobu na dugogodišnje zatvorske kazne uz gubitak svih prava i konfiskaciju imovine, prikazao na primjeru sudske presude Mate Podruga (pok. Ante) rođenog 13. veljače 1896. u Dicmu.After the end of the Second World War and the victory of the Partisan Movement, it was necessary to deal with the so-called national enemies, mostly wealthy citizens of the Federal Republic of Croatia, who were passive and/or neutral in the wartime, and who consequently – due to their political and civilian status – came under the attack of the Partisan authorities after the war. For the purpose of prosecuting them, the Court for the Protection of the National Honour of the Croats and the Serbs in Croatia was established on 24 April 1945 by the Decision of the Presidency of the National Antifascist Council of the National Liberation of Croatia. Courts had acted formally up to 8 September 1945 in the territory of the entire Federal Republic of Croatia / Yugoslavia. People who collaborated with the occupiers and their domestic helpers during occupation and the National Liberation War, thus having crippled the national honour, were put on trial and punished. This created yet another new type of offence – criminal offence against national honour, regarding the attitude and behaviour of citizens at the time of occupation. The Court for the Protection of the National Honour of the Croats and the Serbs in Croatia was entrusted with condemning the accused and enforcing expropriation and nationalization on the basis of court judgment, by which the rich Croats were deprived of their property that became state property; the sentenced citizens were mainly sentenced to long-term imprisonment, loss of civil rights, and confiscation of their entire private property. According to the official report of the Ministry of Justice, sent to the Prosecutor of the Federal Republic of Croatia, Jakov Blažević, in the short period from 24 April to 8 September 1945, a total of 1,083 persons were indicted before the said Court, and more than 926 persons were convicted in the Federal Republic of Croatia. In a series of unfounded and set-up trials, thew following conviction was made: citizen Mate (son of deceased Ante) Podrug of Dicmo was, on the grounds of his political abstinence, sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment, 25 years of civilian honour loss, and confiscation of his entire private property