Newly-equipped DNA lab opened at Institute of Forensic Medicine and Criminology in Zagreb

ZAGREB, 14 May (Hina) – A newly-equipped DNA laboratory, in which the government invested HRK 5 million (€667,000), was formally opened at the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Criminology in Zagreb on Wednesday.

Veterans’ Minister Tomo Medved said that the new laboratory would help shed light on the fate of missing persons from the 1991-1995 Homeland War.

“By putting this new laboratory in operation, we are sending a strong message to families who have been waiting so long for information on their loved ones that this is a strong step in that regard,” Medved said at the opening ceremony. 

Medved said that the genotype was not determined in more than 15% of unidentified mortal remains.

“We are confident that we will increase the likelihood of identification where victims do not have enough blood relatives or do not have close blood relatives,” the minister said.

Medved said that the government and his ministry, in close cooperation with the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Forensic Medicine, would do all in their power to help victims’ families find out the truth and find their peace of mind.

Medved said that Croatia was still looking for 1,866 persons unaccounted for since the war, of whom 399 are known to have been killed but their place of burial is not known.