Novska

Novska
Town
Novska railway station
Novska Location of Novska in Croatia
Coordinates: 45°20′N 16°59′E / 45.333°N 16.983°E / 45.333; 16.983
Country	Croatia
County	Sisak-Moslavina
Government
• Mayor	Vlado Klasan (HSLS)
Population (2011)
• Total	13,518 (municipality)
Time zone	Central European Time (UTC+1)

Novska is a town in the Sisak-Moslavina County of Croatia. It is located in western part of the historic region of Slavonia, between Kutina and Nova Gradiška, 94 km (58 mi) linear distance southeast of the capital, Zagreb.

Novska has a total population of 13,518 in the following settlements:

In the 2011 census, 91.64% (12,388) of the population were Croats and 4.74% (641) were Serbs. In 1991 in the town lived 24,696 inhabitants, Croats 16,556 (67,03%), Serbs 5,402 (21.87%), Yugoslavs 675 (2.73%), others 2,063 (8.35%).

Before 1881, Novska was part of the Austrian monarchy (Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia after the compromise of 1867), in the Slavonian Military Frontier, Gradiskaner Regiment N°VIII. Between 1881 and 1918, in the Požega County of the Kingdom. Stari Grabovac was site of a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.

According to the website of the Civic Committee for Human Rights–Centre for Dealing with the Past Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights-Osijek (MONITORING WAR CRIME TRIALS REPORT FOR JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2012), Željko Belina, Dejan Milić, Ivan Grgić, and Zdravko Plesec, former members of the Croatian Army, were charged with committing war crimes during the Yugoslav wars against local Novska Serb civilians, i.e. torturing and killing Vera Mileusnić and her daughter Goranka, and a neighbour, Blazenka Slabak, in December 1991. Petar Mileusnić, Vera's husband and Goranka's father, was shot, but survived his injuries. Ultimately the charges were vacated and the defendants initially exonerated by the Croatian judiciary under that country's Amnesty law.