Supreme Court Overturns Draza Mihailovich Verdict in 2015

On Thursday, May 14, 2015, the Supreme Court in Belgrade, Serbia overturned the 1946 Communist Stalinist Show Trial conviction of Yugoslav General Draza Mihailovich.

Judge Aleksandar Tresnjev stated that Draza Mihailovich's July 15, 1946 conviction was unsound and declared it "null and void". Judge Tresnjev told the court that the illegal trial was political and ideological in nature against an opponent of the totalitarian Communist dictatorship regime:

"Besides the fact he did not have a fair trial, the case against Mihailovich was politically motivated given the fact that representatives of the executive branch interfered not only in the conduct of the trial but also in the decisions taken."

Draza Mihailovich and the Chetnik guerrillas he commanded fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation troops, Communist Partisan guerrillas under Josip Broz Tito, and collaborationist forces.

In 1948, U.S. President Harry Truman posthumously awarded Mihailovich the Legion of Merit for his role in rescuing over 500 of U.S. airmen, known as The Forgotten 500, downed by the Nazis over Serbia. The award was kept secret until 1967.

The Legion of Merit award was presented to Draza Mihailovich's daughter Gordana Mihailovich in 2005 after it was approved by the U.S. Government through U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.