Željko Šipka was born in 1954 in Novska. At the beginning of the war in the 1990s he was in Novska with his family. When the shelling of the town started, he went with his wife and children to stay with his wife's parents in Bjelovar. As he owned and managed a shop in Novska, even after moving to Bjelovar he continued to regularly work in Novska. At the beginning of 1992 his house was mined, after which he completely cut all ties with Novska. Whilst going to the police station in Kutina, regarding the change of registration plates on his car, he was arrested and taken to Zagreb: first to the prison in Remetinec, and later he was transferred to the Kerestinec camp having been accused of armed rebellion. Following six months of imprisonment, at the end of 1992 he was exchanged in Nemetin, where he declined the opportunity to go to Serbia and he returned to Croatia. During his detention he witnessed and was himself victim of abuse and human rights violations. He never received compensation, neither for the mining of his house nor for suffering endured. Today he lives in Bjelovar and he is unemployed.