The investigation into war crimes against prisoners of war was to be finished last November but one of the witnesses in Croatia then had the road accident and is still in hospital in Knin.
Last year the Split County Court found five defendants, together with another three military policemen, guilty of war crimes against civilians in the Lora jail. They were given prison terms ranging from six to eight years for this first case of the Lora war crimes.
In another case of war crimes in Lora, the five suspects - Tomislav Duic, who used to be the commander of the Lora investigating centre, his deputy Tonci Vrkic and guards Emilio Bungur, Ante Gudic and Andjelko Botic are charged by the prosecution with war crimes against POWs. Vrkic, Gudic and Botic have been in custody since last September, and the other two suspects are still at large.
The charges include inhumane treatment of about 30 POWs which resulted in the death of three of them.
Apart from witnesses in Croatia who did not incriminate the five suspects in their testimonies, about 30 witnesses were interviewed in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina where they now live. Their testimonies in writing, given before courts in respective countries, abound in details corroborating allegations from the charges, Judge Cambi said on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court is expected to soon decide on the county court's ruling regarding the first case of Lora war crimes.