Investigating judge Zdenko Posavec refused to discontinue the investigation as requested by Glavas's lawyer Ante Madunic, who filed the request when Glavas's health deteriorated last night after he had been on a hunger strike for 35 days.
Although this morning he said that doctors at the prison hospital did not let Glavas attend today's questioning of witnesses at the County Court, this afternoon Madunic said that Glavas had actually accepted the recommendation by prison doctors not to attend the hearing.
"Glavas is still on a hunger strike, but his condition is getting worse and is in a critical stage because he could fall into a coma any moment," Madunic said.
Court sources, however, said that a special team of doctors, set up at the request of the investigating judge, had established that Glavas was fit to attend and participate in the investigation. Based on the doctors' opinion, Judge Posavec decided to turn down the motion to suspend the investigation.
Madunic did not attend today's hearing and questioning of six witnesses.
The witnesses were three former members of the Osijek Secretariat for National Defence and three reporters with the Osijek-based daily "Glas Slavonije" who authored a monograph on the 160th Osijek Brigade and a book including an interview with Glavas.
The investigation is due to continue on Monday with the testimony of Ivan Vekic, who was Croatian Interior Minister from August 1991 to April 1992.
The Glavas case is soon expected to be discussed by the Constitutional Court because Glavas's defence counsel filed a constitutional complaint on Thursday.
In the investigation before the Zagreb County Court, Glavas is suspected in his capacity as head of the Osijek Secretariat for National Defence of having personally ordered the ill-treatment and murder of Serb civilians Cedomir Vuckovic and Djordje Petkovic and the torture of three other Serb civilians from Osijek in 1991.
A parliamentary deputy of the Party of Rights (HSP), Pero Kovacevic, today urged the parliament to withdraw its consent for decisions approving Glavas's detention on grounds of the gravity of the crimes he is charged with, in light of his deteriorated condition. Sabor Speaker Vladimir Seks responded that the decisions were final and that the parliament could not change them.