The reason for his non-appearance was his mental illness.
The defendant's lawyer, Kresimir Vilajtovic, told the Karlovac County Court that his client was admitted to the Jankomir psychiatric hospital in Zagreb last Friday "due to the permanent change of his personality after the disastrous events, and a consequent reactive psychosis". The lawyer also presented the court with the medical documentation.
The lawyer said he had visited Hrastov in the hospital over the weekend but that his client was not able to communicate.
After the Croatian Supreme Court twice quashed lower courts' decisions to acquit Hrastov, the third trial started in September last year.
Hrastov, who was a member of the Karlovac special police forces during the Homeland Defence War, is accused of having shot at disarmed enemy soldiers at a bridge over the river of Korana near Karlovac, 50 kilometres south of Zagreb, in 1991. In the shooting, 13 enemy soldiers were killed and one survived.