The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) referred the Ademi-Norac case to Croatia in mid-September.
The Supreme Court said in a statement that court president Branko Hrvatin agreed that the case of the two generals be held before the County Court in Zagreb as the competent court.
Explaining his request, Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic said the case was extremely complicated and that the main hearing would be demanding due to great public interest. Bajic said special attention needed to be attached to security measures because there would be a large number of witnesses, of whom some coming from abroad. He said conditions needed to be created for representatives of the ICTY Prosecutor's Office and the OSCE to monitor the trial and that the Zagreb County Court was the most experienced in such cases.
Generals Ademi and Norac are indicted on two counts for crimes against humanity and three counts for violation of laws and customs of war allegedly committed against Serb civilians and their property during Operation Medak Pocket between 9 and 17 September 1993.
During the operation, Ademi was the commander of the Gospic military district and Norac commanded the 9th Motorised Guard Brigade. Both are charged on command and individual responsibility. They pleaded not guilty before the ICTY.
Ademi was provisionally released pending trial in 2002 and Norac is serving a 12-year prison sentence for crimes against Serb civilians in Gospic in 1991.