VUKOVAR VUKOVAR, Jan 9 (Hina) - The main hearing in the trial of eight Croatian Serbs from Borovo near Vukovar in eastern Croatia, accused of crimes against humanity and international law and war crimes against civilians committed
between 1 August and 13 September 1991 in Borovo, then called Borovo Selo, began at the Vukovar County Court on Friday.
VUKOVAR, Jan 9 (Hina) - The main hearing in the trial of eight Croatian
Serbs from Borovo near Vukovar in eastern Croatia, accused of crimes
against humanity and international law and war crimes against
civilians committed between 1 August and 13 September 1991 in Borovo,
then called Borovo Selo, began at the Vukovar County Court on Friday.#L#
Three accused who are at large are being tried in absentia.
The indictment states that as members of the police of the so-called
Serbian Autonomous District of Krajina and the Borovo territorial
defence, they ordered the killing, torture and inhumane treatment of
civilians, causing captives extensive suffering, bodily harm, sending
them to forced labour, robbing and unlawfully imprisoning them.
The five accused present pleaded not guilty today.
A witness who was held captive in Borovo, Zeljko Bek, said today that
he had been beaten but was unable to say if any of the accused had
beaten him. He said the first on the indictment, Jovan Curcic, had
been a "pivotal figure" in Borovo, which he added he had deduced from
Curcic's demeanour and attitude towards others.
The main hearing resumes on January 13, when five witnesses will be
called.
(Hina) ha sb