ZAGREB, Jan 12 (Hina) - Parliamentary deputy Vojislav Stanimirovic, who is also the leader of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), on Monday testified at the Vukovar County Court at the trial of 17 people accused of war
crimes committed in the eastern village of Lovas in the autumn of 1991. Stanimirovic dismissed as false a statement by one of the witnesses who said that Stanimirovic was present when some residents of Lovas were singled out and ordered into a minefield.
ZAGREB, Jan 12 (Hina) - Parliamentary deputy Vojislav Stanimirovic, who
is also the leader of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), on
Monday testified at the Vukovar County Court at the trial of 17 people
accused of war crimes committed in the eastern village of Lovas in the
autumn of 1991. Stanimirovic dismissed as false a statement by one of
the witnesses who said that Stanimirovic was present when some
residents of Lovas were singled out and ordered into a minefield.#L#
Sixty-nine persons were killed in the Serb attack on Lovas, of whom 24
were killed in a minefield. Today's hearing was attended only by
defendant Ilija Vorkapic, while other indictees are on the run and are
being tried in absence.
Last week, Stanimirovic requested that his testimony not be recorded
with TV cameras, but his request was turned down.
Judge Ante Zeljko read at the start of the hearing a statement by
witness Stjepan Peulic from Lovas which reads that "the name of
Vojislav Stanimirovic was mentioned among the names of people who were
standing by the principal indictee Ljuban Devetak on 18 October 1991
when residents of Lovas were singled out to be taken into a minefield
".
"This is a fabrication and untruth," Stanimirovic said, adding that he
had twice visited Lovas in 1991 as "a reserve medical officer of the
JNA (Yugoslav People's Army) in charge of organising medical services
in the areas of western Srijem which the army previously entered".
Asked by county prosecutor Biserka Trenerski what he was wearing at
the time, Stanimirovic said he wore "an olive-green uniform with Red
Cross insignia on the sleeves and a cap with a red star" and also
carried a pistol.
Speaking about the circumstances under which he was mobilised by the
former JNA, Stanimirovic said that he was returning home from holidays
when he was "arrested by Vukovar police on 25 July 1991." He was
released the same evening at the intervention of "a Croat", and "one
of the policemen whose last name was Rados told me they could not
vouch for my safety in Vukovar". With a pass of the National Defence
office "where Tomislav Mercep worked", he left Vukovar for Sid, a
neighbouring town in Serbia, where he was mobilised by the former JNA
in mid-September.
The trial will resume on January 27 when more witnesses will be called
to testify.
(Hina) rml sb