SUPREME COURT DISCUSSES APPEAL AGAINST "KORANA BRIDGE" ACQUITTAL

ZAGREB, March 9 (Hina) - The Croatian Supreme Court on Tuesday discussed an appeal filed by the prosecution against last year's court ruling that acquitted Mihajlo Hrastov of charges of war crime against prisoners of war, i.e. the execution of 13 Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) reservists on a bridge near Karlovac on September 21, 1991. The Supreme Court will pass a ruling at a later date.#L# The decision on whether the Karlovac County Prosecution's appeal will be accepted and a retrial ordered or the ruling of the court of first instance accepted will be made behind closed doors by a panel of judges of the Supreme Court presided by Judge Hajrija Novoselec. The ruling will be available to the public after it is forwarded in writing to the parties concerned. At the open part of the session, the panel of judges was acquainted with the most important facts regarding the trial and the appeals procedure by Judge Marijan Svedrovic. The prosecution was represented by Deputy State Prosecutor Slavko Zadnik. The session was also attended by an OSCE representative. The Karlovac County Court passed the acquitting verdict in the case in September 2003. However, this was not the first such ruling. The Karlovac-based court acquitted Hrastov in 1993 on the same charges, and the Supreme Court ordered a retrial in 1994 because some circumstances were unclear. The retrial started in 2000 and ended in an acquittal. The Karlovac County Prosecution appealed against the ruling claiming that the competent panel of judges, presided by Mladen Kosijer, had established facts wrongly. The panel decided that Hrastov acted in self-defence, accepting the claim of his defence. The indictment charges Hrastov with having killed with a machine-gun 13 unarmed JNA prisoners of war at a bridge on the Korana river in Karlovac on 21 September 1991. Hrastov was a member of Karlovac's special police forces at the time. (Hina) rml sb