BELGRADE, March 11 (Hina) - In the continuation of the trial of six persons accused of war crimes committed at the Ovcara farm outside the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar in late 1991, the Special War Crimes Court in Belgrade on
Thursday heard two defendants, Petar Madzarac and Milan Vojnovic.
BELGRADE, March 11 (Hina) - In the continuation of the trial of six
persons accused of war crimes committed at the Ovcara farm outside the
eastern Croatian town of Vukovar in late 1991, the Special War Crimes
Court in Belgrade on Thursday heard two defendants, Petar Madzarac and
Milan Vojnovic.#L#
Both accused denied the charges. Madzarac, 33, said he had not been at
Ovcara at the time, while Vojnovic, 56, said that he had gone to
Ovcara on November 19, 1991 to look for his daughter.
Judges rejected a motion for release from custody filed by the defence
counsel, arguing that the accused had to remain in custody because an
act of war crime with which they were charged carried a maximum prison
sentence of 40 years.
The court decided to seek legal assistance from the UN war crimes
tribunal in The Hague and the Croatian judiciary, asking for reports
on exhumations at Ovcara and Grabovo along with photographs and video
tapes, and reports on autopsies and the identification of the bodies.
The court said it would also ask the Croatian Justice Ministry to
provide any decisions by competent courts regarding the six accused
and all war crimes regulations that had been passed in Croatia in the
meantime.
The court adjourned until April 27 when the presentation of evidence
will begin. Before that, it will ask the Defence Ministry of Serbia
and Montenegro to release witnesses from the duty of keeping military
secrets.
(Hina) vm sb