STATE PROSECUTORS REJECT OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT WITH 2 MEMBERS OF ZEC FAMILY

vi-Politika ZAGREB, April 16 (Hina) - The Office of the State Prosecutor has turned down a proposal for an out-of-court settlement with two survived members of the Zec family who have asked the Republic of Croatia to pay 2.16 million kuna in damages for the death of their father Mihajlo, mother Marija, and 12-year sister sister Aleksandra, who were murdered in Zagreb in 1991,#L# "All prerequisites for a settlement have not been met for now, because in the case of the murder of the three members of the Zec family there are some disputed facts which should be clarified and established by the court," Deputy State Prosecutor Jadranko Jug told Hina. This primarily refers to the motive of the killing and whether police reservists suspected of killing Mihajlo, Marija and Aleksandra Zec committed the crime while on duty. The suspects admitted to having perpetrated the crime during a preliminary investigation without the presence of their lawyers, but owing to this procedural omission they were never put on trial. Lawyer Ante Nobilo, who is the legal representative for the two survived members Gordana and Dusan, proposed an out-of-court settlement to the state. They have sued the Republic of Croatia for the death of their parents and sister, asking that each be paid 1.08 million kuna. The first hearing in the case is scheduled for 20 April before the Zagreb Municipal Court. Nobilo believes that an out-of-court settlement is possible and that there are no contentious issues which should be settled by the court. "It is beyond dispute that the members of the Zec family were killed by weapons that belonged to the reserve units of the Interior Ministry and that the mother and daughter were transported in a police car to the Adolfovac mountaineers' lodge on Mount Medvednica (overlooking Zagreb) in the vicinity of which their bodies were found," Nobilo said. The survived members of the Zec family now live in Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina. (Hina) ms