ZAGREB, April 28 (Hina) - The trial of two former police officers Stanislav Gavron and Ivan Hubelic, accused of murdering Serb civilian Nikola Drobnjak on the bank of the Sava river near Sisak on 5 April 1992, resumed before the Sisak
County Court on Wednesday.
ZAGREB, April 28 (Hina) - The trial of two former police officers
Stanislav Gavron and Ivan Hubelic, accused of murdering Serb civilian
Nikola Drobnjak on the bank of the Sava river near Sisak on 5 April
1992, resumed before the Sisak County Court on Wednesday.#L#
Witness Zoran Matijas said that the civilian had been killed by three
bullets fired by one of two men in camouflage uniforms who were at the
scene of the crime.
Matijas, who at the time was the commander of the first company of the
second battalion of the 148th brigade of the Croatian Army, told an
investigating judge before the trial that the victim had been killed
by four bullets fired by two men who had been at the scene of the
crime.
Asked by the panel of judges presided by Judge Ljubica Balder, why the
statement he gave today in court differed from that given in pre-trial
proceedings, Matijas said that "the investigating judge was in a hurry
and he (Matijas) was not correctly interpreted".
He also said today that he could not recognise the person who killed
the civilian.
"For me they were people with no face. I watched the event, not their
faces," Matijas said.
During his extensive testimony, Matijas said that after he had
received the summons to testify, some people showed interest in the
event.
After Judge Balder insisted that he reveal the identity of those
persons, Matijas said that the commander of the 148th brigade,
Tomislav Jantol, had asked to talk with him.
According to today's testimony, at the first meeting Jantol told
Matijas that as soon as he was informed of the incident Jantol
reported it to the Military Police Commander Mate Lausic and
transferred the soldiers who had witnessed the murder to Military
Police headquarters in Zagreb for their personal safety.
"At the second meeting Jantol asked me what I said in the
investigative proceedings," the witness said.
"Jantol did not suggest what I should say before the investigating
judge or in court," Matijas said.
He added that Lieutenant Veljko Vicevic tried to persuade him to tell
the court that he could not remember anything relevant for the case
and that he should think about himself and his own family.
Since his meeting with Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic on 1 July
2003, the witness has been under police protection.
The next hearing is scheduled for 19 May.
(Hina) ms