In an interview for the Tanjug news agency, which was also published in Belgrade-based Politika daily, Stojkovic said that "trial before the domestic war crimes court for crimes committed at the Ovcara farm in November 1991, was a sort of a test on which the transfer of some ICTY cases to Serbian courts will depend".
"There is a possibility that a number of ICTY indictees be given to us and some have already been transferred," the Serbian Justice Minister said. He added that it was crucial to show that Serbia had good laws and judges for the processing of such cases.
The trial of 17 persons accused of war crimes against Croatian prisoners of war committed at Ovcara outside Vukovar, which resumed at Belgrade's special war crimes court on Tuesday, was still being held behind closed doors. The testifying of a protected witness should end this week. According to unofficial sources, the trial should resume late this month with a testimony of the second insider witness, after which witnesses from The Hague are expected to take the stand.
According to Belgrade radio B92, an insider witness, who began testifying on Tuesday, cited the names of the indictees, spoke in detail of events that had taken place in front of the Vukovar military barracks and at Ovcara, and of the execution of at least 192 Croatians captured by Serb paramilitary troops, supported by the then Yugoslav People's Army (JNA).
The witness repeated almost everything he had told investigators during the pre-trial investigation, and said he was sincerely shaken by and regretted all that had happened at Ovcara.
The trial started on 9 March 2004.