Police knocked on the doors of all eight defendants at 5 pm, but not all were home, the sources said. Some family members and defence counsel have confirmed the arrest reports.
According to unofficial information, the arrests were made on the basis of a Supreme Court ruling of September 29 granting the request by the Split County Prosecutor's Office to set detention for the eight men. The arrests followed today's reports that they will be retried before a panel of judges for war crimes.
Split County Court spokeswoman Marica Scepanovic declined to confirm the arrest reports, saying a press briefing would be held on Tuesday.
Davor Banic's counsel Vinko Ljubicic said his client was not arrested because he was not at home. He added he was in possession of reliable information that three defendants -- Tonci Vrkic, Ante Gudic and Andjelko Botic -- were arrested today. According to unconfirmed reports, Emilio Bungur and another defendant were also arrested today.
The other accused are Tomislav Duic, Miljenko Bajic and Josip Bikic. All are accused of war crimes committed against Serb civilians at Split's Lora military prison in 1993.
Duic has been at large since the start of the Lora trial, while Bajic and Bikic have been on the run since the Supreme Court quashed a ruling which acquitted all defendants after the original trial before the Split County Court in 2002.
The Supreme Court quashed the acquittal in late August this year and requested a retrial before a new panel of judges. The Split County Prosecutor's Office then requested that the accused be placed under arrest, but the Split County Court rejected the request claiming it was entirely unfounded. The Prosecutor's Office lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court, which seems to have okayed it, although this remains unconfirmed. The start of the retrial has not been set.