The four men are accused of events which occurred after September 29, 1991, when Croatian forces seized the former Yugoslav People's Army barracks "Bozidar Adzija" in Bjelovar and captured JNA members Radovan Barberic, Zdravko Dokman, Radovan Gredeljevic, Mirko Ostojic, Ivan Hojsak and Bosko Radonjic. They were all taken to the Bjelovar police station. A civilian named Savo Kovac was already in the police station, where he had been brought on September 2, 1991.
The first indictee, Luka Markesic, at the time assistant head of the operative affairs department at the Bjelovar police station, on October 3, 1991 told shift boss Tihomir Wagner that special police would come to take the prisoners and that he should give them the key to their room. Special police officers Radic, Maras and Orlovic came to take the prisoners in the night between October 3 and 4, took them to a woods near Malo Korenovo and killed them. Civilian Savo Kovac survived with grave injuries and it was his testimony on the basis of which the indictment against the four was issued.
About 30 witnesses will be heard during the trial in mid-January.
The four were acquitted by the Bjelovar County Court in December 2001, but the state prosecution appealed to the Supreme Court, which quashed the initial verdict and ordered a retrial before a different panel of judges. Since the Bjelovar County Court lacks enough judges prosecuting war crimes, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Varazdin County Court as the next competent court.