RIJEKA, Jan 6 (Hina) - The final stage of the main hearing in the trial of the so-called Gospic Group, accused of war crimes against civilians in the Gospic area in autumn 1991, will commence on Tuesday after a month-long
break.
RIJEKA, Jan 6 (Hina) - The final stage of the main hearing in the
trial of the so-called Gospic Group, accused of war crimes against
civilians in the Gospic area in autumn 1991, will commence on
Tuesday after a month-long break. #L#
So far, about 150 witnesses of the defence and prosecution have
taken the witness stand at the Rijeka County Court before the trial
chamber led by Judge Ika Saric. The main hearing started in early
February 2002.
In the continuation of the process the defendants -- Tihomir
Oreskovic, Ivica Rozic, Mirko Norac, Stjepan Grandic and Milan
Canic -- are expected to address the court to defend themselves.
After that defence teams and the prosecution will give their
closing arguments, and the trial chamber should made a ruling.
During the break over the Christmas and New Year holidays, experts
at the Zagreb-based crime-investigation institute examined a tape
at which the then Gospic police chief, Ivan Dasovic, informed
Deputy Interior Minister Smiljan Reljic about the events in the
autumn of 1991.
The Counter-Intelligence Agency (POA), which provided the tape,
asserted that the voice on it was Dasovic's while he, as a witness,
told the trial chamber that he could not confirm whether it was his
voice. The tape can serve as incriminating evidence, given that the
interlocutors whose conversation was taped accused Tihomir
Oreskovic and Mirko Norac of masterminding and conducting a plan
envisaging the of killing civilians in Gospic.
The results of the evaluation will be presented in the continuation
of the trial.
All the defendants, except Milan Canic who has been released, will
wait for the verdict in custody.
(hina) ms