TRIAL IN "PAKRAC VALLEY" CASE POSTPONED

ZAGREB, Jan 28 (Hina) - A decision on the psychiatric evaluation of Munib Suljic, the first suspect in the "Pakrac Valley" case, for the second time postponed the trial before the Zagreb County Court against five suspects indicted for crimes against civilians in the Pakrac region at the start of the war in Croatia. President of the panel of judges, Rajka Tomerlin Almer sustained a move by the deputy state prosecutor, Ivan Plevko, who requested a psychiatric evaluation of Suljic to see if the indictee is capable of following and participating in the trial. Almer said the panel of judges had received medical documents three days ago, in which a Zagreb hospital psychiatrist, Vladimir Gruden, has stated that Suljic was under treatment and was not capable of following the trial. At Plevko's request, the evaluation will be carried out by the Vrapce psychiatric hospital's forensic centre. The defence requested that Gruden's opinion be taken into account. A retrial against the five indictees was called pursuant to a Supreme Court decision whereby a part of the verdict of first instance of May 1999, acquitting the indictees on two counts, was quashed. The five are known to the public as members of a reserve police unit which was under the command of Tomislav Mercep at the start of the Homeland Defence War. (hina) lml sb