WITNESS IN GOSPIC WAR CRIMES TRIAL SPEAKS OF KILLINGS OF CIVILIANS

RIJEKA, March 29 (Hina) - A witness in the war crimes trial against the so-called Gospic Group at the Rijeka county court said on Friday he was in a firing squad which, the indictment says, killed around 20 civilians in the Gospic area in 1991. #L# Stjepan Radosevic told the court that one of the indictees, Stjepan Grandic, had ordered him and another four soldiers to board a bus, in which there were eight masked persons, at the barracks in Perusic. The witness said he did not know where they were going, that he felt uneasy and afraid of the masked persons. "When the bus stopped, I noticed around 15 civilians, men and women, in a lorry which was driving ahead of us the whole time. They were lined up in a field and the four soldiers and I in front of them. Somebody behind them, from the direction of the group of masked soldiers, where Stjepan Grandic was standing, ordered to shoot. Shots were heard and the civilians fell," the witness said. Radosevic added he did not shoot as he had used all of his ammunition previously on the front. Upon returning to the bus he heard barrage fire from the direction of the field. He, the four soldiers and the masked men then returned to the barracks in Perusic. The witness said he did not speak to anyone about the event or ask who the victims were, but added that no one had prohibited him from doing so. Another witness, Velibor Solaja, spoke about civilians imprisoned at the Perusic barracks. He said he had seen them but did not know who or how many they were. He confirmed having heard that Grandic had let a woman go for money. Ivanka Tomicic, whose husband was abducted and is still missing, also testified. She said she spoke to her husband every day through Oct. 16, 1991. She has not heard from him since. Her husband was a Croat, she said. The trial resumes on April 2. (hina) ha