RIJEKA COUNTY COURT RIJEKA, April 22 (Hina) - One of the witnesses in the trial of so-called "Gospic Group", indicted for war crimes against civilians in the Gospic area in 1991, spoke before the Rijeka County Court on Monday about
the responsibility of one of the indictees, Stjepan Grandic.
RIJEKA, April 22 (Hina) - One of the witnesses in the trial of so-
called "Gospic Group", indicted for war crimes against civilians in
the Gospic area in 1991, spoke before the Rijeka County Court on
Monday about the responsibility of one of the indictees, Stjepan
Grandic. #L#
Vlatko Markovic, a soldier who was present at the execution of
civilians at Lipova Glavica near Gospic, considers Grandic
responsible for the selection of soldiers who were returning from
the front lines for the execution, but not for everything that
happened at the execution site. Markovic confirmed that masked
persons participated in the execution as well, but that he did not
shoot.
Ivan Murgic, another soldier whom Markovic, he said, had chosen for
the task, said that upon his arrival at Lipova Glavica he saw up to
20 civilians and at least 15 masked persons. The soldiers and masked
persons were standing opposite the civilians, several people
shouted "fire", and all the present opened fire, Murgic said.
He added that he had shot towards the civilians, however, not at
them but at the ground. Murgic said that he had shot because he was
afraid that the masked people could later check who had fired and
who had not.
The trial resumes tomorrow.
(hina) rml sb