SPLIT COURT CAN'T ISSUE WARRANT WHILE JUDGE LOZINA ON LEAVE

SPLIT, August 2 (Hina) - President of Split County Court Igor Benzon on Friday said that only Judge Slavko Lozina who was presiding over the Lora trial could issue a warrant for two of the accused who still had not been taken into custody. The problem however, is that Judge Lozina is on leave. #L# The problem is that Judge Lozina is on leave and all our efforts to contact him have been without success while a police warrant for Miljenko Bajic and Josip Bikic can only be issued by the president of the court council (panel of judges) and that is Slavko Lozina, Benzon said. He reported that police were not certain they could find Bajic or Bikic as the police believe they are on the run and so the police expected a court warrant for their arrest. Benzon added that the police had been to Bajic's home several times and that members of his family said he had gone on summer vacation. In Bikic's apartment in Split the police found his brother who said that Bikic was in Imotski and would return. Benzon confirmed that the Split-Dalmatia county police received a report on the detention of five of the seven accused for war crimes in the Lora military prison in 1992 who were released on bail by Judge Lozina ten days ago. The supreme court confirmed an appeal by the prosecution and revoked that decision. Benzon reported that Judge Lozina had forwarded subpoenas to fourteen witnesses from Yugoslavia for them to appear in court on September 19, 20 and 21 to testify about the events in Lora in 1992. The witnesses were prisoners in the jail at the time. (hina) sp ms