GOSPIC GROUP WAR CRIMES TRIAL CONTINUES

RIJEKA Aug 19 (Hina) - One of the accused in the so-called Gospic group war crimes trial, Stjepan Grandic, on Monday claimed that Mirko Norac was responsible for the killing of civilians on Lipova glavica near Gospic. #L# Grandic said this in reaction to a question Mirko Norac put to witness Branko Skara. Grandic said that "as a hero and general, I would be ashamed to ask such questions knowing that I was responsible for everything, i.e. for Lipova glavica." Norac asked the witness about the structure of military units engaged in the defence of Gospic during the autumn of 1991. He also asked who ordered the execution of certain war operations. In response to Norac's question, the witness claimed that the 118th brigade from Perusic failed to support forces during the seizing of Licki Osik, and that the brigade was commanded by Stjepan Grandic. Grandic noted that he accepted responsibility for the failure of the Perusic battalion in taking over Licki Osik, noting that the unit was incapable of that task because their men knew that they were facing sure death. According to the charges, in October 1991 Grandic, under orders given by Norac, detained 24 civilians in the Perusic barracks and organised their execution on Lipova glavica. In his testimony, Branko Skara said that in 1991 he was an ordinary soldier in Gospic and so was Norac. That same year the 117th or the 118th brigades of the Croatian Army did not exist in Gospic. Skara said that he only later learned about the abduction of civilians, through the media. The president of the trial chamber, Judge Ika Saric, presented Skara with two documents dated October and November 1991 which he signed as deputy brigade commander, as well as a document by which, based on a decision from the Operative Zone in Karlovac, Norac appointed Skara as brigade co-ordinator for operational tasks responsible for co-operation with the brigade command and the Perusic battalion. Skara said that he could not remember this, while Norac confirmed the authenticity of the documents. Skara came to Gospic in 1991, together with Norac, from the special police forces from Lucko. Another witness testified at the trial today. Danilo Grbic, a resident from Debelo Brdo, said he was present when the bodies of the civilians killed on Lipova glavica were brought in. He said that he saw a stab wound to the chest on one of the bodies, and that Yugoslav Army soldiers who transported the bodies told him that those killed had been massacred. He said that after the bodies had been identified they were buried in the cemetery in Debelo Brdo. The trial will continue on Tuesday. (hina) sp/ha sb