RIJEKA, Sept 4 (Hina) - A commander of the 133rd brigade from Otocac in 1991 now a colonel, Drago Bilovic, testified on Wednesday before the panel of judges of the Rijeka County Court presided by Judge Ika Saric at the trial of the
so-called Gospic Group.
RIJEKA, Sept 4 (Hina) - A commander of the 133rd brigade from Otocac
in 1991 now a colonel, Drago Bilovic, testified on Wednesday before
the panel of judges of the Rijeka County Court presided by Judge Ika
Saric at the trial of the so-called Gospic Group. #L#
Bilovic made his testimony for the defence of the third accused
Mirko Norac whom he described as having the charisma of a good
commander and confirmed that Norac personally took part in all
actions and decision making relating to the 118th brigade.
Bilovic said that the unit from Perusic at the time was part of the
118th brigade which Norac has denied in the main hearing until now.
The commander of the Perusic battalion was the accused Stjepan
Grandic who, according to the charges, is accused of having
detained civilians in the Perusic barracks and organised the
killing of at least 24 civilians on Lipova Glavica.
Stipe Hecimovic, a policeman from Karlobag, was also to testify.
Hecimovic is believed to have gone, together with another three
uniformed persons, in 1991 to the flats of three Serb nationals in
Karlobag. The bodies of the three Serbs were later found on Mt.
Velebit. Ivica Rozic, one of the accused in the Gospic Group, is
charged with this incident and abduction.
Hecimovic presented Judge Saric with medical documents which
showed that he suffers from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder),
that is, emphasised depression, a sensitive frustration to
situations and that he suffers from temporary losses of memory.
The panel of judges decided that Hecimovic should not testify until
a psychiatric inspection is not conducted to ascertain if he is fit
to testify.
The trial will continue on Thursday.
(hina) sp sb