PANEL OF JUDGES TO RULE IF TO ACCEPT AUDIO TAPE AS EVIDENCE

RIJEKA, Sept 5 (Hina) - The Rijeka County Court panel of judges, presided by Judge Ika Saric, announced on Thursday that it would make a decision whether to accept as evidence the audio testimony of Ivan Dasovic, the police chief in Gospic in 1991, which was listened to at today's main hearing in the war crimes trial of the so-called Gospic group. #L# If that audio recording remains as evidence in the trial, the attorney for one of the defendants, Tihomir Oreskovic, has announced an appeal to the Supreme Court. The defence of the accused Ivica Rozic and Mirko Norac also asked that the recording be excluded because they claimed the authenticity of the recording had not been proven. The recording, made in 1991, is of Dasovic making a statement to the then Assistant Interior Minister, Smiljan Reljic, about crimes committed in Gospic. Dasovic talks in detail about the so-called death meeting, attended by the most important people in Gospic at the time, at which it was decided to execute civilians at the Pazariste location. Dasovic claims in the recording that defendant Norac said on that occasion that certain people had to be executed and that this was a decision by the Croatian government. Dasovic also says that Norac personally killed a youth during the execution. Dasovic says that the accused Oreskovic, with the help of 50 military police, had taken over control of Gospic and that nothing could be done without his knowledge. Dasovic also mentions mass abductions of civilians from their homes. Smiljan Reljic can also be heard on the recording saying that the entire matter had to be kept confidential. The audio tape was delivered from the Counter-Intelligence Agency after the state secret seal was removed from it last week. (hina) sp/ha sb