RIJEKA, Sept 11 (Hina) - A defendant in the Rijeka County Court war crimes trial to the so-called Gospic Group, Ivica Rozic, was released from detention after two years on Wednesday.
RIJEKA, Sept 11 (Hina) - A defendant in the Rijeka County Court war
crimes trial to the so-called Gospic Group, Ivica Rozic, was
released from detention after two years on Wednesday. #L#
Rozic had to be set free because the duration of detention as
stipulated by law expired today. According to April 2002 amendments
to the Penal Code, some crimes may warrant detention of up to four
years, but not war crimes.
The deputy county state prosecutor in Rijeka, Doris Hrast, today
demanded extending an investigation in Gospic, unrelated to the
Rijeka trial, into whether Rozic was responsible for planting 13
explosive devices which caused the deaths of six persons in 1996-8.
Hrast also demanded that Rozic be remanded in custody.
Hrast said his demand was based on the September 1998 murder of a
woman of which he learned last week and which mentions Rozic as the
culprit. This crime could result in a prison sentence of up to 40
years, said Hrast.
The investigating judge in Gospic should decide on whether Rozic is
to be remanded in custody tomorrow.
Another defendant in the Gospic Group war crimes trial, Tihomir
Oreskovic, should also be released tomorrow, due to the expiry of a
two-year detention.
(hina) ha