TRIAL FOR WAR CRIMES AGAINST ALBANIAN CIVILIANS BEGINS IN BELGRADE

BELGRADE, Oct 9 (Hina) - The trial of two members of the Serb Interior Ministry special anti-terrorist units' reserves, charged with the killing of Albanian civilians in Podujevo on 28 March 1999, began at the Prokuplje district court on Wednesday. #L# An investigation against Sasa Cvjetan, 27, and Dejan Demirovic, 27, who is at large, began in May 1999. They were put on trial and acquitted immediately after NATO's air strikes on Yugoslavia. Last April the district prosecutor's office in Prokuplje filed a new indictment, this time for war crimes against "more civilians". The indictment mentioned four identified persons, even though 19 were mentioned in public, including women and children. According to Belgrade-based "Danas" daily, the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague submitted to the Prokuplje court documentation and autopsy findings for 11 victims. Allegedly, there is also a girl who survived the attack on the Podujevo civilians. She was treated and lives abroad. Nine witnesses will be interrogated over the first three days of the trial, mainly members of the Serb Interior Ministry's special anti- terrorist units who were in Podujevo with the accused on the day of the crime. Retired investigating judge Mijat Bajovic, who led an on-the-spot probe in 1999, will also testify. (hina) ha sb