RIJEKA, Oct 16 (Hina) - The main hearing in the trial of the so-called Gospic Group before the County Court in Rijeka was adjourned due to the health problems of the prime suspect, Tihomir Oreskovic, during the testimony of witness
Drazen Jurkovic, who was the head of the Gospic crisis committee in 1991.
RIJEKA, Oct 16 (Hina) - The main hearing in the trial of the so-
called Gospic Group before the County Court in Rijeka was adjourned
due to the health problems of the prime suspect, Tihomir Oreskovic,
during the testimony of witness Drazen Jurkovic, who was the head of
the Gospic crisis committee in 1991. #L#
During a break, indictee Oreskovic complained about exhaustion
caused by a cold. A doctor of the prison infirmary asserted that
Oreskovic was unable to follow the continuation of the hearing.
Witness Jurkovic described the hierarchy in decision-making at the
beginning of the war in the town of Gospic.
He said the crisis committee for Lika (the entire area) was at the
top of this chain, and that its head, Ante Karic, made all the
important decisions. When he was absent, the committee's secretary
at the time, Tihomir Oreskovic, was in charge.
Jurkovic said he did not want to speculate about who had actually
been at the helm of the military police in Gospic at the time. He
testified that he knew nothing about abductions of civilians from
Gospic or their executions, adding that he was informed about most
of it at the beginning of an investigation into the case.
Jurkovic will subsequently be called to continue testifying.
Earlier in the day, another witness, Petar Barac, gave his
testimony. Barac's brother and mother were abducted from Gospic in
October 1991. It has been established that his brother was killed at
Lipova Glavica, while the body of his mother has not yet been
identified.
Barac said he had been in Zagreb at the time and talked with his
brother on the phone every day until 15 October. After that he tried
everywhere to get any information on what had happened with his
brother and mother. He first heard that they had been arrested, and
only in January 1992 that they had been killed.
The witness added that he immediately informed Milan Djukic and
Ivan Zvonimir Cicak of this case, and that Zdravko Tomac, whom
members of the families of abducted people asked to help, knew about
it as well.
On Thursday, a forensic expert and the head of the military hospital
in Belgrade, Zoran Stankovic, is to take the witness stand. In
December 1991, he carried out autopsies on 24 killed Serb
civilians, found by Serb paramilitaries at Lipova Glavica.
(hina) ms sb