SERB WAR CRIMES SUSPECTS IN OSIJEK PRISON GO ON HUNGER STRIKE

OSIJEK, June 5 (Hina) - Twenty Serbs, who have been held in detention in the Osijek District Prison for several months facing war crimes charges, started a hunger strike on Monday. In a written statement sent to the Croatian media today, the inmates said the reason for the strike was "court discrimination against Serbs, long trials, secret indictments and the failure to respect the Erdut Agreement and other agreements which the Croatian government has pledged to respect." The strike, they said, will continue until they are allowed to meet representatives of Croatia's authorities, the international community and Serb institutions and discuss their problems with them. The Joint Council of (Serb-dominated) Municipalities (ZVO) today issued a statement, signed by ZVO president Milos Vojnovic. The statement reads that in the light of "repeated arrests and cases of imprisonment and protracted trials, it is high time this problem is returned to the sphere of agreements signed during the UNTAES mandate and court cases involving war crimes are revised in an objective manner. In case there is lack of evidence or it is proved no war crimes have been committed, the trial should be discontinued, while other cases should be processed." (hina) sb rml