INVESTIGATION INTO 'LORA CASE' STARTS - SUSPECTS IN DETENTION

SPLIT, Sept 29 (Hina) - A Split County Court investigating judge on Saturday started an investigation into events which took place at a former military prison at the Lora naval port in Split in 1992 and later and set detention to seven of eight suspects, while an arrest warrant was issued after former Lora military prison warden Tomo Duic, who is at large. Tonci Vrkic, Davor Banic, Ivan Bikic, Miljenko Bajic, Emilio Bungur, Ante Gudic and Andjelko Botic will be in detention up to six month. By then, the investigation most be completed and a trial must start. The eight former military police officers are suspected of killing Serb civilians Nenad Knezevic and Gojko Bulovic, as well as two prisoners of war. The Military Police and the Split-Dalmatia County police jointly pressed charges against the eight on founded suspicion that they committed crimes against humanity and international law and crimes against civilians. Yugoslav judicial bodies were asked to participate in the preliminary investigation of the crimes against Serb prisoners at the Lora penitentiary. The Helsinki Watch data on Lora prison claims five people were murdered there during the 1992-1997 period, while a Dalmatian Committee for Human Rights member, Tonci Majic, claims that apart from the prisoners of war, around ten Split Serbs were murdered there, while hundreds had been tortured. (hina) it