RETRIAL TO SIX ACCUSED OF KILLING 16 SERB CIVILIANS RESUMES

SIBENIK, Oct 29 (Hina) - The retrial to six former Croatian army members charged with the killing of 16 ethnic Serb civilians in Varivode and Gosici in August and September of 1995, resumed at the county court in Sibenik on Monday. The defendants are Pero Perkovic, Ivan Jakovljevic, Nikola Rasic, Zlatko Radovic, Ivica Petric, and Nediljko Mijic. Ballistics expert Damir Catipovic repeated the testimony he gave at the original trial in 1996, held at the county court in Zadar, when the accused were acquitted. The expert analysis has shown that not one cartridge case found at the sites of the killings was fired from weapons that belonged to the defendants or any other weapon given him for analysis, Catipovic said. Pathologists Ana Krvavica and Josip Dujela too repeated their initial testimony. They examined the victims' bodies immediately after the killings. On some they discovered one and on some several gunshot wounds, mainly to the head. Although they were unable to say so with certainty, Krvavica and Dujela estimate some victims were killed at close range and some from a distance. The victims were not autopsied as there was no order from the investigating judge. The retrial resumes on Tuesday with descriptions of events in Varivode and Gosici. (hina) ha sb