CROATIAN SERB WAR CRIMES CONVICT TO BE HANDED OVER ON FRIDAY

ZAGREB, Nov 14 (Hina) - On Friday, November 16, the Swiss authorities will hand over to Croatia Zorana Banic, whom the Croatian authorities sentenced in absence three years ago to 20 years in prison for war crimes against civilians in Skabrnja. Banic, a 49-year-old Serb with Croatian citizenship, born in Zemunik Gornji near Zadar, was arrested on November 1 this year at the Zurich airport by order of the Swiss federal office for judiciary and at the request of the Zagreb Interpol office. She is one of 18 Serbs sentenced by the Zadar County Court in 1995 for the murder of 43 civilians in Skabrnja in the Zadar hinterland in mid-November 1991. Banic, a nurse by profession, was then sentenced to 20 years in prison and the verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1998, after which an international arrest warrant was issued for her. After the arrest, Banic told the Swiss authorities she agreed to her hand-over if she was granted a re-trial in Croatia, to which she is entitled. A Swiss justice ministry spokesman, Folco Galli, said last week the decision on the hand-over was made after Croatia had reported that it intended to re-open the case of Zorana Banic, who claims she is innocent. (hina) sb rml