TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF VUKOVAR CROATS' SUFFERING MARKED

VUKOVAR, Nov 20 (Hina) - The 10th anniversary of the suffering of Croat and other non-Serb residents of Vukovar, who were taken to several hundred Serb concentration camps, opened during 1991 in temporarily occupied areas of Croatia, as well as in Yugoslavia and Bosnia, was marked on the premises of a local company Tuesday. One of those camps was opened in mid-September 1991 on the premises of the Vukovar-based company "Velepromet", which was the venue of today's commemoration. According to a Croatian society of Serb concentration camp prisoners, around 10,000 Croatian soldiers and civilians, including children, were detained in the camp between November 18 and 20, 1991. A total of 800 were killed and around 1,200 are considered missing. From May 25, 1999, to May 19, 2000, 21 persons of Serb nationality and one Croat were tried before the Vukovar County Court for crimes committed at the Vukovar company. Only one indictee, Stevan Surnjic, was present at the trial, while the others were tried in absentia as they are still at large. Eight persons were acquitted and 11 received prison sentences in the duration of three to 20 years. Charges against three accused were dropped. (hina) np sb