TRIAL TO ZAGREB MOBSTERS POSTPONED YET AGAIN

ZAGREB, Oct 30 (Hina) - The trial of the group of so-called Zagreb mobsters has been postponed for the third time, until the State Prosecution reaches a decision on the defendant counsel's request for some of the prosecution team to be exempt from the trial. Defence attorneys on Monday asked that prosecutor Dunja Pavlicek Patak, the County Court Prosecutor in Zagreb, Visnja Loncar, and acting state attorney Slavko Zadnik, be exempt from the proceedings. #L# The defence counsel explained their request claiming Dunja Pavlicek Patak had "lead a parallel investigation", while her bosses had not prevented her from doing so. The main hearing has thus been postponed until a State Attorney Office meeting takes place and a decision is made on the defence attorneys' demand. The trial, already dubbed as the trial of the century by some media, has been postponed twice before; the first time when the defence counsel left the courtroom protesting the fact that the trial was being held in the premises of a prison; followed by the leaving of the trial chamber of the prosecution, dissatisfied with the fact that the defence attorneys had not been sanctioned for their conduct, and for the separation of the case of one of the 18 defendants. The beginning of the trial was scheduled for October 16. The indictment charges 18 persons with 35 criminal acts committed in the period between 1990 and 2000. Apart from association into a criminal organisation, the Zagreb mobsters, most of whom were arrested late last November, are also charged with five murders and four attempted murders, extortion, drug abuse, fraud etc. One of the indicted at the end of last week regretted his involvement in the criminal act and decided to cooperate with the prosecution and was therefore excluded from the indictment. One of the indictees is at large. (hina) lml jn