ZAGREB, Dec 1 (Hina) - In continuation of an investigation against Tihomir Oreskovic and four other Gospic residents accused of war crimes against Serb civilians in Gospic in 1991, a former head of the Office for National Security,
Josip Manolic, said at the Zagreb County Court on Friday it was indisputable that the so-called "deadly meeting", at which the elimination of Gospic Serbs had allegedly been planned, had taken place in Gospic on October 16, 1991. Stressing that it was much harder to "treat cancer after nine years than it would have been to surgically deal with it earlier," Manolic said it was unquestionable that the so-called "deadly meeting" had taken place as all people who had participated in it were alive. Manolic said that in autumn 1991 he had received many letters warning of "certain wayward behaviour and crimes in the Lika region." Manolic also claims that the Office for National Security had done all
ZAGREB, Dec 1 (Hina) - In continuation of an investigation against
Tihomir Oreskovic and four other Gospic residents accused of war
crimes against Serb civilians in Gospic in 1991, a former head of
the Office for National Security, Josip Manolic, said at the Zagreb
County Court on Friday it was indisputable that the so-called
"deadly meeting", at which the elimination of Gospic Serbs had
allegedly been planned, had taken place in Gospic on October 16,
1991.
Stressing that it was much harder to "treat cancer after nine years
than it would have been to surgically deal with it earlier," Manolic
said it was unquestionable that the so-called "deadly meeting" had
taken place as all people who had participated in it were alive.
Manolic said that in autumn 1991 he had received many letters
warning of "certain wayward behaviour and crimes in the Lika
region." Manolic also claims that the Office for National Security
had done all it could to initiate an investigation into the Gospic
events and processing of suspected criminals.
However, the investigation was discontinued because "some people
were not interested in conducting any investigation into the
disappearance of Serbs," and "objective circumstances prevented
the clearing up of the situation," he said.
"Nazi forces, connected with foreign intelligence services, which
wanted to destabilise Croatia, and of whom some had infiltrators in
the very state leadership," did not want the investigation. At the
time Croatia had international recognition and admission to the
United Nations ahead of it and all those events were to its
detriment, Manolic says.
Velimir Dosen, counsel for the third, fourth and fifth suspect,
said Manolic's testimony did not charge any of the suspects because
Manolic had not witnessed any of the events in Gospic nor did he have
any concrete knowledge of them. Manolic obtained all information
from the then Interior Ministry and the Service for the Protection
of the Constitutional Order (SZUP), Dosen said.
Commenting on Manolic's statement that the so-called "deadly
meeting" had unquestionably taken place, Dosen said that Manolic
was neither the judge nor the prosecutor in the investigation and no
one could objectively ascertain that such a meeting had taken
place.
(hina) rml