CHRONOLOGY OF DINKO SAKIC CASE

ZAGREB, March 14 (Hina) - Nine months passed since the extradition of Dinko Sakic from Argentina until the commencement of the trial at County Court in Zagreb. In that period, 46 witnesses gave their testimonies, relevant documentation was collected, an indictment was issued, and the beginning of the trial previously scheduled for March 4 was postponed until March 15 due to the deterioration of the defendant's health. Dinko Sakic, a commander of the Jasenovac concentration camp in the Second World War, is accused of war crime against civilians. Following is a brief chronology of this case commencing with the lodging of a demand for an investigation of 20 April, 1998: - 20 April 1998 - the Zagreb County State Attorney's Office required from the County Investigating Judge to instigate preliminary investigation proceedings against Dinko Sakic for having allegedly committed a war crime against the civilian population. - 21 April - the Zagreb County Investigating Judge, Zdenko Konjic, made a ruling on conducting an investigation and determining the pre-trial detention of the suspect, Dinko Sakic. - 24 April - Croatia's Justice Ministry forwarded a request for Sakic's extradition to Argentina. After the federal court in Dolores decided to hand over Sakic, Argentinean President confirmed the ruling on extradition. - 18 June - After being extradited from Argentina, the defendant Sakic was taken in custody in the district prison of Zagreb. - 19 June - The first hearing was held when Sakic, in presence of his defence counsel, Ivan Kern, said he could understand everything with which he was charged, and exercised his legal right not to speak in his own defence nor to answer questions. - from 19 June to 20 November - The investigating judge questioned 46 witnesses and gathered relevant documentation. - 20 November - Pre-trial files forwarded to the Zagreb County State Attorney's Office. - 15 December - Following the investigation, the Zagreb County State Attorney's issued an indictment against the defendant, Dinko Ljubomir Sakic, on charges that he allegedly committed a war crime against the civilian population. The indictment suggested the questioning of 35 witnesses and the examination of the submitted extensive documentation. - 23 December, Sakic's defence counsel, Ivan Kern, who was court- appointed defence attorney in this case, raised objection to the indictment. - 18 January 1999 - the Zagreb County Court dismissed objection as being groundless, and thus the indictment became final. - 4 February - the President of the panel of judges, Drazen Tripalo, decided that the commencement of Sakic's trial would be scheduled for March 4, 1999. - 4 February - lawyer Cedo Prodanovic, the authorised person to represent injured party, Boskovic, filed a motion for examination of another three witnesses. One of them lives in Bosnia-Herzegovina and other two are in Yugoslavia. They were summonsed but failed to appear in court in Zagreb during the pre-trial procedure. - 2 March - the health state of Sakic deteriorated while he was in custody, and he had to be taken to the "Rebro" clinic. After having medical examinations, Sakic was transferred to the prison hospital. - 3 March - the International Press Centre was opened in Zagreb's Sheraton Hotel for the coverage of Sakic trial. - 4 March - all those summonsed to appear at the Sakic trial arrived at the Zagreb County Court Main Courtroom. After the announcement of criminal proceedings against the defendant, pursuant to the indictment by the County State Attorney's Office for criminal act of war crime against civilians, president of the panel of judges - Judge Drazen Tripalo - announced the composition of the panel and standby and lay judges. Following the statement by expert witnesses - Doctors Dusan Zecevic and Stjepan Voeglein - that the defendant could not participate in the trial because of his condition, the trial was postponed for March 15. (hina) ms