WAR SUSPECTS STAND TRIAL IN VUKOVAR

VUKOVAR, May 25 (Hina) - The main hearing for twenty-two persons indicted of genocide and war crimes against civilians in eastern Croatia began at the Vukovar County Court Tuesday. Twenty-one indicted persons are on the run, so only suspect Stevan Curnjic attended the hearing Wednesday. The suspects are being accused of being active members of occupational military and paramilitary forces in eastern Croatia, and as such participated in the ethnic cleansing of the region with the aim of creating a Greater Serbia. They allegedly took part in imprisoning, separating, abusing, killing, taking to concentration camp and persecution of non-Serb prisoners, thus acting in violation of international law. During the arraignment, Curnjic plead not guilty on all counts of the indictment, although he admitted he had worn the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) uniform, and said he had not committed any crimes, but had, together with other members of the former JNA, prevented them. For the first time in the history of Croatian the justice system, the course of the proceedings, which is planned to last some ten days, can be directly followed on the Internet, the address being http://www.tel.hr/zupanijski-sud-vukovar. (hina) lml