ZAGREB, Nov 24 (Hina) - The Croatian Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed the verdict of the Osijek County Court in the trial of the so-called "Sodolovci group" due to serious breaches of the criminal procedure to the detriment of the
defendants. The Osijek County Court had confirmed verdicts pronounced in the trial of five members of the "Sodolovci group", conducted against them in absentia. The defendants received prison sentences of different duration for the war crime against civilian population. The Supreme Court ruled that the case be returned to the Osijek County Court, which is to initiate new proceedings, as well as that the defendants be released.
ZAGREB, Nov 24 (Hina) - The Croatian Supreme Court on Wednesday
quashed the verdict of the Osijek County Court in the trial of the
so-called "Sodolovci group" due to serious breaches of the criminal
procedure to the detriment of the defendants.
The Osijek County Court had confirmed verdicts pronounced in the
trial of five members of the "Sodolovci group", conducted against
them in absentia. The defendants received prison sentences of
different duration for the war crime against civilian population.
The Supreme Court ruled that the case be returned to the Osijek
County Court, which is to initiate new proceedings, as well as that
the defendants be released. #L#
According to the indictment, between July 1991 and May 1992,
members of the "Sodolovci group" - Goran Vusurovic, Zeljko
Keskenovic, Pero Klickovic, Vujo Halavanja and Marinko Stankovic,
who had joined the former Yugoslav People's Army and Serb
paramilitary forces, launched random cannon and mortar attacks
from the temporarily occupied Croatian territory on Djakovo,
Kesinci, Koritna, Mrzovici, Semeljci, and Vladislavci.
Ten persons were killed and about 30 were wounded in those attacks
and considerable damage was caused to civilian, economic, cultural
and other buildings.
The Osijek County Court verdict of May 27, 1999 confirmed a 15-year
prison sentence for Keskenovic, an 11-year prison sentence for
Klickovic, Halavanja, and Stankovic, whereas Vusurovic's 11-year
prison sentence was reduced to eight years due to the time he had
already served.
With today's decision the Supreme Court accepted an appeal by the
defendants' attorneys Slobodan Budak, Dragutin Mioca, and Jovan
Grubesic.
According to the appeal, the Osijek County Court did not completely
solve the part of the indictment which refers to the defendants'
responsibility for wounding civilians, which constitutes a breach
of regulations on criminal proceedings. The attorneys also believe
that the explanation of the contested verdict is unclear and
contradictory. They claim that none of the acts
their clients are charged with as a group or individually has been
proven and that the verdict is based on collective rather than
individual responsibility.
Attorney Slobodan Budak told reporters today he expected the
process would not be renewed and that the State Attorney would give
up further prosecution.
"If the proceedings resume in line with the existing regulations
which are applied in this process and in line with the Geneva
Conventions on human rights, a series of omissions made during the
procedure will become obvious", Budak said.
This primarily refers to the fact that the defendants should not
have been tried in absentia for acts which are regulated by the
Second Protocol of the Geneva Conventions, he said.
Asked whether recent statements by Osijek County Prefect Branimir
Glavas that the trial of the "Sodolovci group" had been rigged and
that innocent people had been sentenced without evidence had
affected the Supreme Court decision, Budak said Glavas had told him
in a phone conversation yesterday that he (Glavas) had never in any
way affected any court decision.
The announcement of the Supreme Court decision was also followed by
representatives from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights from Geneva, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), and the US Embassy.
(hina) rml,