SODOLOVCI GROUP THREESOME RELEASED FOR TRIAL

( Editorial: --> 7321 ) OSIJEK, Sept 1 (Hina) - Three members of the Sodolovci Group, arrested last Friday, have been released to stand trial out of custody. Pero Klickovic, 45, Vujo Halavanja, 45, and Zeljko Keskenovic, 45, were members of a 19-member Sodolovci Group, so called after their home village in eastern Slavonia. All 19 were tried in absentia in 1995 and given long-term prison sentences by the Osijek County Court for war crimes against civilians in the Croatian Danubian region in 1992. Only three have been apprehended. The rest remain at large. According to the Croatian Criminal Procedure Law, a trial can be renewed if a defendant has been tried and convicted in absentia, providing the request is filed within one year of hearing the verdict. Another condition is that the defendant attend the trial. Attorneys for the Sodolovci Group had filed a request for trial renewal, but were refused by the Osijek County Court on May 21 of this year. After the defence attorneys filed an appeal, the Supreme Court decided that conditions for a renewed trial existed, and ordered the County Court in Osijek to reconsider its decision. A renewed trial was possible, but the defendants had to be detained during the course of trial. The Supreme Court also ordered the County Court to determine the whereabouts of the group's members. It was established that eight members of the Sodolovci Group resided in Croatia, including Pero Klickovic, who performed the official duty as head of the Sodolovci municipality. The Osijek County Court on Monday decided to renew the case of the three apprehended Sodolovci Group members. President of the Osijek County Court, Petar Kljajic, told Hina on Tuesday that a renewed trial meant an annulment of their previous sentences and a new trial. (hina) lml 011231 MET sep 98