RADOJCIC TESTIFIES BEFORE ZAGREB MUNICIPAL COURT

ZAGREB, Nov 4 (Hina) - One of nine people accused of association aimed at enemy activity on Wednesday rejected all counts of the indictment before the Zagreb Municipal Court council. Radenko Radojcic is charged with joining "Labrador", a group called after a secret plan aimed at eliminating prominent public and political figures of Croatia and at carrying out terrorist activities. Pleading not guilty, Radojcic said court records contain no evidence at all as to the existence of a "Labrador" group or plan, and no documentation linking or naming him as a member of the group. "I have been brought into a situation where I have to prove my innocence, instead of the prosecutor proving that I am guilty," said Radojcic, pointing out the goals of the alleged secret plan were contrary to his ethics, conscience, and religion. Describing his experience at previous trials for the same charges, conducted in Gospic, Osijek, Karlovac, Split, and Zagreb, as bad, Radojcic suggested the court discussion be audio-recorded, and complained in relation to the court's actual jurisdiction. The court council rejected both as unfounded. Radojcic commenced his defence by claiming that, since his arrest, 197 articles of the former Law on Criminal Proceedings, on which his trial is based, have been violated, adding this was 39 per cent of the law. Radojcic recalled he was illegally arrested in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on March 15, 1994, and was until May 6, 1994 illegally kept in, he said, private custody and deprived of all legal rights. Radojcic had not been told why he was arrested, said he had no right to an attorney, and that he had not been brought before an investigating judge within 24 hours. "All investigating proceedings were conducted illegally," he said, adding the period he spent in custody was not included in the imprisonment sentence, and pointing out he had been "tied to a bed for a month." Radojcic believes he was arrested on the basis of proceedings initiated in February 1992 by the then current advisor to the Croatian President, Stjepan Herceg, who, said Radojcic, did not have the authority to initiate the criminal proceedings. Also illegal, according to Radojcic, was the collecting of evidence, linking and separating his case with other indictments, on several occasions, and transferring jurisdiction from one court to another without clearance. He pointed out the indictment was based on confidential recordings of the Counter-Intelligence Service (KOS) which, he said, cannot be used as evidence, and on numerous, he believes, doubtful photographs. Radojcic also complained about the "large number of policemen" and "high-ranking officials" engaged in investigating proceedings. These people, he said, could be called on as witnesses or even indicted during this trial. Recalling his court-martial in 1994, when he was sentenced to four years behind bars, Radojcic stressed the military court rejected all 398 evidence items provided by the defence while accepting all suggestions made by the prosecution. The trial will resume on November 11. (hina) ha