SERBIAN COURT RENEWS TRIAL OF CROATS ACCUSED OF ESPIONAGE ( Editorial: --> 8425 )

( Editorial: --> 8425 ) NIS, 5 Nov (Hina) - The renewed trial of four Croats accused of military espionage for Croatia continued on Wednesday in the Serbian town of Nis. The trial was renewed at the request of the Yugoslav Supreme Military Court. The defendants - Ankica Brckovic, Josip Baric, Marijan Cop and Zeljko Medic - and five witnesses testified before the Military Court Council today. The prosecutor presented some new data in the indictment which was the basis of last year's trial, which ended in August, when the defendants were sentenced from one to five years' imprisonment. In December, the Supreme Military Court annulled those verdicts and proposed a new trial. Ankica Brckovic dismissed all claims from the earlier indictment, saying that the evidence and notes made during her interrogation in prison were not true because she had been under great psychological pressure during her five-day detention. She said she had not been physically abused but had been exposed to severe psychological maltreatment. The other three defendants and their five witnesses testified today before the Council. The trial will continue tomorrow. (hina) rm 051859 MET nov 97