YUGOSLAV WAR CRIMINAL SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON

( Editorial: --> 6757 ) OSIJEK, Dec 8 (Hina) - The county court in the eastern Croatian town of Osijek on Monday sentenced Ivica Vuletic to 20 years in prison for committing war crimes against the civilian population, prisoners of war, the wounded and hospital patients. The court also ruled that Vuletic, a Yugoslav citizen from Pancevo, should be permanently expelled from Croatia. The court found Vuletic guilty because it was proven that as a member of the then Yugoslav People's Army, he used a knife to slaughter an imprisoned soldier of the Croatian Army. The crime occurred at the time of an attack on three villages in the Croatian Danube river region, Sarvas, Bijelo Brdo and Aljmas, in September and October 1991. The exact date of the crime is unknown. Vuletic was also found guilty of a crime committed on 20 November of the same year in the basement of Vukovar Hospital, when he shot a number of wounded soldiers and patients, after which he shot three wounded soldiers in the hospital courtyard. During the trial it was confirmed that after 20 November 1991 Vuletic participated in the killing of Croatian soldiers and police in a forest near Vukovar, where he shot dead about 50 people using an automatic rifle. Judge Drago Poljak emphasised that some witnesses had recognised Ivica Vuletic as a guard in the prison camps Stajicevo and Begejci in Serbia in which he punched, kicked and beat with a stick prisoners, forcing them to sing Serbian songs. Two prisoners later died from their wounds. Although the accused changed the statement he had made during the main hearing, in which he admitted to committing the crimes, the court found this evidence to be reliable. The court held that the descriptions of the crimes and attacks on Interior Ministry and National Guard units were detailed and that it could not have been given by someone who had not taken part in the crimes. Vuletic's claim that he gave the statement as a result of maltreatment and death threats from members of the state security service, the court found unreliable. It said there was nothing to show that the accused had been maltreated, given that he had not lodged a complaint against the investigative judge nor had any marks been found on his body which could have been the result of maltreatment. Vuletic's sentence includes the time he spent in custody from 6 July 1993 when he was arrested while trying to cross the Croatian- Hungarian border. Vuletic can appeal against the decision, which will be decided by the Supreme Court. (Hina) jn mb 081939 MET dec 97