TWO CONVICTIONS, SIX ACQUITTALS IN KNIN AREA MURDER TRIAL

ZADAR, Jul 15 (Hina) - The Zadar county court on Monday convicted Ivica Petric of murder of a Serb civilian in the village of Zrmanja (near Knin) in August last year. Petric was sentenced to six years in jail. The Zadar court sentenced Nikola Rasic to 18 months in jail for attempted murder and armed robbery, committed in Ocestovo near Knin last year. Further, the court acquitted six people (Ivan Jakovljevic, Zlatko Ladovic, Nedjeljko Mijic, Milenko Hrsic and Zvonimir Lasan Zarobabel), charged with taking part in mass murders in Gosici and Varivode in August and September last year. Seven Serb civilians were murdered in Gosici and nine in Varivode. "All six defendants have been able to account satisfactorily for their whereabouts at the time of the murder...this court did not find any conclusive evidence to convict," the chairman of the panel of judges, Milan Petricic, said after reading the sentence. It was the end of a three-month trial of eight Croats from the Sibenik area, accused of 18 murders of Serb civilians, one attempted murder and one armed robbery. The courtroom was packed full of reporters, EU monitors, representatives of human rights organisations and the defendants' relatives. (hina) jn as 151741 MET jul 96