The case was referred to Croatia from the Hague war crimes tribunal in September 2005. The trial will be presided over by Judge Marin Mrcela. The prosecution will call 143 witnesses, including 32 protected witnesses.
Among the witnesses will be members of the United Nations Protection Force who visited the Medak area, about 150 kilometres south of Zagreb, after the offensive, and witnesses from Serbia. Witness hearings are due to start after the summer recess.
The court rejected a prosecution motion for detention of the accused as unnecessary, but ordered cautionary measures, according to which Ademi has to report to the police once a month, must not leave his place of residence or tamper with witnesses, while Norac was prohibited from having contact with witnesses.
Ademi has been granted provisional release pending trial, while Norac is in the Lipovica penitentiary serving a 12-year sentence for war crimes committed against civilians in the Gospic area in 1991. He has served slightly more than half of his sentence.
The two generals are charged with war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war committed during the Medak Pocket operation in 1993. At the time Ademi was acting commander of the Gospic Military District, while Norac commanded the Ninth Guards Motorised Brigade and Sector One, a special task force set up specifically for that operation.
The indictment lists the names of 28 civilian victims and five military prisoners, some of whom were brutally tortured and mutilated. One of the survivors has been awarded protected witness status.