Nada Kalaba and Miroslav Djankovic aka Djani made their decision after hearing a testimony by repentant witness Spasoje Petkovic aka Stuka, whom they called a pathological murderer who had given false testimony against them in order to save himself from prison and responsibility.
Kalaba and Djankovic both pleaded not guilty to the war crimes charges. They said that the witness had not committed "only" the three murders to which he had confessed during the investigation and his testimony during the trial in late August, but cited more crimes Petkovic had allegedly committed.
The two also spoke of threats they had received from the witness during the investigation last year in case they mentioned him in connection with the Ovcara massacre.
Djankovic is accused of involvement in forming a firing squad and executing prisoners of war. In his defence he claimed that he had been on the Ovcara farm, but that he had killed no one. He added that the first defendant in the case, Miroljub Vujovic, commander of the local Serb Territorial Defence in Vukovar, had told him that "a third of the prisoners will be released, a third will be exchanged, and a third will be taken to prison in Serbia."
Kalaba, the wife of the second defendant in the case, wartime Territorial Defence deputy commander Stanko Vujanovic, is accused of taking her former workmate out of a hangar on the farm and shooting him dead. She claimed that it had been done by the witness Petkovic, and said that she would give details of the event when she confronts the witness in the continuation of the trial.
The hearing continued behind closed doors with the confrontation of the 17 accused with the witness. The trial is expected to resume on Tuesday with the closed-door hearing of a second repentant witness, Bozo Latinovic aka Boro Krajisnik, who used to be a member of the Vukovar Territorial Defence.