TRIAL OF GOSPIC GROUP STARTS IN RIJEKA ON MONDAY

RIJEKA, June 24 (Hina) - The trial of retired general Mirko Norac and other four members of the 'Gospic Group', charged with war crimes against civilians, commences at 09.00 am Monday at the county court in the Croatian seaport of Rijeka.#L# The head of the trial chamber is a judge, Ika Saric. An investigation against the suspects, which started in mid- September 2000, was completed in late February 2001. During the probe, almost 150 witnesses were questioned. The investigation covered eight suspects, and indictments were issued against five of them: General Norac, Tihomir Oreskovic, Brigadier Milan Canic, Ivan Rozic and Stjepan Grandic, who are detained in custody of the Rijeka court. The Rijeka prosecutor's office dropped charges against three men - Ivan Jovanovic, Joso Miletic and Martin Markovic. The indictment against the Gospic Group alleges that Norac, Oreskovic, Canic, Rozic and Grandic committed war crimes against local Serbs in the Gospic area (central Croatia) in late 1991. They are accused of having eliminated a group of Croatian and Serb citizens at the sites of Pazariste and Lipova Glavica at the time. They are charged with the abduction of three Serbs from the town of Karlobag, who were later killed. A rally supporting General Mirko Norac and four other men accused of war crimes will be held at Republic of Croatia Square in Rijeka on June 25 at 08.45 hours, when the trial of the five is set to begin. The demonstrations will be organised by Croatia's national headquarters for the protection of the dignity of the Homeland Defence War. A few days ago, mayors of the town of Sinj and another five municipalities in the Split hinterland, where General Norac was born, forwarded a letter supporting this General. On behalf of the inhabitants of this area called 'Cetinska Krajina', they expressed their support to Norac, and said they believed that he was innocent and that all the accusations would be proved as groundless. (hina) ms