FORMER JNA OFFICERS TESTIFY AT ICTY ON DOKMANOVIC CASE-

( Editorial: --> 9186 ) THE HAGUE, 3 Feb (Hina)- Following the resumption of the trial of the former mayor of Vukovar Slavko Dokmanovic at ICTY, on Tuesday the court heard testimonies by two former JNA troops. Hajdar Dodai, an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo who grew up in Croatia, and Zlatko Zlogledja from Sisak (Croatia)served mandatory military service at the positions near Vukovar in 1991. Both defected to the Croatian side and joined the defenders of Vukovar. When the city fell into the hands of the JNA and Serb paramilitary troops, they discarded their arms and went to the Vukovar hospital. Dodai and Zlogledja said that on 20 November they and other men from the Vukovar hospital were transported in buses to the Vukovar barracks, which was teeming with troops, including the White Eagles (armed units of the Serb neofascist Vojislav Seselj). Those troops got on the buses and beat the prisoners, said Dodai. The prisoners were also beaten when they got off the buses at the Ovcara farm. "There was about 30 JNA troops and local Serbs", estimated Zlogledja, explaining that some of the Serbs addressed the prisoners by name. The prisoners were beaten by shovel handles, poles and bats, said Zlogledja and Dodai. The prisoners, some of whom had broken arms, were covered with blood. Dokmanovic' defence lawyer Toma Fila asked Dodai whether he knew what happened in the hangar at the Ovcara, where, according to the prosecution, was Dokmanovic. However, the witness did not see what went on inside. Yet, the other witness said that he heard cries from the hangar, near which he saw the JNA major Veselin Sljivancanin. Zlogkledja added that in front of the hangar he saw military personnel carriers, jeeps and a bulldozer. The two witnesses and their two acquaintances were taken from the bus in front of the hangar and taken aside, because they said they were JNA officers who had been taken prisoners. "When the JNA officer who took us aside found out that we were not Serbs, he accused us of desertion", said Zlogledja. From Ovcara they were taken to Negosalavci where they were beaten at a basement, in presence of other prisoners. Dodai said that on 21 November one soldier from Serbia told him that "their Chetniks slaughtered 600 persons at the Ovcara". After four days they were transferred to the Topcider barracks in Belgrade. There Dodai was beaten up. As a consequence, he got a concussion and all of his ribs were broken. After that he was tried for desertion, armed rebellion and stealing of weapons and sentenced for six years in prison. After stints at the military investigative prison and a civilian prison in Valjevo the witness was released on 21 November 1993, when he returned to Croatia. (Hina) jn mr 032149 MET feb 98