Crucial for Judge Tomislav Jurisa's decision was the testimony of their fellow fighter Drago Prso who said that the late "Tiger" Dubravko Leskovar confessed to him that he had committed the crime and that another fellow fighter, the late Ante Perkovic, had probably been involved.
The two accused were not at today's hearing. Raguz was tried in his absence and is hiding in Stolac, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Raguz and Skledar were accused of breaking into the house of Miso Raskovic on 21 November 1991, where they tortured and killed in cold blood Raskovic, his wife Sajka and their neighbours Mihajlo Seatovic and Ljuban Vujic.
In 2010, Raguz and Skledar were tried at the Sisak County Court, which sentenced Raguz to the maximum prison sentence of 20 years and acquitted Skledar because, according to his fellow fighters, the civilians were alive when he left the house, while Raguz, Leskovar and Perkovic had stayed.
The sentences were quashed by the Supreme Court and the case was transferred to Zagreb where in 1992 the Military Court tried Raguz and Leskovar for this crime. But after several hearings, they were pardoned under the amnesty law. Although charges were pressed again, the Military Court first described the crime as murder and then as a war crime.
A representative of the prosecution announced an appeal. The judge ordered the withdrawal of an international arrest warrant for Raguz.