COURT REJECTS NOTORIOUS LORA PRISON ACQUITTAL,

UNCLAS ZAGREB 001483 SIPDIS DEPT FOR S/WCI:PROSPER, EUR/SCE:KABUMOTO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KAWC PREL KJUS HR SUBJECT: COURT REJECTS NOTORIOUS LORA PRISON ACQUITTAL, CALLS FOR RETRIAL IN WAR CRIMES CASE SUMMARY AND COMMENT -------------- ¶1. Overturning a 2002 acquittal, the Croatian Supreme Court has called for a retrial of eight Croatian military police accused of the torture and murder of ethnic Serb civilians and soldiers at Lora Prison. The international community praised the ruling as Croatian recognition of the original trial,s judicial bias. ¶2. Reversal of the high profile Lora acquittal demonstrates Croatia,s readiness to address the judicial shortcomings apparent in lower courts during earlier domestic war crimes trials -- a critical task before the GOC accepts the transfer of cases from the ICTY. The Lora case also highlights the need for development of witness protection measures within Croatian courts, as much of the testimony rejected during the trial was in the form of depositions taken in Serbia from former Lora inmates who refused to appear in court due to death threats. Post has placed a high priority on witness protection in its project to strengthen the Croatian judiciary,s war crimes trial capacity. END SUMMARY and COMMENT. REACTION TO RETRIAL, READY FOR REFORM -------------- ¶3. The Croatian Supreme Court on August 19 overturned the November 2002 acquittal of eight Croatian military police accused of torturing and murdering ethnic Serb prisoners in Lora Prison near Split in 1992. The county court had acquitted the eight guards after a six-month trial that was universally criticized within the international community as a gross miscarriage of justice. According to the Supreme Court ruling, presiding judge Slavko Lozina incompletely established facts and failed to admit crucial evidence, including testimony from former inmates. The ruling returned the case to the county court for retrial before a new panel of judges. ¶4. Reacting to the Supreme Court,s announcement, Lozina claimed the justices quashed his verdict due to criticism from Minister of Justice Vesna Skare Ozbolt, who Lozina claims is kowtowing to the OSCE and State Department. Meanwhile, OSCE Ambassador Peter Semneby told the press the decision recognizes international concerns voiced during the original trial and indicates the need to improve the capacity of the Croatian judiciary. FRANK NNNN