INDICTMENT ISSUED FOR 1991 MURDERS OF SERB CIVILIANS

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000372 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: NA TAGS: PREL PGOV KAWC HR SUBJECT: INDICTMENT ISSUED FOR 1991 MURDERS OF SERB CIVILIANS REF: 2006 ZAGREB 1436 and previous ¶1. (U) The Osijek County Office of the State Prosecutor issued a preliminary indictment April 16 against seven persons charged with war crimes (the murder of civilians on the banks of the Drava River in 1991, the so-called "Sellotape case"). The indictment charges Branimir Glavas, a far-right local strongman and member of Parliament from the eastern Slavonia region of Croatia, and six others with having killed ten persons. The Osijek County Office of the State Prosecutor issued a press statement recalling that during the defense of the city of Osijek against attacks by the then-Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Serb paramilitary units and local Serb rebels in 1991, Glavas ordered the indictees to unlawfully arrest, torture and kill Serb civilians and civilians of other ethnic origin. During the past six months of investigation, 147 witnesses were questioned. 2 (SBU) The prosecution also requested the detention or the extension of detention for suspects who have already been kept in custody due to the gravity of the crime. The indictees and their lawyers can appeal the indictment within eight days, after which it becomes final. The Chief State Prosecutor's deputy for war crimes told the Embassy April 16 that any appeal would probably be rejected. ¶3. (SBU) Glavas was taken into custody in the late autumn 2006 during the investigation of another war crimes case, the "Garage" case, pending before the Zagreb County Court, because of allegations that he was tampering with witnesses. He was released from custody in early December when a judge determined that his health had deteriorated due to a hunger strike. The Zagreb County Court is expected to issue an indictment in the "Garage" case within ten days. An Osijek County Court official recently confirmed to the Embassy that, once the two indictments become final, prosecutors will ask the Supreme Court to merge them and have the case tried in Zagreb, where the prosecution has better control over witnesses. The combined case could begin in the next few months. BRADTKE