Five former Croatian Army soldiers were arrested on Thursday on the suspicion that they had committed war crimes in Medak in 1993, according to sources close to the investigation.
The identities of those arrested were not disclosed. Two of them were arrested in Gospic, one in Zagreb, one in Bjelovar and one in Selce.
The Zagreb County Prosecutor's Office, which is conducting the investigation, declined to reveal any details.
Former general Mirko Norac was convicted for atrocities committed in the Medak Pocket and was released on parole from prison last November after serving two thirds of his prison sentence of 15 years for war crimes in Gospic and Medak. He was initially sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for war crimes in the Gospic area and later to six years for crimes in the Medak Pocket. When the second verdict became final, the Supreme Court imposed on him a single prison sentence of 15 years.
General Rahim Ademi was acquitted of the charges of command responsibility for the Medak atrocities.
From 9 to 17 September 1993, during the retreat of Croatian forces from Medak, southern Croatia, which was placed under the control of UN peacekeepers, 23 local Serbs and five captured Serb insurgents were killed and 300 houses, barns and other facilities were destroyed.
