The accused are Ivan Medak, former Croatian Rail (HZ) executive responsible for the environment and protection; Ivan Tomaskovic, CEO of the Intrade firm that supplied retardants for HZ; Jozo Bazina, adviser at Intrade; Drago Rogulj, head of the HZ Fire Prevention Division in Split, and Branko Tisljar, firefighter.

They are charged with a crime against public safety with indirect intent because, according to the indictment, they were aware of the risk of using the TG-300 fire and flame retardant, which was found to have caused the derailment of the train. The accused were involved in the purchase of the retardant and its use on the railway track.

All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The accident occurred at Rudine, 20 kilometres outside the southern coastal city of Split, on July 24, 2009 when a tilting train travelling from Zagreb, with about 100 passengers on board, skidded off the track, hitting twice against a wall on one side of the track before coming to a halt. The damage caused to the train was estimated at several million kuna.

Reading out the indictment, prosecutor Rene Laura said that the first defendant Ivan Medak recommended that the railway track be sprayed with the retardant although he was aware that it might affect the braking system on trains and that he did not have people specialised in its application. Despite warnings from some fire officials about risks of applying the retardant on the railway track, Medak did not order that the spraying should stop.

Medak signed a deal with the second defendant, Ivan Tomaskovic, whose firm purchased the TG-300 retardant from the United States. Jozo Bazina recommended that Branko Tisljar spray the track with the retardant although he had never done it before, while Drago Rogulj approved the use of the retardant although he saw that it was being used in the way he had never seen before.

The next hearing was set for March 1.