Former assistant interior minister Tomislav Mercep goes on trial on Friday for the murder and torture of dozens of civilians in the Zagreb, Kutina and Pakrac areas at the start of the 1991-1995 war.
Judge Zdravko Majerovic, who will preside over the case, said on Thursday that there was nothing to suggest at the moment that Mercep would not be able to appear for the trial because of his ill health.
Mercep suffered a stroke four years ago and has not fully recovered yet. He has been staying in a prison hospital or in a spa since his arrest in December 2010.
Before coming to court on Friday, Mercep will be examined by a court medical expert who has previously found that Mercep is fit to stand trial provided certain precautions are taken. Mercep will have a doctor at his side in the courtroom, and hearings will be interrupted with short breaks more often than usual.
The crimes alleged in the indictment, which Mercep dismissed right from the start, carry a prison sentence of between five and 20 years, given that he will be tried under an earlier law that was in force at the time relevant to the indictment.
Prosecutors claim that in his capacity as commander of a reserve police unit, which was based in Pakracka Poljana and at Zagreb's Trade Fair Centre, Mercep personally ordered unlawful arrests, torture and murder of civilians.
Members of his unit allegedly arrested 52 people in the Kutina, Pakrac and Zagreb areas and killed 43 of them. Six survived the torture, while three remain unaccounted for.
Among the victims were the Zec family - Mihajlo, Marija and their 12-year-old daughter Aleksandra - who were murdered in the night between 7 and 8 November 1991 in Zagreb. Although five of Mercep's men later admitted the crime, they were never brought to trial because of a procedural error - they were questioned without the presence of their lawyers.
Mercep was allegedly personally present in Pakracka Poljana when at least eight civilians had been brought there and tortured, of whom three were killed and two disappeared.
Mercep took part in the questioning of Djordje Gunjevic, the then government commissioner for Pakrac. Gunjevic was detained for six days, subjected to torture with electric shocks, and robbed of 20,000 German marks and 100,000 dinars. In the end, Mercep let him go saying that it was a mistake.
Mercep is also held responsible for war crimes committed in Pakracka Poljana, namely for the deaths of 27 unidentified persons who were executed and buried at several sites in the Pakracka Poljana area.
