The police on Thursday wrapped up the questioning of a score of people who gave testimonies about Croatians who defended the eastern town of Vukovar and who were subsequently charged by Serbia with war crimes against the wounded and the sick, the Croatian Interior Ministry said today.
Ministry spokesman Krunoslav Borovec said that more than 20 people had been interviewed over the last three days by the police at the request of the Osijek County Prosecutor's Office.
Now those people should give their statements to the investigating judge in charge.
On Monday, 17 January , the Osijek County Prosecutor's Office said that it had received from the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH) the case file on Tihomir Purda, a Homeland Defence War veteran accused by Serbia of war crimes against the wounded and the sick. Purda was recently arrested on a Croatian-Bosnian border crossing on an international warrant issued by Serbia.
This case has been a priority given that the suspect has been in extradition custody in Zenica, central Bosnia, since his apprehension in Orasje on 5 January.
The DORH is now expected to decide on further steps in this case.
Speaking to Serbia's Tanjug news agency in The Hague today, Serbian Justice Minister Snezana Malovic said she expected Croatia to say by tomorrow if it would seek Purda's extradition from Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding that if it did not, Serbia would do so.
Malovic said Purda's custody expired on January 23, as did the deadline to seek his extradition.
