After interviewing five men arrested on Thursday on suspicion of committing war crimes in the Medak Pocket area in 1993, the Zagreb County Prosecutor's Office on Friday released three of them, prosecution spokeswoman Dunja Pavlicek Patak told the media.
The attorneys of the remaining two, Josip Krmpotic and Velibor Solaja, said they expected the Zagreb County Court to set a hearing in the afternoon on the prosecution's request that they be placed in custody.
Krmpotic's attorney Velimir Dosen told the media that detention was requested after his client was questioned on suspicion of committing two counts of war crimes.
"He stated his defence, fully dismissing responsibility for those two war crimes, but I can't say what they are because the investigation is confidential," Dosen said.
Solaja's attorney Nenad Skare told the press his client, too, denied the charges. He said his client was charged with one count of war crimes but was also unable to say more.
Twenty-three Serb civilians and five prisoners of war were killed and 300 buildings were destroyed in the Medak Pocket area on September 9-17, 1993, when Croatian troops withdrew from the area and turned it over to UN peacekeepers.
Five former members of the 9th Guards Brigade known as the Wolves were arrested yesterday on suspicion of committing those crimes. According to unofficial reports, the three released today were Ivan Jurkovic, Milan Tomljanovic and Bozidar Petty.
Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic today declined to comment on the arrests, saying "it's a police matter."
