Former Croatian Army soldiers Josip Krmpotic and Velibor Solaja, who are suspected of committing war crimes in the Medak area in 1993, have been remanded in investigative custody for a month, the Zagreb County Court ruled on Friday afternoon.
Solaja's lawyer Nenad Skare told reporters that the court had granted the prosecution motion for 30-day custody because the two might attempt to interfere with witnesses.
Krmpotic's lawyer Velimir Dosen said he had objected to the motion as groundless because his client had had a chance to contact the witnesses before if he had wanted to given that the alleged crimes were committed 19 years ago.
"We presented a detailed defence regarding the same case to Hague tribunal investigators six or seven years ago. Some people have already been prosecuted and that case is over," Dosen said.
Dosen said that Krmpotic was charged with two counts of war crimes, but did not elaborate, citing confidentiality of the proceedings. "Krmpotic has denied all the allegations against him, he doesn't feel guilty and says he didn't take part in those actions," the lawyer said.
The State Attorney's Office said in a statement, without giving the initials of the suspects, that there were grounds for suspicion that the first suspect had committed a war crime against prisoners of war, and that both suspects had committed a war crime against civilians.
The three other suspects in the case were released after questioning earlier on Friday.
Twenty-three Serb civilians and five captured soldiers were killed and 300 houses and other structures were destroyed in the Medak Pocket from September 9 to 17, 1993, when Croatian forces withdrew and handed over the area to UN peacekeepers.
