New Retrial of Croatian War General Branimir Glavas Begins

The retrial of former general Branimir Glavas and other defendants for war crimes in the Croatian eastern city of Osijek in 1991 opened at Zagreb County Court on Monday.

At Monday's hearing, Glavas's defence requested that the trial be transferred from Zagreb to the Osijek County Court.

One of his lawyers, his son Filip Glavas, who was a primary school pupil when the trial of his father for the same crimes first began, said there had been no progress in the case in recent years.

"I hope that his son, my grandson, will not continue that job [defending his grandfather in court]," Branimir Glavas told media after the hearing.

NGOs monitoring the trial have also repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the lengthy procedure.

Glavas is being prosecuted for the killings of Serb civilians in 1991.

His first trial started in 2007 and encompassed two cases, codenamed 'Garage' and 'Sellotape'.

The 'Garage' case focused on a man who was forced to drink car battery acid in a garage in Osijek in August 1991. When he ran out of the garage in pain, he was shot by a member of the 1st Battalion of Osijek Defenders, which was commanded by Glavas.

The man died from the consequences of the poisoning. Glavas then allegedly ordered that a second prisoner should be executed.

In the 'Sellotape' case, Glavas's unit arrested six civilians in November and December 1991 in Osijek and then tortured them in a basement in the city. They were then brought to the Drava riverbank, where the unit's members executed them, with their hands tied behind their backs with sellotape.

Glavas was first found guilty in 2009 and sentenced to ten years in prison. But on the day his verdict was read out at Zagreb County Court, he fled to...