Croatia opens trial on four suspected war criminals
A man who survived a firing squad has testified in court against four former police officers over war crimes charges.
The accusations cover his shooting along with the killing of six other people during the country's 1991 war.
Savo Kovac told the court he managed to escape after being beaten and shot by a firing squad after masked men had abducted him from his home, reports said..
Mr Kovac's testimony came on the first day of the trial of a former police chief, Luka Markesic, and three former members of the special police - Zdenko Radic, Zoran Maras and Ivan Orlovic.
The four are accused of capturing six Yugoslav army reservists and killing them in a woods on the outskirts of Bjelovar, some 45 miles east of the capital, Zagreb. They are also accused of attempting to murder Kovac, a civilian.
The suspects were arrested in August and have since been held in police custody.
Prime Minister Ivica Racan's government has shown a greater willingness to try Croats on charges related to the war than its predecessor, the government of hard-line President Franjo Tudjman, who insisted that only Serbs had committed atrocities during the war.
