KEY WITNESS TO THE MASSACRE OF GOSPIĆ SERBS ASSASSINATED

BIJELJINA, AUGUST 27 /SRNA/ – Milan Ljevar, a key witness in the Hague Tribunal's investigation into crimes committed by Croatian forces against Serbs in Gospić, was killed on August 28, 2000, in an explosion planted at his home.

The Gospić massacre took place between October 16 and 18, when Croatian soldiers killed an unknown number of Serb civilians; assumed between 50 and 100.

The entire operation was carried out under the command of Mirko Norac, whose sentence was later reduced, and who, after being released from prison, became a prominent businessman in Croatia.

Croatian soldiers rounded up prominent Serbs in the settlements of Gospić, Karlobag, Pazarište and Lipova Glavica and loaded them onto trucks.

They were taken away and killed, after which their bodies were removed.

According to one witness, Miroslav Bajramović, the Croatian forces received orders "from above" to "kill certain Serb leaders in order to reduce the number of Serbs in Gospić," who were considered "a potential threat" during the war.