Serbs To Stand Trial In Belgrade For Vukovar Massacre

Belgrade, 9 March 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The trial opens today in Serbia of suspects accused of massacring more than 200 prisoners near Vukovar, eastern Croatia, in 1991.
The massacre -- in which Croats and non-Serbs were killed at a pig farm after the three-month siege of Vukovar by Serbian forces -- is considered one of the most serious atrocities committed in the violent break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Authorities announced on 8 March that one of the eight men due to stand trial for the killings had died at a prison hospital.

Officials said the suspect, Mirko Vojinovic, had died of injuries sustained two months ago when he jumped from a hospital window in what was described as a suicide attempt.

Officials said the death would not delay the start of the trial.