Serbs charged with murder of Croat prisoners go on trial

THE TRIAL of eight Serbs accused of committing war crimes during vicious fighting for the Croatian town of Vukovar in 1991 opens today in a special Serbian court.

The trial is the latest test of Belgrade's ability to hold war crimes trials in domestic courts, a key demand of the new Serbian government amid growing opposition here to the United Nations tribunal at The Hague.

Serbia's special prosecutor for war crimes, Vladimir Vukcevic, charged the men in December last year for allegedly murdering ethnic Croat prisoners from the Vukovar hospital in November 1991.