The former mayor of the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar, Slavko Dokmanovic, has gone on trial at the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, charged with taking part in a massacre during the war in Croatia.

Mr Dokmanovic, a Croatian Serb, is accused of involvement in an incident in 1991, in which rebel Serbs, protected by the Federal Yugoslav Army, gunned down at least 200 mainly Croatian men.

The city was deserted by all fit enough to leave

Vukovar, which lies on the Danube was almost destroyed during a two month siege in 1991. The dead were left unburied at Vukovar hospital, and the wounded remained cowering in the cellars. The War crimes tribunal is now examining allegations that civilians were taken from Vukovar hospital to another nearby town and executed.

Hague forensic experts later uncovered mass graves

A mass grave was discovered by the tribunal's forensic experts last autumn. Slavko Dokmanovic is alleged to have organised the killings. He was apprehended in eastern Slovenia last June an arrested by order of a warrant from the Hague.

Three former members of the Army, who remain at large, are also charged.

The wounded hid in Vukovar hospital

A BBC correspondent in The Hague says it's the first trial at the Tribunal involving crimes allegedly committed by regular soldiers.

In the post-war climate, the trial's importance has much to do with justice being seen to be done.

The removal and detention of suspected war criminals removal also makes it easier to manage the transition to peace.

Last week, UN-administered Eastern Slovonia was handed back to Croatian rule.
 

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