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Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.002 = Gazette article 1994-01-26; 1994-01-26
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Dear Subscribers:
     The following letter appeared in today's Gazette:
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War-crimes case of Windsor, Ont., man moves to Budapest to videotape 
elderly witnesses
by STEHEN BINDMAN, SOUTHAM NEWS
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OTTAWA - The war-crimes case against an elderly Windsor, Ont., man is 
moving to an unusual locale next month - the Canadian embassy in Budapest.
     Justice Department prosecutors and lawyers for 82-year-old Radislav 
Grujicic will travel to the Hungarian capital to videotape the testimony of 
17 elderly witnesses.
     Some of the testimony, which will be supervised by a retired Canadian 
judge, may be played back at Grujicic's jury trial scheduled to begin in 
April.
     "If the witnesses are available, then obviously we're not going to use 
the video," said chief prosecutor Ivan Whitehall.
     "But some of the witnesses indicated that they would not come or 
cannot come to Canada because of their age. Others may want to come but 
all of these people are old people and therefore I want to make sure that 
should something happen between now and then, I have their evidence. It's 
insurance."
     Although all of the witnesses are from the former Yugoslavia, Budapest 
was chosen "for the mutual convenience of all concerned," Whitehall said.
     "There are a variety of factors but obviously the current situation in 
Yugoslavia is one of them."
     The federal government will pay all the costs of the trip, which could 
last two to three weeks.
     Permission to take evidence abroad was given by an Ontario judge 
despite objections from Grujicic's lawyer.
     In 1991, the war-crimes case against a Renfrew, Ont., man crumbled 
after another judge twice refused permission to send a special commission 
to the former Soviet Union and Germany to videotape evidence. The judge 
ruled Michael Pawlowski would not receive a fair trial if the videotaped 
testimony of 12 witnesses was played before a Canadian jury.
     Grujicic, who also uses the name Marko Jankovic, was charged in 
December 1992 with war crimes committed in German-occupied Yugoslavia 
during World War II.
     The retired book-seller, who came to Canada in 1948, has pleaded not 
guilty to 10 counts of murder and one count each of conspiracy to commit 
murder and kidnapping.
     He is alleged to have been a senior member of the Belgrade Special 
Police and accused of participating with Nazi occupation forces in the 
roundup of suspected communists and communist sympathizers. They were 
either murdered or sent to forced labor camps in Germany between 1941 and 
1944.
     The Justice Department's war-crimes unit has faced heavy criticism 
from Jewish groups for its slowness in launching prosecutions since 1987 
Criminal Code amendments allowed Canadian courts to try charges related to 
war crimes committed elsewhere.
     Grujicic was the first person charged by the Nazi-hunters in almost 
three years.
     All previous prosecutions ended in failure - two sets of charges were 
dropped while the jury acquittal of retired Toronto restaurateur Imre Finta 
has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
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Gazette, Montreal, Wednesday, January 26, 1994 - B4
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     Note that the article does not give the name of the Ontario judge, who 
gave permission to take evidence abroad (contrary to to previous rulings by 
Justice James Chadwick), nor does it name the retired Canadian judge who 
will be supervising the proceedings.
     The situation reminds me of the Otto Horn testimony in the Demjanjuk 
case, which with appropriate OSI coaching turned into a positive 
identification from what had originally been a negative one. Staged dress 
rehearsals may be useful in the movie and entertainment businesses, but it 
is completely inappropriate in the field of justice.
     As you may have guessed from my previous postings, I am categorically 
opposed to the "mail-order" justice the above scenario implies. If the 
witnesses are well enough to travel to Budapest, then they are well enough 
to travel to and testify in Canada. 
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Will Zuzak; DESCROCK.002 = Gazette article 1994-01-26; 1994-01-26
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