The production manager and graphic designer at the NCL Media Group, Ivica Horvat and Vedran Duhacek respectively, on Wednesday testified in the trial of six persons charged with the murder of the co-owner and journalist of the political weekly Nacional, Ivo Pukanic, and his marketing director, Niko Franjic.
The witnesses told judges at the Zagreb County Court that they were in the basement of the Nacional building when Pukanic and Franjic were killed by a bomb planted in the building's car park in central Zagreb on October 23, 2008.
They said that before leaving the building Pukanic told them goodbye and when he stepped outside they heard an explosion. They added that they suffered slight injuries from the blast.
Horvat said that Pukanic, his long-time friend, had not told him that he was in danger or that he had any indications as to who had carried out the first attempt on his life, which took place several months before his assassination.
The court heard two more witnesses and set the next hearing for February 22.
The accused are cousins Robert and Luka Matanic, Amir Mafalani, Zeljko Milovanovic, Bojan Guduric and Slobodan Djurovic.
Guduric and Milovanovic were not in the dock. Guduric is in custody in Sarajevo awaiting extradition to Croatia, while Milovanovic is in custody in Belgrade.
