Artukovic Verdict Wednesday

The Zagreb district court trying 86-year-old Andrija Artukovic on charges of murder when he was interior minister of the Nazi puppet state of Croatia from 1941 to 1945 decided today to pass judgment on him on Wednesday, ignoring defense pleas that the indictment should be thrown out because it was full of legal holes.

The court announced the decision after the defense counsel, the prosecution, and the lawyer of a family allegedly the victim of one of the charges, summed up their cases against the former Seal Beach, Calif., man.