A formal indictment was brought forward on 5 March, charging the five with the killing of 50 civilians in Gospić and Karlobag. The case was tried in Rijeka County Court, and included the testimony of 120 witnesses in the Rijeka court, 18 survivors of the 1991 attacks in Gospić who testified in Belgrade, and two Croatian nationals who fled to Germany fearing for their own safety. One of these two, surnamed Ropac, refused to testify because he distrusted government assurances regarding his safety. In March 2003, the Court found the defendants guilty; Orešković was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Norac received a sentence of 12 years in prison. Grandić was imprisoned for a term of 10 years. Rožić and Čanić were acquitted due to lack of evidence against them. The case was ultimately appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of Croatia in 2004, which upheld the first-instance convictions of Orešković, Norac and Grandić, as well as the acquittals of Rožić and Čanić. A BBC News analysis claimed the trials indicated a willingness on the part of the Croatian government to deal with war crimes committed by its nationals, following a long period of inactivity described by Rijeka County Court judge Ika Šarić as a "conspiracy of silence".