A formal inquest of the killings in Gospić was launched in late 2000 and warrants for the arrest of Orešković, Norac, Stjepan Grandić, Ivica Rožić and Milan Čanić were issued in February 2001. Norac evaded arrest for two weeks, convinced that the authorities intended to extradite him to the ICTY. Relatives of Grandić, Rožić and Čanić, aided by residents of Gospić, attempted to prevent the police from arresting the three by surrounding the police vans sent to transport the defendants to custody. The opposition to the prosecution culminated in a 150,000-strong street protest in Split on 11 February. The protests were repeated in Zagreb, where 13,000 protesters appeared. Norac surrendered on 21 February after he received assurances that he would be tried in Croatia rather than by the ICTY.