| Prosecutor's Office seeks Punishment for Naser Oric and Sabahudin Muhic |
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| Friday, 02 November 2018 | |
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SARAJEVO, November 2 /SRNA/ - The Prosecutor's Office of BiH has proposed to the Appellate Chamber of the Court of BiH to punish the commander of the so-called BiH Army in Srebrenica, Naser Oric, and a member of that Army, Sabahudin Muhic, in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code, as it believes it proved that the accused killed three Serbs in 1992.
Prosecutor Miroslav Janjic stressed in his closing argument that the defence teams of the accused have not challenged the position of the Prosecutor’s Office with any of the evidence. Janjic has said the precisely defined indictment, which he submitted today to the Appellate Chamber, is based on the testimonies of a number of witnesses, including eyewitnesses of these crimes.
According to him, the defence team tried to discredit the protected witness "O-1" in the first instance and second instance proceedings, but failed to prove that his testimony was not credible.
The prosecutor denied an attempt to present the protected witness as an individual of conflict personality and a person prone to crime, with the facts that "O-1" was several times mildly punished for endangering public traffic, and that after major traumas he had experienced he consumed alcohol for a short time and was twice involved in bar brawls, which is not a reason to disbelieve his testimonies. Janjic has said that the minutes of the O-1 court hearing in the BiH Prosecutor's Office in 2014 was not legal because it was not completed as the witness left the court hearing. In both cases, the witness explained that he had left the court hearing as he feared for not knowing the people whom he testified to, and over his discomfort being heard by someone in religious clothes. The prosecutor has pointed out that for this reason, "O-1" did not say that Oric committed the murders, and that he almost identically testified in both court proceedings. Janjic has said that it was not easy for protected witness to testify on these events as he spoke against his own army and his commander, and in favour of the Republika Srpska Army that killed numerous members of his family, including his two brothers. He also mentioned that the members of the BiH State Investigation and Protection Agency /SIPA/ escorted him and his family from BiH as they feared of their lives, since an attack on his brother and 70-year-old mother was carried out during the first instance proceedings and that his sister was under pressure during retrial, which was recorded by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and the SIPA. According to Janjic, after being wounded twice and losing many family members, the witness felt particularly badly after being told that he was not a member of the so-called BiH Army. Although the witness’ emotions have always been turbulent, Janjic has stressed that he was always consistent in terms of key facts. His statements coincide with the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses in the first instance proceedings, the members of the Republika Srpska Army, who were in Zalazje, in the attic of Dragan Rakic's house, some of whom seen and some of whom heard that Slobodan Ilic surrendered. This witness said that he saw the way in which Ilic was killed, which coincides with the murder description in the book “Planed Chaos", authored by the former prosecution witness, Ibran Mustafic." The protected witness said that Oric first punched Ilic, who was tied, in his face, then stubbed him in the neck or shoulders, and that after he had fallen, Oric kept kicking Ilic who was covered in blood and then shot him from an automatic rifle. The prosecutor has recalled that several defence witnesses had claimed that the accused Oric did not take part in the attack on the villages of Bjelovac and Kunjerac, what the Prosecutor’s Office denied by presenting the evidence from The Hague Tribunal, where Oric personally stated that he participated in the operations in those villages. The Kunjerac operation is also mentioned in the book "Behind Closed Doors" by Fahrudin Alic, in which the author described how he, Naser Oric and the Srebrenica units participated in the attacks on the villages of Kunjerac and Bjelovac, so defence witnesses’ testimonies are not credible. The prosecutor has said that "O-1" confirmed that, with discomfort, he watched over the mass of the people that the indictees Oric and Muhic killed Milutin Milosevic, who he knew. Janjic has recalled that prosecution witness Kasim Mehic confirmed that Milosevic was killed, buried beside the water and covered in lime. Milosevic's wife, Radmila, testified that she had been told once she had called for her husband that "Milutin was on a wagon trailer, which Oric and Muhic took care of." The prosecutor said that "O-1" confirmed that the accused killed Mitar Savic, too. Janjic believes that defence team’s physical evidence is contradictory, stating that they first introduced dozens of evidence on Oric's military engagement, and later only a file listing his involvement in monitoring the veterans' status review at the Federal Ministry of Veterans Affairs. Prior to the closing arguments, the Prosecutor’s Office submitted a precisely defined indictment, in which the main amendment relates to the modus operandi of a murder in Zalazje, and it cites that Oric, apart from stubbing and punching, shot at the prisoner of war. The defence team filed the letter of the Federal Ministry of War Veternas as the last evidence, striving to prove that Oric could not influence the revision of the"O-1" witness’ status with his involvement in this institution. Oric and Muhic are accused of killing three of the captured Serbs - Slobodan Ilic, Milutin Milosevic and Mitar Savic in Zalazje, Lolici and Kunjerac. On June 8, the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina dismissed the first-instance acquittal of Oric and Muhic over essential violations of the provisions of the criminal procedure and ordered a retrial. At a status conference on September 3, the Appellate Chamber rejected prosecutor Miroslav Janjic's motion to hear again all prosecution witnesses during the retrial, and decided to hear Radivoje Ostojic and the protected witness "O-1" again. The closing arguments of the defence team are scheduled for 9 November. 
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