Key witnesses to confront each other in Maktouf case

After two hours of futile attempts to set up a video link with former state prosecutor Jonathan Schmidt, the Appeal Council gave up on plans to question him as part of proceedings against Abduldahim Maktouf.

Schmidt was the prosecutor in the first instance trial of Maktouf, after which the trial chamber sentenced the accused to five years of imprisonment.

However,the Appeal Council overturned the original verdict and sent the case for a retrial, which started on February 1 this year.

Maktouf is charged with participating and aiding the Al Mujaheed unit in the illegitimate arrest, detention and abduction of Croat civilians in Travnik who were later physically abused while one was decapitated.

According to the charges sheet, Maktouf drove one of the two vehicles used to transport the hostages and took part in planning the abduction, the operation itself and events which followed.

The Appeal Council wanted the original prosecutor to testify in the trial because new facts have since come to light.

The testimony by a defence witness earlier this week indicated that one of the prosecution’s protected witnesses, an Egyptian called Abu Dzafer, may in fact be guilty of the crime the accused has been charged with.

The new facts were revealed after the testimony of Ramo Durmis, a former military agent of the Al Mujaheed unit. Durmis said on Monday that it was Abu Jaffer, and not Maktouf, who was driving the van used to transport the civilians kidnapped in Travnik in October 1993.

At the hearing on March 14, prosecutor Peter Kidd asked the Appeal Council for Schmidt’s testimony to be given in closed session, in the event that the video link could be made to work, because it would deal with the internal workings of the prosecution, including confidential matters

The defence objected, saying that excluding the public audience would leave room for manipulation.
As the attempts to set up a video link failed, the Appeal Council gave up on questioning the former prosecutor.

The Council called for a continuation of the trial on March 17, which is outside the original timetable, in order to bring the prosecution’s protected witness Abu Dzafer and defence witness Ramo Durmis face to face to discuss their conflicting testimonies.

The Iraqi-born Maktouf has lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1980 and speaks Bosnian fluently.

During the war, he is alleged to have provided logistical, financial and translation support to mujahedin fighters from Arab countries. Maktouf has also been accused of being a member of the Al Mujaheed unit for a period of time.

The indictment claims that several witnesses recognised Maktouf as the driver of the van used in the abduction in question.