Bratunac Suspects Held for One Month
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The War crimes Chamber of the Court of BiH has ordered a one-month custody for Mirko Todorovic and Milos Radic.
The first instance trial judge Shireen Avis Fisher ruled that there was reason to believe that both committed crimes against humanity on the territory of Bratunac municipality in 1992.
Fisher has added that her decision to put them in custody was borderline and that “the court does not believe there are enough arguments to prove that the suspects represent a threat to the safety of citizens”.
“There is no evidence that the suspects have threatened witnesses, but there is a risk that this might happen,” the judge said.
The Prosecution has also been ordered to finalise its investigation within the next 30 days.
Prosecutor Ibro Bulic has said that the his department has identified witnesses who can recognise the suspects “as members of the group which detained a certain number of Bosniak civilians from Bratunac”.
It has been said that these civilians were shot after being beaten up.
During its investigation, the Prosecution contacted eight witnesses, including “Serbs who were direct witnesses of the crime in Bratunac”, said Bulic.
“The witnesses do not want to testify out of fear. If the suspects were free, the witnesses would be even more scared,” Bulic pointed out.
Giving an additional reason for putting the suspects in custody, Bulic said that an investigation of “accessories to this crime” was underway, and the suspects might choose to help these people avoid justice.
The Prosecutor did not give the exact number of the suspects.
Stanko Petrovic, designated by the court as defence attorney of Milos Radic, had an objection to the “general” description of actions for which his client is suspected.
“It is not clear which actions are charged upon my client. The mere fact that somebody was at the crime scene does not mean he committed the crime,” concluded Petrovic.
Todorovic and Radic were arrested by the State Agency for Investigation and Protection (SIPA), on a prosecution arrest warrant, in Bratunac on 23 May this year.
