Mihaljevic: Court Expert’s Findings

Hamza Zujo, a court expert in medicine testifying at the trial of Zdravko Mihaljevic, has spoken of the exhumation and autopsy of ten bodies of Bosniaks buried in a mass grave in the Tulice area, Kiseljak municipality.

“The complete skeletons of all ten people were found. One body had marks caused by burning. Eight bodies had skeletal injuries. We did not find such injuries on the body of Salko Bajraktarevic,” Zujo has said.

The Prosecution of BiH charges Mihaljevic, as commander of “Maturice” Special Purpose Squad with the Croatian Defence Council (HVO), with having “aided the Prosecution, murder, forcible disappearance and torture of Bosniaks from the village of Tulice in Kiseljak municipality”.

The indictment alleges that Mihaljevic ordered a group of 30 men to walk towards the local cemetery in Tulice. When they arrived there Mihaljevic, and two other members of “Maturice” squad, shot at them and killed seven prisoners. After that, it is claimed that the soldiers pillaged the village and killed a few more residents.

During cross-examination, court expert Zujo has not been able to confirm how each of the persons died, but he has confirmed that all were shot with firearms.

Defence attorney Dusko Tomic has insisted on getting an answer from the court expert concerning the death of Salko Barjaktarevic, whose body was also found in the mass grave, but whose clothes were undamaged.

“We have not determined the cause of death of Barjaktarevic, but we suppose his death was violent,” the court expert has said, explaining that “there were some injuries on his body”, which should not be associated with what he was wearing as “his clothes might have been pulled up”.

At the beginning of the trial, Tomic announced that the defence strategy would be based on the attempt to prove that Mihaljevic had not been in Tulice and that the village residents had not been killed, “but they had died in a different way”. He also mentioned Bajraktarevic and said that no “tissue injuries” were found on his body.

The examination of Zujo was requested by the Prosecution of BiH. In addition, it has also presented material evidence, whose authenticity the Defence has denied by saying that they were “copied documents”.

The Trial Chamber has asked the Prosecution to verify the disputed documents before the next hearing.

The indictee has again failed to appear at the hearing. The Trial  Chamber has read the medical report, which indicates that Mihaljevic “is not capable of traveling from the detention unit in Tuzla to Sarajevo”.

Mihaljevic’s health has been jeopardised by a hunger strike he began 30 days ago.

The trial is due to continue on 15 October.