Kujundzic: Psyhological trauma

Bosnia’s Prosecution has presented its findings and opinion of the expert concerning the psychological state of witness number 2.

Senadin Fadilpasic, the psychology expert who testified in Predrag Kujunzic’s trial, presenting his findings of a psychology examination that he conducted on witness 2, stating that he came upon ”clear conclusions” that she is suffering from a ”chronic form of post-traumatic stress disorder.”

”This disorder is the result of the experienced war trauma, probably of those that the witnesses described -rapes and the murder of her brother and as a final result we have indications of depressing and hysterical behaviour,” stated the expert.

Protected witness 2 gave her statement in the case on 27 August at a closed session.

The Bosnian Prosecution charges Predrag Kujundzic as commander of a paramilitary formation with the sexual mistreatment against protected witness number 2 and for holding her in slavery by threatening to kill her mother and sister.

The indictment also states that Kujundzic deprived the freedom of movement of, and raped witness 2 several times who in that time was a minor.

In his findings, the expert especially mentioned the witness’s wish to participate in her healing process,and stressed that she was ”extremely motivated to testify in front of this Court in order to finally leave her suffering behind her”.

Miroslav Ristic, defender of the indictee asked if is it possible that witness 2 with that type of attitude towards the trial is trying to secure secondary annuity or gain, on which the expert replied that he did not get that impression because the witness is ”just motivated to say what happened and to recover from what happened to her”.

During the cross examination, the expert confirmed that in some cases such trauma ”amnesia or forgetting the details of some painful event” could occur but he did not come upon any evidence of such case during the examination of witness 2.

The trial continues on 12 September.