Kornjaca: Trial Due to Begin on February 11
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At a status conference held before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, two court experts, a cardiologist and psychiatrist, presented their findings and opinions, saying that indictee Kornjaca was fit to stand trial but he had to undergo heart surgery.
“We do not recommend that hearings last longer than 90 minutes. We advise the indictee to check his blood pressure regularly and take his medication,” cardiologist Gordana Jokic said. Court expert Marija Kaucic-Komsic, a psychiatrist, agreed with her, adding that Kornjaca “does not show any signs of mental illness”.
Trial Chamber Chairman Darko Samardzic asked indictee Kornjaca if he wanted to undergo heart surgery in Tuzla or “opt for a shortened process”. The indictee responded by saying he would agree to undergo the surgery in Serbia.
The Trial Chamber announced earlier that it was not possible for him to undergo surgery abroad.
Kornjaca was originally charged under the same indictment as Milorad Zivkovic and Dusko Tadic, but his case was separated from the case against the two other indictees due to Kornjaca’s illness.
The men are charged with participation in a broad and systematic attack against the non-Serb population of Cajnice municipality and the detention, torture, murder and forcible resettlement of civilians from that area.
They are charged with having participated, by shooting from automatic guns and throwing hand grenades, in the murder of 11 civilians who were detained in the hunters’ house in Mostina in May 1992.
The indictment alleges that Kornjaca was Commander of the Plavi orlovi (Blue Eagles) paramilitary unit, Tadic was a member of that Unit and Zivkovic was Chief of the Public Safety Station in Cajnice and a member of the Crisis Committee in that town.
Defence attorney Vesna Tupajic-Skiljevic said the court experts’ findings were incomplete because they had not prepared the findings on the basis of complete documentation. She asked the Court to approve an additional assessment. The Trial Chamber rejected the request.
