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Explaining the custody extension motion, State Prosecutor Behaija Krnjic said that there was a grounded suspicion that Vlahovic committed the crime for which he is charged, adding that no circumstances had changed since the earlier custody decision.
Krnjic argued that, if released to liberty, Vlahovic might influence witnesses and accomplices. He said that there was “a serious possibility that the public order and peace might be disturbed” and a danger that he might seek to flee.
Defence attorney Radivoje Lazarevic said that his client did not object to staying in detention, leaving it up to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to render a decision it considered correct.
“At the first hearing at which the custody motion was discussed, my client did not object. However, I must say that my client can hardly influence accomplices who are mentioned under the indictment as unidentified persons,” Lazarevic said.
Commenting on the possibility that the public order and peace might be disturbed, Lazarevic said that the media published bombastic headlines to grab the public’s attention, including referring to him as “monster from Grbavica” without providing sufficient arguments for such statements.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina will render a decision on the custody motion at a later stage.
On February 24,, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the indictment against Vlahovic, charging him, as a former member of paramilitary formations, with having committed murders and rape and physically and mentally abused Bosniak and Croat civilians in Grbavica, Kovacici and Vraca, Sarajevo in 1992 and 1993.
Vlahovic has been held in custody since August 26, 2010, when he was extradited from Spain, where he was arrested at the beginning of March 2010.
A.J.
