Handzic: Decision on Plea Deal Postponed Again
This post is also available in: Bosnian
The Trial Chamber asked the Prosecution to complete the information about missing persons because new data have been obtained since Handzic gave a statement as part of the guilt admission process.
“We have still not rendered a decision because the Court asked the Prosecution to complete the information and get in touch with the injured parties again. Apart from that, an additional statement will be taken from the indictee,” Trial Chamber Chairman Davorin Jukic said.
The Chamber considered the agreement, which was signed on April 26, at a closed session held on May 4. However, on Wednesday, May 11, it postponed its decision because it had received a confidential document on the eve of that hearing. The document was discussed again at the hearing held today, which was closed to public.
Prosecutor Slavica Terzic said that the new information had been obtained through some checks in the field, which followed Handzic’s statement.
“We have determined that the information given by the indictee to the Prosecution is correct. These pieces of information are very useful for other investigations into the same events that happened in Bugojno,” Prosecutor Slavica Terzic said.
She said that this was the first time the Prosecution had been informed about the murder location for Jadranko Gvozden, Perica Kovacevic and Nikica Milos and the whereabouts of their bodies.
“Prior to Handzic’s testimony, we did not have that information,” Terzic said, but she did not reveal further details in the presence of the public.
Under the guilt admission agreement, Handzic could be sentenced to between five and ten years in prison.
The indictment, which was revised following the conclusion of the plea deal, charges Handzic with responsibility for sending Croat prisoners to locations, where they dug trenches, and failure to open investigations against military policemen who participated in physical abuse and murders committed in Bugojno in 1993.
According to the charges, Handzic was Assistant Commander for Security with the 307th Brigade of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The next hearing is due to be held on Wednesday, May 18, when the Trial Chamber will announce whether it has accepted the agreement or not.
M.T.
