Local Justice – Bejtic: Trial Postponed

Trial Chamber Chairman Jasenko Ruzic said that one of the Chamber members failed to appear, but the Chamber did not know what the reasons for his absence were.
 
The Cantonal Prosecution in Sarajevo charges Bejtic, former member of the 10th Mountain Brigade with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, with having taken Zoran Vucurevic beyond the division line, which was controlled by ABiH, on December 25, 1992, killed him from a revolver, poured a diluent over his body and set the body on fire.
 
Among other things, the indictment alleges that Bejtic, who was accompanied by other ABiH members, participated in the beating of two civilians in the Tenth Mountain Brigade Command in mid-September 1993. It further alleges that they then took the civilians to Kazani, Sarajevo and killed them.
 
The trial has been postponed until July 13, 2011.
 
In July 2006 the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo sentenced Samir Bejtic to 14 years and six months in prison for the murder of civilians in Kazani, Sarajevo. After the parties appealed the verdict, the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, FbiH, accepted them and ordered a retrial that began in January 2007.
 
Following the retrial, in 2008 Bejtic was acquitted of the charges that he committed the murder, beating and abuse of civilians in Kazani.
 
The Cantonal Prosecution filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of FBiH in November 2010. The verdict was then revoked and a new trial before the Sarajevo Cantonal Court ordered.

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This article is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of Balkan investigative reporting network (BIRN) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.