Custody Extension for Miralem Macic Requested

The Prosecution has filed the custody extension motion for Macic due to a danger that he might influence witnesses while at liberty, as he allegedly did in the past. It further said that the public would be disturbed in case he was released to liberty.
 
“I am saying and supporting my statement with documents that there are extraordinary circumstances for custody extension, because he was previously sentenced for war crimes. In addition to threatening witnesses, he also threatened the persons who were involved in the investigation of this crime,” Prosecutor San ja Jukic said, objecting to the proposal for ordering prohibiting measures against indictee Macic.
 
Dusko Tomic, Defence attorney of the indictee, asked the Court to order Macic into home detention, adding that his client had spoken to the persons who were supposed to testify for the Defence.
 
“He asked those persons to say what they know and not lie. If the Prosecution is saying that he influenced witnesses by doing that, it does not believe its witnesses. For me, such witnesses are dishonest from the very beginning,” Tomic said, adding that the public would not be disturbed by Macic’s stay at liberty, because he spent 12 years in prison.
 
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Miralem Macic, known as Maca, former member of the Public Safety Station in Konjic, with having killed two Serb civilians in late May 1992.
 
The indictment alleges that Macic, who was accompanied by other members of the Public Safety Station in Konjic, deprived one Serb civilian of his life in June or July 1992.
 
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina alleges that, following the capture of many Serb civilians in Bradina, Konjic municipality in late May 1992, Macic caused severe bodily and mental suffering to those prisoners.
 
Macic served a 12-year imprisonment sentence, pronounced by the Cantonal Court in Mostar and confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2001, for having killed Djuro and Vlasta Golubovic and their two young children in Konjic municipality in July 1992.
 
Macic was arrested in May this year. He has been held in custody since.
 
Tomic said that his client was determined to defend himself by truth, adding that his family supports him in that. He said that he had written a 50-page diary about the events that took place in Konjic and its surroundings.
 
“I am saying that the criminal proceedings can be conducted without any problems in case Miralem Macic is ordered into home detention,” Tomic said.
 
The Court will render its decision at a later stage.

A.S.