Mujcinovic and Hrustic: Indictee Wants to Be Detained

After that, indictee Zurahid Mujcinovic requests the Court to order him into custody, because he “does not have any more money for coming to the Court”.

Mujcinovic was irritated by the postponement of the trial due to the absence of witness Lazar Stanisic, whose examination was requested by the Trial Chamber members.

“I am asking for a custody measure. I do not have the money to defend myself while at liberty,” Mujcinovic said. Trial Chamber Chairman Davorin Jukic responded by saying that he should address the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as it was in charge of proposing custody measure for indictees.

Jukic said that Stanisic, who lives in Serbia, had received the summons, but he did not know why he failed to appear, adding that his absence was probably due to the short time that had elapsed from the receipt of the summons.

Midhat Skenderovic, Defence attorney of indictee Mujcinovic, said that it was not clear to him why the Chamber insisted on having witness Stanisic examined.

Prosecutor Adnan Gulamovic said that this witness was “beaten up more than anybody else” during his detention in the Youth Centre in Rapatnica, near Srebrenik.

Under the indictment, Mujcinovic and Sulejman Hrustic are charged with the inhumane treatment of Serb civilians, who were held in the Youth Centre in Rapatnica village, near Srebrenik in the summer of 1992.
According to the charges, acting on his own, Mujcinovic abused a prisoner physically and mentally on several occasions and, acting in collaboration with Hrustic, participated in the abuse of another prisoner several times.

The State Prosecution alleges that the indictees were members of the 21st Mountain Brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The trial is due to continue on August 22.