Three Days for Kovacevics Defence
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The lawyer, Senad Dupovac, said that at the first hearing the defence intended to call military expert witness Mesud Sadinlija, while at the remaining two days it would examine all the other defence witnesses.
We still dont know the exact number of our witnesses, but all of them would certainly be examined in two days. The majority of witnesses would give statements about the alibi of defendant Kovacevic, and some of them would contest testimonies of the witnesses for the Prosecution, said Dupovac.
The lawyer said that the defence would first like to examine the expert witness, who would need three or four weeks to prepare his report. Before the status conference, the state prosecution entered 57 previously presented material exhibits into evidence, while the defence objected to their relevance.
The prosecutor, Dika Omerovic, said that the Prosecution presented all its evidence, except for couple of items and the testimony of its military expert. However, she said, due to technical difficulties, it is still not possible to call the expert.
The Trial Chamber ordered the defence to start presenting its evidence, while the prosecutions expert would give its testimony at a later date.
Zemir Kovacevic, the former member of the Intervention Platoon of the First Bosanski Brod Brigade, is charged with taking part in the armed attack carried out on March 26, 1992, on the village of Sijekovac, where, together with unidentified members of the Croatian Defence Forces and Croatian Army, he committed crimes against Serb civilians.
He is charged with taking 15 Serb people and four children from the houses out to the yard, some of whom were killed.
The trial of Kovacevic started in last July last year, after he has been extradited from Sweden a year before.
Having in mind the time the expert for the defence needs to prepare his report, it was agreed that at the next hearing scheduled for Wednesday, October 23 the state Prosecution present its remaining physical evidence, while the Defence would lay out a detailed plan for the presentation of its evidence.
