Prosecutor Demands Jail for ‘Ruthless’ Bosnian Serb

Prosecutor Behaija Krnjic said in his closing argument on Wednesday that all five counts of the war crimes indictment against Dragicevic, alias ‘Krompir’ (‘Potato’) had been proven.

Krnjic said that there were no extenuating circumstances and that the court should bear in mind the ruthlessness and cruelty of his crimes.

The crimes, the prosecutor explained, were committed “in chaotic times” in the Grbavica neighbourhood while Sarajevo was under siege by Bosnian Serb forces. As well as many murders, there was a “widespread wave of abuse and detentions for no specific reason”.

Dragicevic raped a woman who was powerless because she was working in a compulsory labour platoon, Krnjic said.

“He undressed her, undressed himself, lay down on top of her and carried out sexual intercourse. Then the defendant carried out sexual intercourse again, after she took a shower… The defendant took advantage of the situation she was in and of her powerlessness,” he said.

According to the prosecution, the defendant committed majority of his crimes together with Veselin ‘Batko’ Vlahovic, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison earlier this year for murder, rape, abuse and robbery in Grbavica.

Krnjic also talked about a count in the indictment which charges Dragicevic with taking money from a protected witness codenamed A-2, after Vlahovic hit him and threatened to kill him.

“[The witness] heard people call him ‘Potato’… He handed Potato 14,000 Deutschmarks, 400 [Swedish] Krona and some gold from his wife,” said the prosecutor.

The trial will resume on October 30 with closing arguments from the defence.