Home Detention for Petar Kovacevic Proposed

Prosecutor Dzevad Muratbegovic said that the process against Kovacevic, who is 70 years old, was in the initial phase and that the prohibiting measures were requested in order to make sure that he would not flee to Serbia, where his daughters lived. Besides that, he requested the Court to order the suspect to report to a police station once a week.

According to the Prosecutor, witnesses’ statements indicate that there is a grounded suspicion that Kovacevic committed crimes against humanity.

The Defence objected to the prohibiting measures, while Defence attorney Petko Pavlovic said that there was no legal ground for “ordering such strict prohibiting measures”. As he said, the Defence denied the existence of a grounded suspicion, because the information provided by witnesses was indirect.

Pavlovic said that Kovacevic was involved in agriculture on his land and that he had to visit doctors because he had health problems.

The suspect said that he did not consider himself guilty. “I plead not guilty. I shall not flee,” said Kovacevic, who responded to previous invitations by the State Prosecution to appear.

The Court will render a decision about the prohibiting measures at a later stage.