Verdict against Frano Vulic Due November 13

Presenting her closing statement, Prosecutor Sabina Beganovic pointed out that the witnesses had clearly described that, on July 14, 1993 Vulic, former military policeman of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, kept guard in front of a hangar in Dretelj, where Bosniak men were held, and that he killed Hasan, Izet and Omer Duvnjak by opening fire from an automatic gun.
 
“They all mentioned in their statements that an HVO member shot through the window and that the shooting resulted in the wounding of three members of Duvnjak family. Their statements were consistent… They were deprived of food and water. They even had to drink their urine. They were scared, so it is very understandable that, while being afraid for their lives, they were not able to assess the exact number of fired bullets,” Beganovic said.
 
The Prosecutor particularly mentioned the testimony by Kresimir Bogdanovic, the then Commander of the Second Company with the Fifth Battalion of HVO military police, who described having see Vulic immediately after the murder of the Duvnjaks.
 
“He said that a military policeman came and informed him about the shooting. He then went to the place where the shooting had happened. He said that he saw three military policemen at that place and that Frano Vulic was among them. Vulic was out of his mind, pale, shaking and said: ‘Move back!’ He kept his automatic gun pipe pointed towards them…He decided to approach Vulic. He turned the gun pipe to the side. He said that the pipe was still hot, which proves that it had been used,” Beganovic said.
 
Presenting her closing statement, Defence attorney Irena Pehar said that the Prosecution had not proved Vulic’s guilt for the murder of the three Duvnjaks during the evidence presentation process.
 
“Protected witnesses A, B, C and D, as well as Ahmet Ljubovic, Mustafa Gorancic and Mujo Miljanovic did not confirm the allegations from the indictment during their testimonies. None of them saw or was able to describe the person who opened fire. When one analyses the testimonies by these witnesses, it is clear that all of them said that only one gunshot was heard and that two persons died due to injuries immediately. A question therefore arises as to how two people could be killed and one wounded with just one bullet,” Pehar said.
 
The Defence attorney mentioned a testimony by witness Kresimir Bogdanovic, who, as she said, “did not confirm who actually shot”.
 
“He did not see that, but he came to such conclusion on the basis of the hot gun pipe, which he took from the indictee. Nobody was interested in the event circumstances and who the persons, whom he saw standing next to the indictee were, and what those persons saw. Nobody can explain why it was like that. The fact that the Crime Section of HVO military police did not undertake a crime scene inspection and determine the circumstances under which the event happened is unacceptable,” the Defence attorney said.
 
She requested the Court to acquit Vulic of the charges and release him to liberty immediately.