“Plavi Orlovi” Unit not Qualified as “Paramilitary”

Additional witness Behrudin Forto, former employee with the Safety Services Center in Gorazde, confirmed that he and his colleague Omer Taranin took a statement from Mehmed Trgo in 1996.

“The witness described what he went through and survived. He mentioned Milun Kornjaca. (…) He looked depressed and worried,” Forto said.

When asked by Defence attorney Milana Borovcanin-Bulic “in what context he mentioned the indictee”, Forto said that that he could not remember the details.

“It seems to me that it was in the context of the events at Mostina, abuse, and so on. (…) In his statement he mentioned that he was abused and that his teeth were knocked out,” Forto said.

Kornjaca, former Commander of “Plavi Orlovi” (“Blue Eagles”) Unit, is on trial for having committed crimes in Cajnice in April and May 1992. The Defence attorney said that she had no objection to the revised indictment. Indictee Kornjaca said that he was sick and that he needed time to check whether he would propose additional pieces of evidence, considering the fact that the indictment had been revised.

Trial Chamber Chairman Darko Samardzic said that abandoning the term “paramilitary” in reference to “Plavi Orlovi” Unit was the basic change made to the indictment.

The trial is due to continue on February 19, when the Prosecution will present its closing statement unless the Defence proposes additional pieces of evidence.