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Prosecutor Ibro Bulic requested the custody due to possibility of escape and influence on accomplices and witnesses. He said that the suspects have dual citizenship and that three of them live in other countries.
“They should be placed in custody, because when faced with these charges, they could try to avoid the responsibility and become unavailable… There is a risk if they remain free, they could influence each other, as well as other persons,” said Bulic.
Defence attorneys objected to the custody, saying that it is enough to impose a travel ban on the suspects and order them to hand over their documents.
“The Prosecutor’s request is general. He says that there is the risk of escape, because my defendant has dual citizenship. We know because of the war that 90 percent of the Croatian citizens have Croatian citizenship, but Bosnia and Herzegovina has agreements with Serbia and Croatia, and only because of this fact he cannot be placed in custody”, said Idriz Kamenica, lawyer of the suspect Barukcic.
Prosecutor said that those bans wouldn’t be of use and that they plan to finish the investigation in no longer than 30 days.
Brnjic, Ilija and Pavo Glavas, and Barukcic, former members of Croatian Defense Council, were arrested on April 20 and 21 on suspicion that they committed crimes in the Odzak area, including the rapes of several Serb women, from June until August in 1992.
Pavo Glavas said that he was not in the Odzak area at the time and that he has nothing to do with those allegations.
“If you do not release me today, that entails the consequences, I will lose my documents in Switzerland, and my existence will be threatened. This will change my life,” he said.
Barukcic has also said that he did not participate in the crimes he is charged with, and that he has an evidence that he was not in the area in that period.
Defence lawyers said that their clients have no motive to influence witnesses and accomplices. The Prosecutor said at the end of the hearing that he received information that one victim was threatened, but that he still has no proof of that.
The Bosnian court will later decide about the request.
