Bosniak Soldier Demands Dismissal of Trusina Case Judges
Defence lawyers for Nihad Bojadzic, former deputy commander of the Bosnian Armys Zulfikar Squad, accused of a deadly attack on the village of Trusina, claimed the judges were biased.
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Defence lawyers for Nihad Bojadzic, former deputy commander of the Bosnian Army’s Zulfikar Squad, accused of a deadly attack on the village of Trusina, claimed the judges were biased.
Bojadzic’s defence on Monday called for two of the trial judges to be removed from the case because they recently convicted another soldier of committing crimes during an attack on Trusina, a village near the Bosnian town of Konjic, on the same day in April 1993, in a separate trial.
Judges Vesna Jesenkovic and Stanisa Gluhajic were members of the trial chamber in the case against Edin Dzeko, who was sentenced earlier this month to 12 years in prison over the killings of six Croat fighters and a civilian couple in Trusina on April 16, 1993.
Lawyer Vasvija Vidovic said that the Dzeko verdict was based on the testimonies of several key witnesses who will also give evidence at Bojadzic’s trial, so judges Jesenkovic and Gluhajic must have already formed their opinion about what happened during the April 16 attack.
According to the Bojadzic indictment, 18 civilians and four members of the Croatian Defence Council were killed in the Bosnian Army’s attack on Trusina.
Also on trial for the Trusina killings are former Bosniak soldiers Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic and Nedzad Hodzic.
The Bosnian court will decide on Bojadzic’s defence’s request at a later date.
The trial, which started in September 2010, continues on June 23.
