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Prosecutor Dzermin Pasic has requested the extension of custody because of the danger that the three suspects while at liberty could influence on witnesses and accomplices.
“We simply need custody so that the investigation could can unobstructed. It is a complex case with two municipalities where we have multiple bodies and large numbers of evidence,” Pesic said.
He added that one of the witnesses had contacted the BIH Prosecution and said that person closest to the indicted Bjelosevic have threatened him.
Bjelosevic’s Defence on the other hand requested that the request for extension of custody be denied and that measures of prohibition to the suspects be determined.
“Claims of the Prosecution that Bjelosevic, as a valued person in the community, controlled investigation are unbelievable. The indicted Bjelosevic is valued in his community and he built his image by professional work, but that is something positive that shouldn’t be taken against him,” defence attorney Tatjana Savic said.
Bjelosevic himself said that he never committed that crimes and that he considers that whole case was prepared to him by an “organised criminal group” which prepares false witnesses.
“I was already announced that the group is working against me and that they even set up the liquidation for me because of my work in the police,” Bjelosevic said.
Lawyers of the indicted Savic and Kuzmanovic said that it is unacceptable that evidence on which the Prosecution based their reasonable doubt are not given to the Defence.
“The situation in this case in changed. At the beginning we had 12 suspects. Now we have one indictment against six people and the extension of custody is requested for just three of them. The only thing that remains is that Prosecution doesn’t have anything specifically against my defendant,” Vesna Tupajic-Skiljevic, who defends indicted Kuzmanovic, said.
The BiH Court will bring the decision later.
Bjelosevic, Savic and Kuzmanovic were originally arrested in early September this year because of the suspicion that they participated in crimes against non-Serbs in the areas of Teslic and Doboj.
Marinko Djuric, Miroslav Pijunovic and Dobrivoje Culibrk are suspected of the same crimes while the State prosecution already raised charges against Dragan Marjanovic, Sasa Gavranovic, Vitomir Devic, Zoran Sljuk, Darijo Slavuljica and Dragomir Kezunovic for the killings of Bosniak civilians in June 1992 on the mountain of Borje (Teslic municipality).
Judge Darko Samardzic asked the prosecutor why the proposition for the extension of custody wasn’t filed before the expiry of working hours on Friday and whether he intended to re-connect the cases if he raises a second indictment.
The prosecutor Pesic said that he finished the file only after working hours and he didn’t want to talk whether the cases against all suspects will be re-connected.
- Case: Marjanovic et al.
- City: Doboj
- City: Teslic
- Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Person: Bjelosevic Andrija
- Person: Culibrk Dobrivoj
- Person: Devic Vitomir
- Person: Djuric Marinko
- Person: Gavranovic Sasa
- Person: Kezunovic Dragomir
- Person: Kuzmanovic Dusan
- Person: Marijanovic Dragan
- Person: Pijunovic Miroslav
- Person: Savic Milan
- Person: Slavuljica Dario
- Person: Sljuk Zoran
