Defence Requests Exemption of Judge
At the beginning of the retrial of Vlatko Jarak before the Mostar Cantonal Court the Defence requests the exemption of Trial Chamber Chairman Hamo Kebo.
This post is also available in: Bosnian
Following the reading of the indictment, which charges Jarak with crimes in Stolac, Defence attorney Branko Karadeglic said that the Defence considered that there were justified reasons for the exemption of the Chamber Chairman.
Karadeglic explained his claims by saying that Hamo Kebo was a detainee in the Heliodrom and Dretelj detention camps during the war in 1993, so, as he said, he was an injured party or a victim.
“The Defence doubts the impartiality and objectivity of the Chamber Chairman in handling this case, so it requests his exemption,” Karadeglic said.
When asked by the Chamber Chairman why the request had not been filed earlier, i.e. during the first instance trial, the Defence attorney said that he had obtained the mentioned pieces of information since then.
After that the trial was postponed until an extra-procedural council had rendered a decision concerning the Defence’s request.
The Mostar Cantonal Court pronounced Jarak guilty, on June 21, 2012, of having participated in the forcible transfer and unlawful detention of Bosniaks from the Stolac area during July and August 1993. He was sentenced to one year in prison.
The verdict was quashed by the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, FBiH.
The Court of BiH confirmed the indictment against Jarak in December 2010 and then referred the case to the Mostar Court.
