Public testimony or protecting indictees’ private life

Although the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is working on war crimes cases for the past ten years, for the first time, in the autumn of this year, it made the decision to exclude the public in two cases of wartime sexual abuse in order to protect the private and family life of the indictees. These decisions are made on the proposal of the indictees’ Defences, and, as clarified in the Department of Public Relations of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they are in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which make such decisions possible. Lawyers who are working on war crimes notes that this legal provision also existed before, but they have different views on whether it should be used or not. “In certain situations, the indictee or his lawyer may seek to exclude the public if they believe that the public testimony of some person, will lead to the private life of the parties involved being jeopardised. Such a situation may relate not only to the indictee personally, but also to his family, for example his wife and children, especially in cases of rape,” says lawyer Lejla Covic.Preventing crime

Exclusion of the public occurred for the first time in November this year, during the trial for rape and sexual abuse of Serb victims in Odzak.

Vlado Dragojlovic, president of the regional Association of Detainees for Posavina, says that the witnesses in this case wanted to speak publicly, and that he is extremely disappointed by the decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“In this case, when it comes to victims of rape, I think that the right of the victim to testify publicly should be inviolable and I am very sorry that it was not allowed for them,” says Dragojlovic.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina says it cannot comment on a “procedural” decision until the verdict has been issued, while the State Prosecution emphasised that “they respect the decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina because it is the matter of sexual abuse allegations.”

Because of protecting the private life of the indictee, the public was excluded at the trial of Marijan Brnjic and Pavo and Ilija Glavas, who are indicted of rape, abuse, humiliation and intimidating Serb women in Odzak, and also at the trial of Josip Tolic for similar crimes in Odzak and Bosanski Brod.

The public was also excluded at Gligor Begovic’s trial in order to protect the private life of the indictee, who is indicted of crimes in Bijeljina. Lawyers point out that this will happen more and more often.

At the trial of Brnjic and others, the witness requested to testify publicly, but the Trial Chamber decided otherwise, citing the protection of private life of the indictee.

“For 22 years, indictees were walking freely throughout Europe, and they were never at risk, but no one cares about the rights of victims and their vulnerability,” said Dragojlovic.

Bakira Hasecic, president of the Association “Woman – Victim of War”, agrees with him, and says that it was unfair that the Trial Chambers protects the interests of the indictee more than the interests of the victims of the most serious crimes. “We should respect the will of the witness and the victim, and congratulate her for her courage. By speaking publicly, she will encourage others to break the silence, which should be everyone’s objective, I suppose. Everything in our judiciary is directed towards indictees who have protection in relation to us, the victims. For us, the survivors, the greatest success is to hear the truth of victims and witnesses,” said Hasecic. She adds that the public testimony prevents the recurrence of crimes in the future.

Andjelko Kvesic, the president of the Croat Association of Detainees of the Homeland War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that public testimony about torture eases the victim’s sufferings.

“For me, although I am an amateur in legal matters, it is not clear why that if someone wants the public ro hear the truth and thus alleviate their pain,