Verdict for Krajina Crimes Expected in March

Former Bosniak soldiers facing trial at Bosnia’s appeals chamber have requested that the court pronounce them not guilty. Mehura Selimovic, Adil Ruznic, and Emir Mustafic stand accused of abusing prisoners of war at several detention sites in Krajina during the Bosnian war.

Under a first instance verdict, Selimovic, Ruznic and Mustafic were found guilty of enabling and participating in the physical and mental abuse of detainees at the Luke Center in Bihac, the Rad auto repair shop in Cazin, the Adil Besic military barracks, and the Hotel Park premises in Bihac, from April 1994 to January 1996.

Selimovic and Ruznic were both sentenced to eight years in prison, while Mustafic was sentenced to nine. The Appellate Chamber quashed the verdict last year and ordered a new trial.

In his closing statement, Selimovic’s defense attorney Asim Crnalic said that beatings of detainees were not ordered by his client, and that the state prosecution had incorrectly attempted to present the interrogation of detainees as a war crime.

“People are taken prisoner during war. Those who capture someone have the authority to examine that person until they get the information they need. However, one should not exceed certain limits during examination. There is no evidence that Mehura Selimovic exceeded those limits,” said Crnalic.

Crnalic said that prisoners were subjected to torture when captured, but that this had nothing to do with the defendant. He said that the defendant did not commit torture or subject detainees to inhumane treatment.

“Considering all this, I propose that the court pronounce a verdict acquitting my client of these charges,” he said.

Ruznic’s defense attorney Alaga Bajramovic also called for an acquittal, claiming that the prosecution had not demonstrated that Ruznic had abused detainees, interrogated them, or forced them to serve the enemy army. Bajramovic remarked on statements by some witnesses who said that Ruznic had gestured to the guards to beat prisoners.

“None of the witnesses gave the same description of those gestures. Not one single testimony concurs with the other. Had there been a previously agreed upon gesture for beatings, it should have been the same all the time,” Bajramovic said.

Mustafic’s defense attorney Hasan Veladzic said that the witnesses could not be trusted and that his client was neither a guard nor a military policeman, but a clerk. Also, he said that witnesses had described Mustafic as a person with one damaged eye, but they did not mention any other physical traits.

“Emir Mustafic lost his eye while he was young. This influenced his life. He devoted his life to books and music. Deep in his heart he was a hippy. He still belongs to that anti-war movement,” Veladzic said, who requested that the court release his client.

The court is expected to hand down its verdict on March 4.