Exemption of Trial Chamber Chair in Ostojic Trial Requested

At today’s hearing of the Zarije Ostojic trial, the defense requested the exemption of the trial chamber chair based on a suspicion of bias in favour of the prosecution.

Dragan Gotovac, Ostojic’s defense attorney, said his client had obtained an audio recording made on October 18, 2011, in which judge and current trial chamber chair Zinaida Husic put pressure on an injured party to testify. Gotovac said the judge intended to base her verdict on the injured party’s testimony.

“This shows that the chairwoman decided to render a verdict in favour of the prosecution,” Gotovac said.

The district prosecution has charged Zarije Ostojic, a former member of reserve police forces with the special unit of the public safety station in Vlasenica, with participating in the assault of civilians in the Susica detention camp in the municipality of Vlasenica during 1992.

The indictment alleges that Ostojic, accompanied by other members of the formation, took Bosniaks out of the detention camp and beat them with police batons and rifle butts, and also kicked and punched them. The indictment alleges that Ostojic beat a detainee named Mirsad Ombasic twice.

Mirsad Ombasic, who was apprehended by court police because he had failed to respond to the court’s summons, testified at a hearing held on October 18, 2011. He refused to testify, saying he had given statements in the Ostojic case before.

“I have been giving statements for 16 years. I am fed up with it. I testified before this court in April last year. I still haven’t been reimbursed for the travel costs. Nobody handed the summons over to me, but they sent it to the court police. I don’t want to testify before this court,” Ombasic had said.

At today’s hearing, Ombasic said he stuck to the statement he had previously given. Although it was explained to him several times that it was necessary for him to testify again because a trial chamber member had been replaced in the meantime, Ombasic refused to do so. Afterwards he was allowed to leave the courtroom.

Tarik Crnkic, a prosecutor with the district prosecution in Eastern Sarajevo, said the defense attorney’s request to remove the trial chamber chair was unfounded, and said the defense should have reacted immediately.

Trial chamber chairwoman Zinaida Husic said the trial would be adjourned until the court had rendered a final decision.

A witness who was expected to testify at this hearing fainted after having left the courtroom.

The Ostojic trial began in 2009.