State Court Requests Shortened List of Witnesses for Barukcic Defense

Martin Barukcic, Marijan Brnjic, Pavo Glavas and Ilija Glavas have been charged with raping Serb women in Odzak from June to August 1992. The indictment alleges they were members of the 102nd Brigade of the Croatian Defense Council at the time.

Anto Lukac, Barukcic’s defense attorney, said he would invite eight witnesses, the testimonies of which would provide an alibi for the defendant and would clarify the circumstances of the crime. He said a number of witnesses would describe the defendant’s personality and that of key state prosecution witnesses.

“The witnesses who’ll testify about witness Joka Goranovic are her closest relatives. They’ll prove that the witness didn’t tell the truth,” Lukac said.

Lukac said approximately 20 witnesses would describe the military formation Barukcic belonged to. Two other witnesses, according to Lukac, would confirm that there was no civilian population in Odzak villages from May 8-16, 1992, as they’d been cleared from the area.

The state prosecution said it didn’t object to the examination of witnesses had an alibi for the defendant, but did object to having witnesses discuss the personalities of Barukcic and other witnesses. According to the state prosecution, only a court expert could provide such testimony.

The trial chamber decided that four witnesses who’d describe Barukcic’s travel to Germany and his membership in a military formation would be invited to the next hearing.

“The chamber will render a decision concerning the other evidence at a later stage. Once the second defendant’s witnesses have been examined, we shall hold another status conference for the other defendants,” said trial chamber chair Jasmina Kosovic.

The next hearing will be held on July 7.