Neuropsychiatrist Describes Trauma of Victim in Kovacevic Trial

A state prosecution witness at the Petar Kovacevic trial said one of Kovacevic’s alleged victims told her she’d been sexually abused in Visegrad.

Kovacevic, a former member of the Bosnian Serb Army, has been charged with participating in acts of murder, rape and the unlawful arrest of civilians in Visegrad in late May 1992.

Neuropsychiatrist Mersa Hadisalihovic testified at today’s hearing. She said she met protected witness and injured party S1 at the Otoka health center in Sarajevo, and said she seemed “tense and upset.”

“I remember my conversation with her. This person had mental problems. She seemed very tense and upset. She was anxious and couldn’t sit still,” Hadzisalihovic said.

She said S1 had previously been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and hypertension.

Prosecutor Dzevad Muratbegovic asked Hadzisalihovic what S1 told her during their meeting. Hadzisalihovic said she told her that she’d been detained in a detention camp in Visegrad and was subjected to “indecent mental and physical abuse.”

“What I didn’t write in my medical findings was the name of the rapist,” she said.

S1 testified in October last year, but the public was excluded from her testimony.

The next hearing is scheduled for August 24, when the state prosecution will present its closing statement.