Analysis – Verdict in Dzevad Dulic Trial Expected Friday

The state prosecution has charged Dulic, a former member of the 510th Bosnian Liberation Brigade of the Fifth Corps of the Bosnian Army, with the rape of a woman in the village of Beganovici at the end of 1993. According to the indictment, Dulic and two Bosnian Army fighters came to a house where the injured party, known as S-1, was located in December 1993. They told her that she should come with them.

The indictment alleges that when S-1 refused to come with them, Dulic took her to the upper floor of the house, where he beat and raped her. Another Bosnian Army member then raped her as well. Dulic allegedly raped S-1 again when she tried to leave the house.

The woman’s husband was a member of the National Defense of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia.

Dulic’s defense maintains that S-1 incorrectly identified Dulic as the perpetrator.

S-1’s testimony was closed to the public. Her daughter, however, said that during their stay in Beganovici in 1993, her mother came home one night in tears and covered in bruises. She said she overheard her mother tell her father that while visiting a house in the area, a group of soldiers forced her to drink. They then took her upstairs, where they beat her, interrogated her, and raped her.

S-1’s daughter said a soldier approached her mother after her abuse and wrote down the name of her rapist on a piece of paper. S-1’s daughter said her mother told her the name was Dzevad Dulic.

Mehmed Bajric, a former member of the military police of the 510th Bosnian Liberation Brigade, said he took a formal statement from S-1 in Beganovici in the winter of 1994. She said she told him she’d been abused and raped by a soldier.

Ferida Beganovic, whom S-1 visited on the night of her rape, said she asked protected witness S-1 to come to her house in the winter of 1993. She said they were sitting together when three to four soldiers came to the house. Beganovic said the soldiers asked S-1 to show them a house between the frontlines inhabited by a woman with six children. According to Beganovic, S-1 had said that she would go with them to help them evacuate the woman. Beganovic said that soldiers used the second floor of her house during the war. She said that she didn’t hear anything after they left.

Hase Beganovic, who sheltered S-1 and other refugees in the area, said S-1 fled his house and he didn’t know why. He said he had no knowledge of her attack.

Defense Claims Mistaken Identity

Testifying in his own defense, Dulic said he didn’t commit rape nor was he present in the village of Beganovici.

Dulic said four other people named Dzevad Dulic served with the army in the area. He said an older soldier with the same name as him served in the 510th Brigade. He also said he found another soldier with the same name on the internet. Dulic said he received threats from another former soldier named Dzevad Dulic.

“I committed my last act of violence when I was 13 years old,” Dulic said.

Witnesses Zuhdija Malkoc, Zaim Malkoc, Esad Abdihodzic and Amir Avdic confirmed that there were several soldiers named Dzevad Dulic in the Fifth Corps of the Bosnian Army.

Former Bosnian Army soldier Abdihodzic said he had documentation on the formation of the unit he led, and said it listed a Dzevad Dulic who was not the defendant.

Avdic and Zaim Malkoc said they had no knowledge whatsoever of the defendant raping or abusing anyone.

In response to this testimony, the prosecution examined four other witnesses, including the defendant’s namesake.

Witness Dzevad Dulic said he served in the same company as the defendant. He said their company held the frontline, which was moved to Beganovici at the end of December 1993. He said he stayed in Beganovici for four to five hours, because he found out that his brother had been wounded. He said he went with him to the hospital.

He said that he learned about the accusations made against the defendant from the media.

“Vuk said it was you, that it wasn’t him,” Dulic said, citing the rumours that were spread about him. He said he contacted the defendant to clarify the accusations made against him.

Questions About Dulic’s Whereabouts

Ismet Kurtovic said that he was almost completely sure he saw the defendant in Beganovici in late December 1993. Jasmin Alibabic said the defendant was in the second company that came to hold the frontline after an operation in Beganovici. He said they greeted one another.

The defense responded to this testimony by inviting Sabid Mujagic and Safet Mujcic to testify.

Responding to questions from the trial chamber, Mujagic said he didn’t know if there were several soldiers with the name Dzevad Dulic. He said he didn’t know if he had ever been to Beganovici. He said after he was wounded at Grabez in February 1994, the defendant and two other soldiers carried him for about 100 meters.

Mujcic said Dulic was in his battalion in late 1993 and early 1994. He described Dulic as a responsible soldier and said he hadn’t heard that he’d raped or abused anyone.

He said there was another soldier named Dzevad Dulic in the Second Battalion of the 501st Brigade.

The defense repeatedly attempted to question a witness who lives abroad. After failing to obtain a visa, the trial chamber rejected the proposal to include this testimony and concluded the presentation of evidence.

In her closing arguments, prosecutor Vedrana Mijovic said the identity of the defendant was indisputable, and that the injured party had a good opportunity to look at him. Mijovic said S-1 recognized Dulic in a photo album at the main hearing. She said there were clear physical differences between the defendant and other soldiers who shared his name.

Dulic’s defense attorney, Ilijas Midzic, called for an acquittal, on the grounds that the injured party hadn’t lawfully identified the defendant. Midzic said S-1 wasn’t entirely sure who Dulic was in a photo album presented to her during the first hearing, and only became certain later on during the trial.

“This prosecution has caused harm to me and most of all to my children,” Dulic said, weeping in the courtroom.

Dulic was arrested in November 2014. He was released with prohibitive measures during the trial. The indictment against him was confirmed on December 3, 2014. The trial began on February 13, 2015.