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Presiding judge Saban Maksumic told the state court in Sarajevo on Friday that the Bosnian prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Condric allowed the rape of a woman and also sexually abused her in the Polet football stadium in Bosanski Brod in 1992.
“Through an analysis of all the witness testimonies, especially that of the victim N.H., the trial chamber could not conclude that Condric committed the act he is charged with. The chamber does not dispute that N.H. was the victim of sexual abuse, but there are inconsistencies in her statement regarding the identity of the perpetrator,” said Maksumic.
He explained that the victim’s two statements described in different ways who told her that Mato Condric was the person who took her from the Polet stadium to be abused.
According to Maksumic, other women who were held in the Polet stadium who also testified did not confirm the victim’s statement.
Condric was also acquitted of hitting a Serb civilian, Marko Mitric, in the summer of 1992 in the old police station in Bosanski Brod and at the ‘Belgrade’ shopping mall, which served as an improvised prison.
As the victim Mitric could not testify for health reasons and his statement from the investigation was read instead, judge Maksumic said it was insufficient to form the basis for a conviction.
“Mitric’s statement was not confirmed by other evidence and there are inconsistencies in the statements from the investigation, such as the fact that Mitric only spoke at length about the abuse at ‘Belgrade’ in 2014. Because of these issues, and that fact that the defence was not able to cross-examine this witness, the chamber could not convict Condric,” said Maksumic.
After the verdict, Condric was released. He had spent ten months in detention.
The verdict can be appealed.
