Material Evidence Filtered at Srebrenik War Crimes Trial

Ekrem Ibracevic, the former chief of military security with the municipal headquarters of the Territorial Defense in Srebrenik, and former military police officers Faruk Smajlovic and Sejdalija Covic, have been charged with abusing and torturing Serb civilians in Rapatnica in 1992.

At today’s hearing, a set of document referring to the apprehension and interrogation of Serbs in the villages in the Srebrenik area in the spring and summer of 1992 was presented by the state prosecution.

Criminal reports against witnesses at the trial, who used to be detained in a prison in Rapatnica, were also included in the case file.

The prosecution also presented documents on overall happenings in the area, as well as the work and organization of the Territorial Defense and other authorities in Srebrenik. It also presented the personal records of Ibracevic, Smajlovic and Covic.

Approximately 60 documents which were proposed in the indictment were rejected by the trial chamber.

The trial chamber rejected a number of documents which the defense found irrelevant. Trial chamber chair Saban Maksumic didn’t allow the inclusion of documents that did not refer to the time period and individuals covered by the indictment, as well as those referring to the existence of a state of war, as it was not questionable in this case.

In accordance with the judge’s explanation, prosecutor Zorica Djurdjevic gave up on the inclusion of a certain number of documents in the case file and withdrew others which were duplicated due to a technical error.

Several documents were also rejected because they were not stamped by a competent body. The prosecution was allowed to obtain stamped documents at a later stage.

The presentation of material evidence will continue on November 10.