Presentation of Evidence in Pero Kovacevic Trial Completed
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Kovacevic has been charged with robbing and killing four Serb women from the Srebrenik and Gradacac area. In October 1994, he was responsible for ensuring their transfer to territory controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army in the municipality of Brcko.
At today’s hearing, prosecutor Radmilo Ivanovic read statements given by three witnesses, thus completing the presentation of evidence.
In his statement given to the Brcko District police, witness Cvijetin Bojic said two Croat brothers transferred him and his father to the other side of the division line during the war.
In October 1994, he said he heard that four Serb women went missing while being transferred to territory controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army, but didn’t know any details about the incident.
The prosecution then presented a statement given by witness Zvonko Ivkic. Ivkic said he met Kovacevic and his brother during the war, but didn’t personally see them transferring Serbs to the other side of the division line.
“An acquaintance of mine, nicknamed Robi, told me he heard that four Serb women had disappeared while being transferred to the Serb side. After that the military police examined me and Robi about the disappearance of those women for three days. I told them I knew nothing about the case,” Ivkic said.
The last statement presented by the state prosecution was that of witness Andres Mendes. While at the Croatian Defense Council’s communication center in Brcko, Mendes said he heard that two Serb men were transferred to the other side of the division line, from territory controlled by the Croatian Defense Council to territory under the Bosnian Serb Army’s control.
He said he helped a father and son with the last name of Bojic meet two men who escorted them to the other side, but he didn’t know their names. He said he couldn’t remember ever having met Kovacevic.
In 2007, the basic court of Brcko District acquitted Kovacevic of these charges. When the appeals court revoked the verdict, the defendant fled. He was on the run until October 2015, when he was arrested in Slovenia.
