Victim in Cobic Case Killed With Bullet to Head

Cobic has been charged with the disappearance and murder of Bosniak civilians Faruk Bilalic and Mustafa Salkovic. Cobic, a former member of the Interventions Squad with the Bijeljina police station, allegedly brought the injured parties to the police station in Bijeljina along with four other unidentified persons for an informative interview on September 11, 1992. According to the indictment, Cobic and others then drove them in an unknown direction and killed them.

Court expert Zdenko Cihlarz led a team of experts in conducting a forensic examination of Bilalic’s mortal remains and testified at today’s hearing. Cihlarz said damage to the bones of the face and skull was caused by a bullet. He said this most probably was the cause of Bilalic’s death and that no other injuries were noticed.

He said the injured party’s identity had been determined prior to exhumation of the remains.

When asked by the defense whether the time of death could be determined as well, Cihlarz said it was impossible to do so.

Bilalic went missing after his arrest in September 1992. His mortal remains were exhumed in the municipality of Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia in 2003. After having been exhumed, the remains were handed over to Bosnian authorities for further examination.

The trial will continue on March 23.