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Defense attorney Edina Residovic called upon the court to acquit her client of a count accusing him of raping a protected witness known as D on an undetermined date in the first half of July 1993.
“The event happened on the night of July 28 or 29, 1993 and not on a determined date. The prosecution failed to specify this in order to dismantle the defense based on an alibi. The evidence undoubtedly indicates that Bojadzic was in Sarajevo, not in Jablanica, on that day,” Residovic said.
According to the charges, Bojadzic ordered protected witnesses D and H to be taken out off of the premises of “The Battle of Neretva” museum. D and H were transported off the premises in a car, accompanied with another soldier. The indictment alleges that Bojadzic raped D in the Rogica Houses complex in Donja Jablanica twice.
Residovic said the prosecution hadn’t offered a single piece of evidence to prove this count. She said the testimony of prosecution witnesses regarding the persons involved and the sequence of events was contradictory and differed from one another.
“Witness D said at the hearing that the person who came on that day was dressed in a camouflage uniform, but in her two earlier statements, one of which was given a day after the event, she said he was dressed in civilian clothing,” Residovic said. She also said that during a hearing the injured party said she found out later on that the name of her rapist was Zuka.
According to Residovic, Bojadzic’s commander Zulfikar Alispago, also known as Zuka, was in Jablanica when the crime happened.
“Witness D mentioned Zuka’s name at least five times,” Residovic said. She said the prosecution’s allegations that Bojadzic occasionally introduced himself as Zuka were speculations.
Residovic said the prosecution also failed to prove allegations that Bojadzic sexually abused two protected witnesses known as C and J. Bojadzic has been charged with ordering C to hit J and jump on him on July 28, 1993. He then allegedly ordered J to perform oral sex on C.
Citing Bojadzic’s alibi, Residovic said no one apart from C confirmed the accusation that the defendant ordered him to jump on J.
“Not even witness J, who should know that, confirmed it,” Residovic said.
Residovic said there was no evidence indicating that Bojadzic ordered soldiers to remove two detainees from “The Battle of Neretva” museum and beat them.
Residovic reminded the court that the witness said this had happened on July 10, 1993. She said there was evidence indicating that her client was in UNPROFOR’s Spanish Battalion compound at the time.
The defense will continue presenting its closing statement on February 25.
