Duka’s Defense Presents Material Evidence

Witness Hadzo Catovic died on August 1, 2015. A statement he gave to State Investigation and Protection Agency investigators on May 14, 2013, was included in the case file. In the statement, Catovic described wartime happenings in his village, Zausje.

Catovic said no residents of Zausje were captured or taken to prison. He also said the police and military didn’t mistreat them.

He said special Serb policemen confiscated weapons and ordered a Bosniak resident to set his barn on fire.

In his statement, Catovic said he and his wife left Bileca on October 10, 1992. He said when they returned after the war, their house, garage and barn were in ruins.

“Also, all the houses were destroyed after our departure. I don’t know who did it,” Catovic said.

Duka’s defense attorney, Miodrag Stojanovic, included statements given by some witnesses during the investigation and Duka’s employment record card as evidence. Prosecutor Behaija Krnjic objected to certain pieces of evidence.

Duka, Goran Vujovic and Zeljko Ilic have been charged with crimes in Bileca. The state prosecution has charged them with abusing Bosniak and Croat civilians in Bileca in 1992. According to the charges, at the time Vujovic was the chief of the public safety station in Bileca, Duka was the commander of the station and Ilic was a policeman.

The trial will continue on March 7.