Bosnian Court Urged to Convict Serb Ex-Soldier of Sex Crimes

Prosecutor Dzevad Muratbegovic told the Bosnian state court in Sarajevo on Friday that former Bosnian Serb soldier Nenad Perovic’s guilt had been proved by credible testimonies from the victims during his trial for wartime sexual violence.

According to the charges, Perovic helped another soldier rape one victim in the village of Dobrasina, near Rogatica, on the night of August 2-3, 1992, and personally committed another form of grave sexual violence against the second victim on the same night.

Muratbegovic said that the two victims described in court how they were taken from the village of Kozadre to a house in Dobrasina together with other women.

He argued that it could be determined from one of the victims’ testimony that two men, one of whom was elderly, took her out of a room in the basement to the first floor of the house, while the younger man had a flashlight to light the stairs and remained outside the room where she was raped.

“[Perovic’s] assistance is reflected in the fact that he stood guard so a soldier known to him could uninterruptedly commit rape. He was outside the room and could hear everything,” the prosecutor said.

The victims testified in court that others addressed the defendant as ‘Nena’ and told one of them that his last name was Perovic.

“According to a soldier’s moral obligation, the defendant was obliged to protect those women and other people. He committed the crime with direct premeditation,” the prosecutor argued.

He said it had been proved during the trial that there was a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population in the Rogatica area at the time, during which non-Serbs were put in detention, where some of them were mistreated and some raped, and that defendant Perovic was aware of the crimes.

The prosecutor said the two victims “had the status of civilians, they were not members of any military formations and did not participate in combat operations”.

“The defendant was a member of the Bosnian Serb Army, armed and uniformed, and knew of all the happenings in the Rogatica area,” he added.

Perovic has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The defence will present its closing statement on April 12.