Syria Suspect ‘Hard to Identify from Video Images’, Says Expert

Senad Kasupović. Source: The State Court

Expert witness Dino Osmankadic said the prosecution had provided him with a video depicting several people, asking him to determine whether Kasupovic was among them.

He said that could not identify the defendant from certain still images captured from the video, although he added that a few of them did look like Kasupovic.

He explained that in March he took photographs of the defendant in order to compare them with photos captured from the video material submitted to him. Osmankadic explained that for his analysis he selected photos that could resemble Kasupovic.

However, he concluded that he could not carry out an identification using biometric analysis, which requires measuring the distance between points on a person’s face, with certainty. He explained that the photos captured from the material submitted by the prosecution were not of sufficiently good quality to be analysed.

Osmankadic mentioned that, when carrying out such an analysis, the position in which a person is photographed is important, as well as differences in body weight or age.

He singled out four photographs on which he observed common general characteristics, meaning that the person in those photos looked like the defendant.

The witness said he did not carry out an analysis of the authenticity of the video.

Kasupovic has been charged with going from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Syria in 2013 and, while in Syria, fighting for Islamic State, which has been declared a terrorist organisation by the UN.

It is alleged that he participated, under the name of Muatesim, in terrorist activities, fighting for the Bejt Komandos Unit, which was later renamed el-Aksa.

A protected witness codenamed S-3 was also supposed to take the stand on Wednesday, but the witness’s appearance was postponed at the request of the prosecution.

Prosecutor Cazim Hasanspahic said that the witness came to the court, but prior to the hearing asked not to testify today because he felt that he had psychological problems. The prosecutor said that the witness told him he could not sleep and felt restless since he had received the invitation to testify, also adding that he had not received any news about his family members in “Turkish detention camps” for six months.

Hasanspahic said the witness would seek medical help and, once he had gathered all the necessary information, he would file a proposal about his appearance in court.

The chamber approved the prosecutor’s proposal.

Defendant Kasupovic commented that anyone can contact their families in Syria, where his wife and children are, adding that they “talk over the internet every day”.

At the end of the hearing, Kasupovic complained to the court about the conditions at the detention unit, and about being kept apart from other detainees who have also returned from Syria.

“We are in cells and we are alone outside… I walk around alone. We could not have lunch together on Eid,” the defendant said.

He said that the detention facility staff told him that the court set the rules, while the court advised him to address the detention facility authorities. He also said that he heard that the rules were set by the prosecution.

Presiding judge Mirsad Strika told him it was not up to the court to set the regime for the detention facility, and noted that he had not been ordered to be detained in isolation. Strika recommended that Kasupovic addresses the relevant authorities in writing.

Prosecutor Hasanspahic also said he has “nothing to do with setting the conditions of detention”.

The trial continues on September 2.