Bozic et al: Release Requested

The defence team representing Mladen Blagojevic has asked that the defendant be released from custody during the trial.

Defence attorney Miroslav Ristic says that his client has been in custody for nine months already and that there is no longer a reason to detain him.

“Blagojevic has not influenced witnesses and he will not do so in the future,” Ristic added.

“The Trial Chamber can order some other measures, for example prohibit his contacts with the witnesses, disallow him to leave his place of residence, order him to report to the relevant police station on a regular basis or seize his documents.”

Blagojevic is charged in the same indictment as Zdravko Bozic, Zeljko Zaric and Zoran Zivanovic. All four are charged with complicity, as former members of military police of Bratunac Brigade, Republika Srpska Army, in maltreatment and beating of detained Bosniaks on the territory of Bratunac in July 1995.

The defence attorney has explained that the indictee he represents does not intend to leave the country, as Blagojevic’s family resides in BiH.

Before his arrest, the indictee lived in America for eight years. He was deported from the US for giving false data to the immigration authorities concerning his military service during the war in BiH.

“I accepted, voluntarily, to be deported from America, although I considered the allegations that I had entered the country illegally to be untrue,” Blagojevic said. “I failed to report my military service during the war at the request by the International Migration Organisation from Belgrade.”

The Prosecution has objected to this request, saying that there are no guarantees that the indictee will not try to escape.

The Trial Chamber will render its decision at a later stage.

The trial continues on 22 August.