Skrobic: Hydro-meteorological conditions

The closing arguments at the trial of Marko Skrobic, charged with war crimes in Kotor Varos, are due to be presented before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 10.

The trial has now been completed by examination of the Prosecution witnesses Boro and Stana Glamocak. The two persons testified in May this year but the Trial Chamber asked them to come again due to “the vagueness in their earlier statements”.

The State Prosecution charges Marko Skrobic, as member of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, in Kotor Varos, with having ordered, acting together with four other soldiers on July 31, 1992, civilians to leave their two houses in Novo selo and taken them in the direction of Ravne village.

The indictment alleges that, while he was escorting the Glamocak family members, Skrobic “grabbed Stojko by his chest and shot him” dead.

Boro Glamocak, the killed man’s son, told the Trial Chamber that he “realised later on” that the man, who had banged on their door and introduced himself as “neighbour Marko”, was Marko Skrobic.

“I knew two, out of the four soldiers, who came to our house. Those were Tomo Jurinovic and Marko, whom I did not recognise at first. I was in panic. Later on I realised that the soldier, who introduced himself as neighbour Marko, was actually indictee Skrobic,” Boro Glamocak said.

He added that he did not recognise Marko Skrobic on the photos, shown to him in the police station, where he came to identify the person who had killed his father.

Stana Glamocak said that she “remembered Marko Skrobic well”, because he had “forced” her, her husband, children and father-in-law to “leave our house”.

“When they banged on the door, he said he was our neighbour Marko. While they were taking us in a column, he shot my father-in-law. My neighbours told me that his name was Marko Skrobic,” witness Glamocak said, asking the Trial Chamber not to remind her of the event that happened on July 31, 1992.

Witness Glamocak said that she recognised Marko Skrobic on the photos, shown to her in the police station, where she went to identify him.

Both witnesses said that their taking from their house and Stojko’s murder had happened “some time between 4 and 5 a.m.”, adding that “the visibility was good outside, as it was dawn”.

The Defence proposed to the Trial Chamber to include, as material evidence, a report made by the Hydro-meteorological Institute, which indicates that the sun rises at about 5.30 am on July 31. The Trial Chamber rejected the proposal, explaining that “the way a witness notices certain circumstances is his/her subjective affair”.

The Defence then proposed inclusion of christening certificates from the Parish of the Blessed Lady in Kotor Varos as material evidence. The certificates contain data on five different persons, named Marko Skrobic, whose dates of births are similar to the indictee’s date of birth (1971).

The State Prosecution objected the relevance and authenticity of those pieces of evidence, but the Trial Chamber accepted them.