Local Justice – Curtic: “Incapable” of Committing Crime

Ismet Abdulahovic, former Commander of a military police squad with ABiH, told the Court he questioned Curtic in 1996 about the crimes committed in Stupni do and he concluded, on the basis of the examination, that the indictee “was not telling the truth”.“I realised that when he said that he and Dusko Amidzic had killed Pike. Pike was my nickname. Another thing that raised my suspicion was his allegation that Samson Jelic had opened fire on some ABiH members, including me, so I determined that he was on the hills opposite Stupni do village,” Abdulahovic said.The witness said that, following the examination, “a State Security group” took Curtic away, adding he doubted that the indictee participated in the crime.“People in Vares talked about the things that happened during the course of the war and who did those things. I consider that Ermin Curtic was not capable of doing it, although I cannot confirm that for sure. I think he was on the hill opposite Stupni do village,” Abdulahovic said.Ermin Curtic is charged, as a former member of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, with having been in Stupni do village, Vares municipality, on October 23, 1993, when Bosniak civilians were killed and set on fire.The witness told the Court that, whenever he came from the Public Safety Station in Vares, Curtic was “in a very bad state – he either used drugs or was close to a nervous breakdown”.When asked by the Defence whether anyone claimed that Curtic participated in the crimes for which he is charged once the investigation was completed, the witness said he did not have such information.With the Trial Chamber’s consent, the witness addressed the indictee, asking him if he recognised him or if he had ever heard of a person nicknamed Pike. Curtic responded by saying he did not know him.During the course of the trial, the Cantonal Prosecutor said that the witness was “not a direct eyewitness” of the happenings about which he testified.The trial is due to continue on December 21, 2010.S.U.————————————————————————————————This article is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of Balkan investigative reporting network (BIRN) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.