No Obstacles for Extradition of Tihomir Purda

Purda’s Defence team objected to his extradition to Serbia, arguing that the legal conditions for his extradition have not been met and asking the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to reject the request filed by Belgrade and release Purda.
 
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina will render its decision concerning the extradition at a later stage.
 
Serbia’s War Crimes Prosecutor is conducting an investigation based on the grounded suspicion that Tihomir Purda committed war crimes against the sick and wounded in Borovo naselje, Croatia in November 1991 by shooting at the wounded people and killing at least two soldiers. The only survivor, corporal Boban Gacic, died at a hospital in Vukovar.
 
State Prosecutor Jadranka Lokmic Misiraca said the Serbian Prosecution had submitted some documents showing that it was conducting an investigation against Purda, who is a Croatian citizen.
 
“The documents available to this Prosecution indicate that there are no legal or other obstacles to the extradition of suspect Purda to the Republic of Serbia.

“The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not conducting an investigation against him; he is not a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the investigation is not outdated. We therefore do not see any reason why we should not act in accordance with the law and extradite the suspect to judicial institutions in Serbia,” Lokmic Misiraca said.
 
Josip Muselimovic, Purda’s Defence attorney, said that he had obtained all relevant pieces of evidence from the Croatian State Prosecution in Osijek confirming that suspect Purda was not guilty and there were no grounds for his criminal prosecution.
 
“On the basis of available documents it is clear that Purda’s statement, which is also the basis for Serbia’s extradition request, was given when Purda was held in detention in a Serbian detention camp. Statements of this type cannot be used as the basis for filing an indictment. It is obvious that the evidence was collected in an unlawful manner,” Muselimovic said.
 
Suspect Purda addressed the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying he was held in a detention camp in Vukovar from November 1991 to August 1992. He said he was constantly “physically and mentally mistreated” in the detention camp.
 
“I signed whatever they gave me to sign. I just wanted them to stop torturing me. I did not even look at the papers I signed. It was not important to me at that time.

“I am now considered a suspect on the basis of that signature. I have some mental problems and I am receiving therapy. I did not kill anyone,” Purda said, providing the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a document confirming his stay in the detention camp in Vukovar.
 
Tihomir Purda has been held in extradition detention in Bosnia and Herzegovina since January 5, 2011, when he was arrested at the border crossing in Orasje on an international warrant.
 
The Republic of Croatia has not requested his extradition because he is not under investigation in that country.

D.E.