Baricanin: Traumatic Experience

Testifying before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Senadin Ljubovic, court expert in psychiatry, said that, during the course of their conversation witness S2 told him that Baricanin raped her several times in 1992, while she was held in his apartment in Grbavica.
 
“The consequences of this event are severe. Her sexuality has been totally destroyed. This person is still governed by the trauma. She does not live in reality. The images of that event keep coming back in her dreams. Her life functionality has been drastically changed,” court expert Ljubovic said, presenting his opinion at the request by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
 
The State Prosecution charges Baricanin, who was accompanied by Veselin ‘ Batko’ Vlahovic, with having treated civilians, brothers Amir and Emir Balvanovic and their mother Otilija, who were forcibly detained in Grbavica in July 1992, in an inhumane manner. The indictment alleges that they then forcibly took the three civilians away and killed them at an unknown location.
 
According to the charges, Baricanin raped a female person several times, held her in an apartment and enabled another person to rape her.
 
Vlahovic, former member of paramilitary formations, is on trial before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for murders, rape and physical and mental abuse of Bosniak and Croat civilians in the Sarajevo area in 1992 and 1993.
 
Court expert Ljubovic said that witness S2, who testified before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 27 this year, told him that she was taken to the apartment in Grbavica after three persons had seized her, as well as her husband and other family members, from their family house.
 
“She said that one of the men, who had taken them from their house, took her to his apartment and raped her. The rape continued on the following day, when he brought another person and told the person to rape the witness if he wanted to. The person did that. When trying to run away from the apartment on the third day, she found an ID card issued in the name of Sasa Baricanin. The photo of the man, who had brought her there and raped her, was on that card,” Ljubovic said.
 
The cross-examination of Ljubovic has been postponed until the next hearing, because the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina had submitted the court expert’s opinion with delay, so the Defence was not able to prepare itself.
 
Hamza Zujo, a court medicine expert, said at this hearing that there was no suspicion over the findings about the exhumation of Balvanovic family members that was prepared by court expert Ilijas Dobraca, who has since died.
 
Court expert Zujo confirmed that the Balvanovic family members died due to injuries caused by “a projectile that was fired from firearms”.
 
Indictee Baricanin asked the Court to appoint a new Defence attorney, because, as he said, he was “not satisfied” with the defence provided by Izet Bazdarevic. The Trial Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina approved his request.
 
“I fully accept my client’s request. We spoke to each other, but we have not been able to agree on any of the issues. Hence, I would be glad if the Court could fulfill his request,” said Bazdarevic, the current Defence attorney of the indictee.
 
The next hearing is due to be held on August 17, 2011.

S.U.