Vucurevic Wants to Stand Trial in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Vucurevic said that he was not afraid of being arrested or brought before any fair court, but he would “rather die” than being tried in Durbovnik, the Republic of Croatia.

“Serbian courts were working on sending me to Dubrovnik as soon as possible, so I went home. While I was in Serbia, I was held hostage because of the political trade between Tadic and Kosor. That trade is the only reason for making a decision on his extradition to Croatia,” said Vucurevic at a press conference held in Trebinje.

Vucurevic was arrested at border crossing between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbia at the beginning of April this year on the basis of a warrant issued by Croatia on suspicion that he participated in crimes in Dubrovnik.

Both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia filed requests for Vucurevic’s extradition. The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina requested the extradition of Vucurevic, because an investigation against him for crimes in Trebinje was underway in that country. Media reports say that the Croatian Prosecution filed an indictment against him for crimes against civilians in Durbovnik area in the period from 1991 to 1995.

Following his arrest, Vucurevic was held in an extradition detention unit as per an order issued by the Higher Court in Sabac. He was then allowed to defend himself while at liberty. On Saturday, September 10 he crossed the border between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As far as standing trial before Bosnian judiciary is concerned, Vucurevic said that he could hardly wait for a chance to prove his innocence.

The wartime Mayor of Trebinje appeared before journalists and rejected the allegations that he was responsible for the shelling of Dubrovnik, saying that he “has got documents” about the wartime happenings that could “unsettle the whole groups of people to a great extent”, adding that he would present all those documents at the eventual trial.

When asked how he crossed the border between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, considering the fact that his travel documents had been confiscated, Vucurevic said that he had took a usual bus line, adding that he did not face any problems at the border-crossing.

Commenting on the decision rendered by the Belgrade Court to order him into custody, because he failed to fulfill his obligation to report to the Court twice a week during the extradition procedure, he said that he was not the citizen of Serbia, adding that Serbia therefore had no authority in terms of his arrest or issuance of any type of warrant against him.

N.K.