Custody Extension for Aleksandar Cvetkovic Requested
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State Prosecutor Dubravko Campara said that the existence of fear that Cvetkovic might flee and that public order might be disturbed were the main reasons for filing the custody extension motion.
The Prosecutor said that, besides the citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cvetkovic also had the citizenship of Israel, where he had lived prior to being arrested and extradited to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an international warrant against Cvetkovic two-and-a-half years ago. We invested big efforts into bringing him before the State Court. In case he is now released to liberty, there is no guarantee that he would not go to Israel, where he has a job and where his wife and children live,” Campara explained.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Aleksandar Cvetkovic, former member of the 10th Reconnaissance Squad with the Main Headquarters of Republika Srpska Army, VRS, with having participated in genocide against civilians in Srebrenica in 1995.
According to the charges, in late June 1995 Cvetkovic participated in a first attack on the protected zone of Srebrenica and UNPROFOR Compound with the aim of disturbing the Bosniak population and making them leave Srebrenica.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Cvetkovic with having been member of a shooting squad, which participated in the murder of several hundreds of Bosniaks on Branjevo farm in July 1995.
On the other hand, the Defence requested the Court to release Cvetkovic to liberty under prohibiting measures, saying that the indictee did not hide in Israel, but his family and financial situation brought him to that country.
“Cvetkovic went to Israel in 2006. He gave a statement to The Hague Prosecution in the capacity of a suspect a year before that. He was always open to co-operation with The Hague Prosecution. He was neither hiding nor fleeing,” said Petko Pavlovic, Defence attorney of Cvetkovic.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which confirmed the indictment against Cvetkovic on September 12, 2013, will decide on the State Prosecution’s custody extension motion at a later stage.
Cvetkovic is the seventh member of the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad, who will stand trial.
