Defendant Claims He Was Not Arresting Civilians

Testifying for the second time on his own behalf at the trial for crimes committed in Sarajevo, defendant Zoran Dragicevic said he was not bringing in civilians from Grbavica to the Digitron Buje building on anyone’s orders.

Dragicevic testified that he was not apprehending people to the Digitron Buje building either on orders from commander Dragan Petkovic or anyone else, after the defence examined witness Nura Coho, who said that she and her family were abused by Petkovic inside the building.

“I only heard that the whole Coho family had some trouble, but I did not see them in the building,” Dragicevic said.

Dragicevic was charged with robbing and abusing non-Serb population in the Sarajevo settlements of Grbavica, Vraca i Kovacici, as well as raping one person, between May 1992 and December 1994.

The Trial Chamber dismissed the proposal from the defence that the defendant be examined by a medical expert “because he suffered from a stroke”, as well as that his tattoo be examined. The defence claimed that his tattoo can be seen by anyone, especially by a person who took a shower with him and claims she was raped by him.

The Chamber dismissed these proposals as unfounded.

“We haven’t noticed him having any trouble following the trial so far, and the plaintiff did not claim she took a shower with the defendant, but that she was forced to take a shower twice,” explained the presiding judge Zoran Bozic.

At this hearing, Dragicevic’s defence also examined witness Samir Kusundzija, who said that the defendant was seen inside the Digitron Buje building, but he could not recognise him from a photo shown to him while the prosecution took his deposition.

The trial will resume on October 9.