Dretelj Camp Crimes Retrial Opens in Sarajevo
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Prosecutor Remzija Smailagic said in his opening statement on Monday that she wanted six new witnesses would testify and new evidence to be presented at the retrial of former Croatian Defence Council fighter Mikulic.
Mikulic is charged with war crimes against civilians, inhuman treatment and participation in beatings at the Dretelj camp.
According to the indictment, Mikulic physically abused one prisoner, Enver Grebovic, alongside other Croatian Defence Council fighters in July 1993, using a glass bottle to cut the detainee’s body and saying: “I am going to get drunk on the blood of Balija [a pejorative term for Muslims].”
Mikulic is also charged with taking three people out of a solitary confinement cell and ordering the staff to beat them.
“New witnesses will confirm the identity of the defendant. Three witnesses will describe the way Enver Grebovic was taken out and beaten, as well as who did that and how,” explained the prosecutor.
Defence lawyer Davor Martinovic however objected to the introduction of more evidence, saying that the prosecutor should have questioned the new witnesses during the original trial.
Mikulic was found guilty in September 2012 of participating in the beating of Grebovic and of ordering staff at the Dretelj camp to beat three other prisoners.
He was sentenced to six years in prison but the verdict was quashed last December and sent for retrial.
Proceedings will resume on February 3.
