Trial for Krajina Crimes Begins on February 12
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The Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina chaired by judge Redzib Begic accepted a proposal by the Prosecution and Defence to watch recordings of testimonies by certain witnesses, who testified during the first instance trial.
“We have decided to accept the reproducing of testimonies by witnesses and court experts. We shall try to reduce the number of pieces of evidence bearing in mind the trial efficiency principle,” Begic said.
During a status conference the Trial Chamber rejected a Prosecution’s proposal for examination of new witnesses about the events that happened in the bus, which drove prisoners to an exchange location, explaining that a verdict of release was pronounced for that part of the indictment.
On December 6, 2013 the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina quashed the convicting part of the first instance verdict, under which Mehura Selimovic, Adil Ruznic and Emir Mustafic, former members of the Fifth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, were sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison for war crimes committed in Krajina.
Under the first instance verdict, which was pronounced on September 17, 2012, Selimovic and Ruznic were sentenced to eight years each and Mustafic to nine years in prison.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina proposed that psychiatrists’ findings about the mental condition of some witnesses be included in the case file. The Defence objected to this proposal, saying that those pieces of evidence could have been presented during the first instance trial.
Selimovic’s Defence proposed that one witness be examine about the capture of one person, while Ruznic’s Defence proposed the examination of a protected witness.
The Court will render a decision concerning these proposals at a later stage.
