Examination of Witness Interrupted

The Trial Chamber of the Cantonal Court in Bihac interrupted the examination of former military policeman with the Fifth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, Dzevad Mahmutovic.  
 
Mahmutovic said that he participated in escorting prisoners of war, former members of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, to Izacic border crossing in March 1995. After that his legal counselor told him that he should not answer any further questions.  
 
The Trial Chamber accepted this piece of advice, saying that “witness’ eventual responses could expose him to criminal prosecution”.
 
Mahmutovic testified at the trial of Husein Begic, Safet Kovacevic, Muhamed Anadolac, Abid Ljubijankic and Sabahudin Hafuric, who are charged with having beaten and mentally abused 31 prisoners of war, former VRS members, while escorting them from Cazin and Bihac to Izacic border crossing in order to exchange them.
 
Esad Topic, former member of the Military Police Battalion, was examined at this hearing as well. He too said that he participated in the exchange on March 11, 1995, but he did not remember the details.  
 
Topic said that he did not recognise himself on video material recorded during the exchange, which was presented to him during the investigation, adding that, when an investigator said that one of the policemen sitting in the bus was him, he said that it was possible.
 
Witness Ismet Majetic, who was Chief of the Crime Police Section with military police in 1995, said that he had never participated in exchange of prisoners of war and that he saw an order related to escorting of prisoners of war, which was signed by him, for the first time when he was examined in Sarajevo during the investigation.
 
“I was not involved in any way in any exchange, but I am not excluding the possibility that, if I was not present at that moment, somebody else did it on my behalf,” Majetic said.
 
He said that he saw the recording made during the exchange during the investigation, but the quality of the recording was bad.
 
“When it comes to recognising persons, the recording was bad. At that moment I recognised Kovacevic in the bus, Anadolac, who was sitting in the bus, and Begic and Dzevad Causevic in front of the bus. One of the military policemen was extremely tall. When asked by the investigator if it was Hafuric, I said that his build looked like Hafuric’s, but I was not sure. Looking at this better recording now, I am saying responsible that this is not him,” Majetic said.
 
Fourth witness Senad Sekeric said that he was member of military police, but he had never participated in an exchange of prisoners of war.
 
“My squad was on the military lines towards Kumarica at that time. When we came back from the front lines, we heard that an exchange had happened. That is all,” Sekeric said.
 
The trial is due to continue on March 21.