Vrtunic Did not Cause Problems

As the trial of Mladenko Vrtunic continues before the Cantonal Court in Bihac, Defence witness Milutin Babic says that the indictee is “an innocent man held in prison”.

Witness Babic said that he met Predrag Bajic during his stay in the Luke Penal and Correctional Facility in Bihac this year and that, while they were walking within the prison, Bajic told him about Mladenko Vrtunic’s case.
 
“Bajic told me that two other men were with him and that they committed the crime, while Mladenko Vrtunic was an innocent man in prison. As Bajic does not have the opportunity to tell the truth, although he tried and sent letters to the Court, I told my Defence attorney Mladenko Brkic everything,” Babic said.
 
Vrtunic is charged with having participated, together with Predrag Bajic and another person, in the physical mistreatment of Ale Strkunic and murder of his wife Fatma and her mother in Mali Rejzovici village, Kljuc municipality in November 1992.
 
Vrtunic was originally charged together with the Bajic brothers, Sinisa Babic and Slobodan Dragic, but all four of them admitted guilt.
 
Testifying at this hearing, the indictee’s mother Jovanka Vrtunic said that the indictee had always been an exemplary son and that he had never caused any problems or incidents in his life.
 
Also, she said that, as a family, they always respected others and lived in good relations with their Bosniak and Croat neighbours. Jovanka Vrtunic said that they were in good relations with Ale Strkunic’s family as well.
 
“We felt horrible, when we heard about this murder. My daughter-in-law had just delivered a baby. As I had to take care of the newborn, I was not able to go to Ale’s in order to express my condolences,” the witness said.
 
The trial is due to continue on July 8.