Retrial of Dautovic Begins

The retrial was ordered, because, in May 2013 the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, FBiH, partially accepted a Defence’s appeal, quashing the verdict under which Dautovic was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.

As per a Defence’s proposal Zlatko Sabanagic and Alija Feriz will be re-examined during the retrial.

Defence attorney Tatjana Savic asked Sabanagic whether Dautovic was Chief of the Interventions Unit at that time, but the witness said that he could not remember exactly due to the passage of time.

“I know that he was the Chief for a certain period, but they changed at that position, so I do not know whether he was the Squad Chief at that time… Sulejman Latic told me about what happened in the Dispensary, when the detainees were brought to it in order to clean the building,” the witness said.

Dautovic is charged with having participated in severe physical abuse of civilians, whom he had previously brought, acting in collaboration with other members of the National Defence of the Western Bosnia Autonomous Region, ND of WBAR, from Drmaljevo detention camp, in the Dispensary in Velika Kladusa in June 1994.

Besides that, he is charged with having participated in taking 15 detainees out of Drmaljevo detention camp in August. One of them, Rasim Erdic, died due to being abused.

According to the charges, Dautovic was Leader of the Interventions Group for Guarding Buildings and Persons with the Ministry of Defence and military police of the ND of WBAR.

Witness Alija Feriz repeated that he was among the detained civilians, who were mistreated by WBAR members at the Dispensary. As he said, Sakib Dautovic and Jasmin Miljkovic were more brutal than the others.

“I was arrested and detained ten times for not having signed an initiative for the establishment of the Autonomous Region. Dautovic, whom I did not know at the time, collected us from Drmaljevo,” Feriz said.

When asked by Trial Chamber Chairwoman Jasminka Karabegovic whether Zlatko Sabanagic too was present on that day, Feriz answered affirmatively.

The Defence committed itself to contact witness Sulejman Latic and determine the date of his travel from the United States to Bosnia and Herzegovina, so an invitation for testimony could be submitted to him in a timely manner.

The trial is due to continue on February 12.