Prosecution Calls for Repeal of Sadikovic Verdict

At today’s hearing, state prosecutor Munib Halilovic asked the court to repeal the acquittal and to order a retrial before the cantonal court of Sarajevo.

Halilovic said the verdict was unsustainable, and said that the cantonal court of Sarajevo determined the verdict based solely on one witness statement given under duress.

“A substantial violation of the provisions of the criminal proceedings has occurred in this case…The court accepted the testimony of the witness as trustworthy…We consider the court’s conclusion unsustainable. It implies the revocation of the verdict,” Halilovic said. He said there were many other similar verdicts which were based on the statements of only one witness.

On March 23, 2015, the cantonal court of Sarajevo found Sadikovic, a former member of the Bosnian Army, not guilty of killing four civilians in the village of Kasatici in the municipality of Hadzici in May 1992.

Midhat Koco, Sadikovic’s defense attorney, said the testimony offered by a protected witness known as A was unusable. He said the defense witnesses specified the first and last name of the true perpetrator.

“It rarely happens that witnesses say that one person didn’t do it, and name the person who did it. The witnesses identified the perpetrator of this crime, giving his first and last name,” Koco said.

Koco called upon the court to reject the prosecution’s appeal as unfounded and confirm the first instance verdict in its entirety.

The Supreme Court will render its decision at a later stage.