Analysis – Verdict in Ilija Juric Trial Expected November 9

Over the course of a six month trial, the state prosecution examined three witnesses and presented material evidence to demonstrate that Juric, a former member of the Croatian Defense Council, raped a Serb woman in the village of Posavska Mahala, mistreated two underaged children and hit Ljubica Lesic’s son in the chest.

Juric’s defense presented a statement given by a witness named Milica Djekic, since deceased, to demonstrate the defendant’s innocence.

“They took me into a room. Ilija Juric entered and ordered me to take my clothes off. He hit me in the face with his fists and knocked me down…I had to undress. He pushed me down. He did horrible things to me. He raped me and then turned me around, so I was lying on my stomach, and he raped me anally. He raped me in my mouth too,” Milica Djekic said in her statement.

The defense presented Djekic with minutes from her examination during the investigation phase of the case, in which she failed to mention that she’d been raped by Juric. She also didn’t say he was in the car that drove her to Posavska Mahala. Djekic said she couldn’t remember whether she’d mentioned it or not.

Witness Marinka Lesic told the trial chamber that she saw Juric banging children’s heads against a concrete pole.

“He turned my sister’s son, who was two years sold, towards the pole and banged him against it. He then approached another boy and hit him several times,” Lesic said. She said her sister told her that “Bekrija” was Ilija Juric.

Lesic said she was completely certain that Juric abused the children. She said she didn’t see any injuries on their bodies, but they were moaning in pain.

Lesic said that after he abused the children, Juric, a man named Jozo (also known as Koza) and another man entered the apartment, closed the door and pulled the blinds down. She said “the chaos” began after that. The public was excluded from this portion of her testimony.

Witness Risto Makic said he was sleeping on the night of June 4 or 5, 1992, when he heard some noise.

“They forced us to go outside. There were four of them. They had a flashlight. I recognized Ilija Juric and Marijan Brnjic,” Makic said. He said they took his mother away to give a statement. He said Juric kicked his five year old brother in the chest.

Makic said his mother’s clothes were torn and she was covered in bruises when she returned in the morning. He said she told him she had been raped by Juric.

The defense also read a statement given by deceased witness Ljubica Lesic during the investigation phase of the case. In the statement she says she was severely sexually abused by Martin Barukcic and Marijan Brnjic in June 1992.

Marijan Brnjic, Martin Barukcic, Pavo and Ilija Glavas have been charged in another case with committed war crimes in Odzak.

In its closing statement, the state prosecution said it believed it had proven Juric;s guilt. The defense said it believed that the state prosecution failed to demonstrate that Juric was even a member of the Croatian Defense Council.

“The truth is that witness Milica Djekic said she saw the defendant uniformed and armed, but Marinka Lesic said he was dressed in a civil suit,” defense attorney Borislav Pisarevic said.

The trial of Juric began in May 2015. Prohibitive measures against him were ordered in December 2014.