Ermin Curtic Retrial Begins
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Following the reading of the indictment, Curtic said he understood the indictment and chose to stick to statements he made during the investigation and the main trial.
The cantonal prosecution of Sarajevo has charged Curtic, a former guide for a portion of the Maturice Special Purposes Unit of the Croatian Defense Council, with participating in an attack on Stupni Do and Vares Majdan. He also allegedly submitted civilians to inhumane treatment and robbed them.
He has been charged with beating and robbing Besim Paralangaj with two other Croatian Defense Council soldiers on October 23, 1993. They they allegedly took Paralangaj to a school building in Vares, where they abused him.
On the same day, Curtic allegedly participated in a Croatian Defense Council attack on Stupni Do, in which 38 civilians were killed and their houses set on fire.
During the attack, Curtic allegedly kicked Muamera Mahmutovic in the face with his military boot, demanding that she give him her golden jewelry. She was with her child.
Proceedings against Curtic have been ongoing since 1996. In October 2011, he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, but the verdict was repealed. Following a retrial, the same verdict was passed down in 2013.
The Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina repealed the 2013 verdict and ordered another retrial.
Curtic’s defense attorney asked the court to schedule the next hearing in two months, due to the defendant’s health problems. At the next hearing, scheduled for April 11, two prosecution witnesses will be examined.
