Syria Defendant Seen ‘Uniformed and Armed’, Say Witnesses

Milarem Berbić. Photo: State Court

The prosecution at the trial of Milarem Berbic, who is accused of going to fight in Syria, read out statements given last year by two protected witnesses, a mother and daughter who said that they used to live in the same house as the defendant in Manbij in Syria.

The daughter said that Berbic helped the widows of killed fighters, bought food and did repairs in the house.

She said she knew that he had a rifle and uniform after he arrived in Syria, but later wore civilian clothes.

The mother echoed this statement: “I saw Milarem a couple of times maybe in uniform and armed, but I used to see him in civilian clothes later,” she said in her statement, which was read out in court.

Both witnesses said that they thought Berbic was not an active fighter and was not a member of a military unit in Syria.

Berbic is charged with joining foreign military units that were part of the so-called Islamic State terrorist organisation. According to the charges, he left Bosnia for Syria in August 2014 and was sent back in December 2019.

The prosecution also read parts of the statements which the two witnesses gave in 2019, as well as minutes from their identification of Berbic.

The mother said in her statement that her daughter went to Syria with her family in June 2013 and she visited her in November that year.

The mother also said that during her stay in Manbij, two men were taking care of killed fighters’ wives and taking them to see doctors. She said one of them was called Miralem or Milarem.

The daughter said that while in Manbij, she lived with the defendant’s daughter, as well as Berbic himself, who they called Dido.

The prosecution said that the minutes of the identification indicated that both witnesses recognised defendant Berbic in photographs.

The defence objected to the reading of the mother’s statement, saying that it would like to ask her, among other things, for what period of time Berbic had worn a uniform and whether she had seen him use weapons.

Following the reading of the statements, defendant Berbic addressed the court about what he called “untrue allegations”, saying that there was a two-year gap between the times the witnesses had seen him.

The court has forbidden the publication of the witnesses’ names. They did not testify on the advice of a neuro-psychiatrist, Azra Alajbegovic, who said at the last hearing that the daughter was unable to appear in court, while the mother could only appear under certain conditions.

The trial continues on March 31.