Criminal Prosecution of Jovisa Kovacevic May Be Discontinued

District prosecutor Slavko Krulj said the facts changed substantially during the main trial, adding that there was no evidence that Kovacevic committed any crimes.

Krulj had previously said that he’d given up on examining witness Azemina Mesanovic, who lives abroad.

A statement Mesanovic had given to Doboj police in 2012 was read in the courtroom.

Azemina Mesanovic, the sister of injured party Safet Mesanovic, had said in her 2012 statement that “after her brother left prison he said he was mistreated in Usora, Doboj, and did not mention having been beaten in the village of Borovo Polje.”

Kovacevic is charged with having abused a member of the Bosnian Army, who was captured on a battlefield near Gradacac, in the basement of a house in the area of Modrica.

According to the charges, he interrogated the captive for one or two hours every day from late April until mid-May 1994. While interrogating him, Kovacevic allegedly swore at him, punched him, kicked him, and hit him with handles and sticks.

The trial chamber will announce its decision regarding the suspension of Kovacevic’s criminal prosecution tomorrow, on April 17.