A defense witness testifying at the trial of Mario Frimel, charged with crimes in Sarajevo, said he saw injured party Mladen Blagovcanin beaten up in a military headquarters.
Legal experts said a referendum in Bosnia’s Serb-led entity Republika Srpska questioning the authority of the state court and prosecution would not weaken the state judiciary but would destabilise the country.
A cantonal prosecution witness testifying at the Veljko Papic trial he dug trenches for the Bosnian Serb Army when he was a member of a work squad during the war.
A protected witness testified in a closed hearing at the trial of Dusko Dabetic, who has been charged with crimes in the Grbavica neighbourhood in Sarajevo.
Prosecutor Oleg Cavka was the first prosecution witness to testify in the case of state court judge Azra Miletic, accused of accepting a bribe from co-defendants Ramo Brkic and Senad Sabic. Cavka described Miletic’s behavior and the decisions she made while performing her duties as a judge as “strange, surprising and unjust.”
The Bosnian state court has expressed concern over political statements, media reports and actions undertaken by victims in response to recent arrests. In a public announcement, the state court said it believes the judiciary is being “politicized and degraded.”
The Bosnian state court has referred two cases to the cantonal court of Sarajevo for further processing. One case deals with wartime crimes committed in Sarajevo, the other with crimes committed in the Hadzici and Ilidza area.
After Iulian-Nicolae Vintila’s defense presented its closing arguments, the state court scheduled the verdict in the Vintila and Ramiz Avdovic trial for February 26.