veličina fonta

verzija za štampu

copyright

pošalji komentar

Kovac: Deaf and Blind Trial Chamber

Ante Kovac

04 March 2010  The Defence of Ante Kovac appeals the first instance verdict sentencing him to 13 years in prison for crimes against civilians committed in Vitez in 1993.

"I have never seen, during the course of my professional career, a Trial Chamber that is so deaf and blind to all circumstances that favour an indictee," Dusko Tomic, Ante Kovac's Defence attorney, said. He appealed the first instance verdict on the basis of substantive violations of criminal procedure, violations of the Criminal Code, wrongly and incompletely determined facts and violation of the right to a defence.

Tomic called on the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to revoke the first instance verdict and order a retrial, while the State Prosecution argued that the appeal was groundless.

The Appellate Chamber will render a decision at a later stage.

In July 2009 a first instance verdict was pronounced against Kovac, sentencing him, as Commander of the Military Police Squad with the Vitez Brigade of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, to 13 years in prison for having "ordered, approved and executed" the unlawful detention of Bosniak civilians in the cinema and Public Accounting Services premises in Vitez.

In addition, he was found guilty of having raped protected witnesses A and B.

"I am saying my client is not responsible for the detention of people in the cinema. Those people were captured by everyone except military policemen, who were in charge of security in the premises. Nobody was tortured, beaten or abused. I do not think it is true that my client is guilty of these charges," Tomic said.

Commenting on the part of the verdict pertaining to rape, Tomic said that not one witness, except for protected witnesses A and B, had confirmed that the crime had happened, adding that the verdict could not be based on statements given by the two protected witnesses only.

Tomic argued that criminal procedure and the indictee's right to a fair trial were violated because the first instance Chamber refused to renew the proceedings at the point when more than 30 days had passed between two hearings, despite the fact that it was obliged by law to do so.

"My client is sick. As such, he was absent from the trial, but the Court continued with the trial as if nothing had happened. It therefore bluntly violated the Law on Criminal Proceedings. An injustice was done to my client. His right to defence was violated," Tomic stated.

The Defence proposed that the Court release the indictee from custody, in which he has been held since May 2008.

"I am afraid that each day he spends in detention looks like retribution. I am asking you to let him undergo medical treatment and be with his family," Tomic said, adding that Kovac "would report to the Court regularly".

On the other hand, the Prosecution argued that the Defence's allegations are "groundless", calling on the Appellate Chamber to confirmed the first instance verdict.

"We consider that the Court correctly applied the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, explained its decision in detail and correctly determined the facts. We also consider there are still reasons for keeping the indictee in custody," Prosecutor Mirko Lecic said.