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Stankovic et al: Verdict Due on March 17

KPZ Foča

12 March 2010  

A verdict in the case of eight indictees charged with having helped Radovan Stankovic flee from Foca prison is due to be pronounced before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 17, 2010.

"The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirms all allegations contained in the indictment. It considers it has been proved during the course of evidence presenting that eight people participated in helping Radovan Stankovic flee from the Penal and Correctional Facility in Foca," State Prosecutor Miroslav Markovic said in his closing arguments.  

On May 25, 2007 Radovan Stankovic fled from Foca Prison, where he was serving a 20-year sentence, after having been found guilty by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina of crimes against humanity committed in the Foca area during 1992. Stankovic fled when he was transported to a hospital to have a tooth x-rayed.

Stankovic's brother Ranko Stankovic, Mile Krsmanovic, Miroslav Blagojevic, Zdravko Vreco, Dragan Masic, Srdjan Vilotic, Miro Prodanovic and Goran Markovic are charged with having helped him flee.

The same indictment originally charged Brankica Davidovic and Ranka Dragicevic, who signed a guilt admission agreement with the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the beginning of February this year. The proceedings against them were then separated from the case against the other indictees.

"During the trial it was determined that the indictees misused their functions, falsified documents and directly helped the convict flee. Convict Radovan Stankovic was a high-risk prisoner. As such, he should have been assigned special protection measures. In other words, the responsible people should have done whatever they could not to allow Stankovic to flee," the Prosecutor said.

The indictment alleges that between May 23 and May 25, 2007 Ranko Stankovic obtained a vehicle, "as per a previous agreement with his brother Radovan".
The vehicle was allegedly parked in front of the Faculty of Dentistry in Foca on May 25. A driver was in the vehicle.

In its closing arguments the Defence of Ranko Stankovic said convict Stankovic's flight was "very well organized", adding that the indictee was not capable of "handling such action on his own".

"My client is charged on the basis of unsupported evidence. The fact that he took a piece of pie to his brother on May 25 or visited him in prison does not show that he committed the crime," Goran Neskovic, who represented Stankovic at this hearing, said. He said this was "obviously a professionally organized action", adding that everything was done as in "a good American movie".

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Mile Krsmanovic, Assistant Director for Security with the Security Service of the Foca Facility, with having failed to organize the work of the Service in such way as to avoid potential escapes.

The indictment further alleges that Miroslav Blagojevic parked the police car in which the convict was, by turning its doors towards the parking place and not the entrance to the Faculty of Dentistry, while Miro Prodanovic and Goran Milosevic, who, as stated in the indictment, were in a separate vehicle, "did not come out of the official vehicle or try physically to prevent Radovan Stankovic from fleeing".

In their closing arguments the Defence of these indictees said the escape took place "within five seconds", adding that all those who were present "were taken by surprise".  

In addition, the Defence teams said that escapes such as this one "happen everywhere in the world every day", adding that it has never happened that an official is criminally prosecuted because of that. They called on the Court to acquit all the indictees of the charges.