Justice report
Kornjaca et al: Trial to Begin September 6
Čajniče
30 August 2010
The trial of three men charged with crimes in the Cajnice area will start on September 6.
The decision on the start date for the trial of Milun Kornjaca, Milorad Zivkovic and Dusko Tadic was made at a status conference. Both the prosecution and the defence confirmed they were ready for trial.
The trio is charged with having committed crimes against humanity by participating in a broad and systematic attack against the population in Cajnice, including detention, torture, murder and forcible resettlement of Bosniaks from April to the end of May 1992.
Kornjaca was allegedly the commander of the Plavi orlovi (Blue Eagles) Paramilitary Unit; Tadic was a member of the same unit; and Zivkovic was chief of the Public Safety Station in Cajnice and a member of the Crisis Committee.
The three indictees are charged with having participated, by shooting and throwing hand grenades, in the murder of 11 civilians who were detained in the hunters’ house in Mostina in the Cajnice municipality in mid May 1992.
The civilians were allegedly held in poor hygienic conditions in a metal container while being deprived of air, light, food and water, examined and brutally abused.
Prosecutors will question 70 witnesses, including two who will testify under protected measures.
At the status conference, Vesna Tupajic-Skiljevic, defence attorney for Kornjaca, asked judges to release her or appoint her as the second lawyer on the case because of “the insufficient trust between her and her client and discrepancies between their defence concepts”.
Trial chamber chairman Darko Samardzic said that Slavisa Prodanovic could not be the chief lawyer for Zivkovic, because he was member of the Serbian Chamber of Attorneys.
“According to the legal regulations applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a chief attorney has to be member of the Chamber of Attorneys of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina or Republika Srpska. Given the fact you are not a member of any of the two chambers, you can just be a defence counselor to indictee Zivkovic at this trial,” Samardzic said.
Kornjaca, Zivkovic and Tadic were arrested in December 2009. They have been held in custody since then.
The trio is charged with having committed crimes against humanity by participating in a broad and systematic attack against the population in Cajnice, including detention, torture, murder and forcible resettlement of Bosniaks from April to the end of May 1992.
Kornjaca was allegedly the commander of the Plavi orlovi (Blue Eagles) Paramilitary Unit; Tadic was a member of the same unit; and Zivkovic was chief of the Public Safety Station in Cajnice and a member of the Crisis Committee.
The three indictees are charged with having participated, by shooting and throwing hand grenades, in the murder of 11 civilians who were detained in the hunters’ house in Mostina in the Cajnice municipality in mid May 1992.
The civilians were allegedly held in poor hygienic conditions in a metal container while being deprived of air, light, food and water, examined and brutally abused.
Prosecutors will question 70 witnesses, including two who will testify under protected measures.
At the status conference, Vesna Tupajic-Skiljevic, defence attorney for Kornjaca, asked judges to release her or appoint her as the second lawyer on the case because of “the insufficient trust between her and her client and discrepancies between their defence concepts”.
Trial chamber chairman Darko Samardzic said that Slavisa Prodanovic could not be the chief lawyer for Zivkovic, because he was member of the Serbian Chamber of Attorneys.
“According to the legal regulations applied in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a chief attorney has to be member of the Chamber of Attorneys of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina or Republika Srpska. Given the fact you are not a member of any of the two chambers, you can just be a defence counselor to indictee Zivkovic at this trial,” Samardzic said.
Kornjaca, Zivkovic and Tadic were arrested in December 2009. They have been held in custody since then.
D.E.
Justice Report is a
specialist reporting agency focusing on war crimes trials taking place before
local courts; development of the local legal system; and efforts to come to
terms with the past.
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Copyrights © 2006 BIRN,
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
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