Arijana Memić: Dženan told me Alisa was threatened that her boyfriend would be liquidated

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – The trial of Zijad Mutap, Alisa Mutap Ramić, Hasan Dupovac, Josip Barić, and Muamer Ožegović, accused of organized crime, illegal mediation, aiding the perpetrator after the criminal offense, obstruction of evidence, and concealing evidence and perpetrators, faking evidence, and concealing facts known to them, continued today at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who undertook actions to conceal the actual manner in which Dženan Memić sustained severe life-threatening injuries.

The first witness was Arijana Memić, the sister of the murdered young man Dženan Memić. She recalled the events of February 8, 2016, and the conversations she had with her brother earlier that evening.

Arijana testified that Dženan told her he wouldn't go out that night and that his head hurt, while she was getting ready to go out. When Arijana returned home, her mother entered her room around half-past ten and asked if she had spoken with Dženan. She said she hadn't and asked what was wrong. Her mother said they had called her father, Muriz, and that Dženan had been hit by a car.

During her testimony, Arijana said she started calling relatives on their mobile phones one by one, first calling Dženan's number, which no one answered, and then Alisa Mutap.

“Some man answered her mobile, it was her father Zijad Mutap, and he told me that Dženan was being taken by ambulance. I asked how he was, and he said he wasn't well,” Memić said, and then headed with her mother to the Clinical Center UNSA and the KUM building.

When they arrived at the hospital, they were informed that his vital signs were not good and that surgery was underway. Arijana said she entered the KUM building where she saw a man whom her relatives told her was Alisa's father, Zijad Mutap.

“Alisa was in another room with her mother, where they were providing her with assistance. I asked Zijad what happened, and he said he didn't know anything, and later we received information that he was at the scene. Alisa was in a wheelchair, covered with a blanket from the waist down, and she was wearing a t-shirt covered with bloodstains and droplets. She had a bandage on her head, her hair was disheveled. I asked her what happened, Alisa, and how it's possible you didn't hear the car in Velika aleja, and she just said I don't know,” Memić said.

Her mother, Esma Mutap, said at one point: “They are probably Gypsies, they are always there.”

Alisa was discharged from the hospital for home treatment, and upon leaving, she asked who would inform her about Dženan and that her bag and wallet were left in the car and who would return them, to which Arijana replied that everything would be returned to her.

Arijana returned home with her mother because the surgery would take a long time, and in the next phone conversation with Alisa, she again asked how they hadn't heard the car.

“She said she didn't know, she told me several versions in those days. That they were both found in a ditch, that she was found on one side and Dženan on the other, that she only regained consciousness at the emergency room. The only thing she remembers is that she wanted to tell him something and that he widened his eyes at her and looked at her as if she were a monster,” Memić said.

She added that Alisa went home in a bloody t-shirt, and that Alisa avoided Arijana's gaze at that time.

In one of the conversations they had while Dženan was in the hospital, it also concerned the fateful night, specifically where Dženan and Alisa were before Velika aleja.

“She said they went to Vidikovac, that Dženan was hungry but she didn't want pizza at Mahir's, and that Dženan insisted they go for a walk. It all seemed strange to me because my brother couldn't walk from the car to the store because he was too lazy to walk,” she said.

Their father, Muriz Memić, forbade visits to Dženan, and at that time, the Memić family was informed that Dženan had moved his head and that his condition was improving. Arijana testified today that Alisa called and asked, “What was Dženan mumbling about today?”

“I told her it was nothing, and she said that Hamza (Memić's relative) told her that, and that wasn't true, but she found out from her cousin Zehra Šarić, who heard that Dženan had moved his head. That word 'mumbling' hurt me. We never received a moment of sympathy or empathy from her,” she said.

Alisa and Dženan started their relationship on December 13, 2016, and Alisa wanted to visit Dženan on February 13.

Zijad Mutap called Muriz Memić and asked if they could come to their house. When they arrived, Zijad and Esma said that Alisa had gone to visit Dženan and that she would come too, and that they had been at the MUP KS and were being questioned as if they were guilty of something.

“Alisa comes into the house, scratches her arm and says: ‘What’s wrong with you, he’s strong, he’ll be fine.’ Her mother Esma says the car didn’t hit them, Alisa was hit by a truck when she was little, she knows what it’s like when a car hits you. Someone attacked them. Alisa then says she has to go take her medication and that she has dizziness. Muriz went out to see them off and saw Alisa bending down normally and tying her shoelaces and telling us that nothing was wrong with her,” Arijana recounts.

After Dženan's death, Arijana and Alisa had no direct contact.

Arijana stated today that they were contacted through the Facebook group Justice for Dženan Memić by a certain Emina Zametica, whom she met. Emina came accompanied by her boyfriend and a friend, while Arijana came with another woman. She knew Alisa from high school.

“She told me that on February 8, 2016, she saw Dženan and Alisa, described to me what Dženan was wearing and that they were walking in a place we didn't know they were. She thinks they were arguing because he was walking ahead and typing on his phone, and she was behind him and hissing something at him. Emina said they moved to another location but heard dull thuds and screams. They considered whether to go in the direction of Velika aleja but decided not to, so as not to get into trouble. We provided this information to the KS Prosecutor's Office and the State Prosecutor's Office,” Memić said.

The prosecutor asked Arijana what she knew about her brother's relationship with Alisa Mutap.

“He told me he had a new girlfriend and showed me her picture. I told him, good luck. We celebrated New Year's together at our house, and that evening I saw Alisa's attitude towards him, pulling him into a corner to sit alone,” Arijana said.

One day after that New Year's, Dženan told Arijana that she would “soon be without a brother” because Alisa had received some threatening messages and they told her it would be her shortest relationship and that her boyfriend would be liquidated.

“I told him to forget about it and that he wouldn't pay other people's bills. He said Alisa's family was crazy and that only she was normal there. He told me that Alisa had resolved the problems, but I don't know who the message came from. Ever since he was in a relationship with her, nothing has been positive, he has lost himself completely,” Arijana said.

The defense of the accused had no questions for Arijana Memić.

The next witness was Nedžad Hrvat, an employee of the Directorate for Police Coordination, who was in a patrol car with his colleague Nebojša Veljović when Alisa Mutap ran out in front of their car in Velika aleja on the night of February 8, 2016.

He said that around 10:30 PM they were driving to patrol the Kuwaiti residence in Velika aleja, and a girl came out from behind a tree, waving her hands and stopping the vehicle.

“My colleague opened the window, and she said: ‘Help, a car hit us at high speed.’ I opened my door, approached the girl, saw she was bleeding, and helped her into the trunk of the car. I called the shift leader and informed him that an ambulance was needed,” Hrvat said.

He said he spoke with her, asked for her name, what she was doing, where she lived, and she answered the questions.

When asked by the prosecutor when and where they saw Dženan Memić, Hrvat said they saw him immediately, but he didn't approach right away; he first provided assistance to Alisa.

“We blocked the road with the car to stop traffic and secure the scene. Traces of glass were visible, a piece of green color. There were blood droplets, and I looked for some plastic to protect it because it looked like it was going to rain,” Hrvat recounted.

He estimated, at the prosecutor's request for a precise determination, that Dženan was lying 15 to 20 meters lower than where Alisa Mutap had stopped them, but not on the asphalt but on the ground.

He said that he then approached Dženan and did not see the injured side on which he was lying.

“We waited a long time for the ambulance, my colleague told me the young man wasn't doing well. He wasn't breathing normally anymore, it was more like gurgling. I called twice for the ambulance to come, we waited about 20 minutes,” he said.

While waiting for the ambulance, members of the MUP KS, Velibor Ristivojević and Elvedin Boja, arrived at the scene. Police officer Hrvat said that Alisa Mutap had two phones and one of them was broken.

“One of those phones rang, it said ‘tata mobitel or tata eronet,’ she handed the phone to my colleague, he answered, introduced himself, and said his daughter was injured,” Hrvat said.

Hrvat confirmed that Alisa's father, Zijad Mutap, whom he knew by sight and who owned rent-a-car vehicles, arrived at the scene.

“He didn't approach his child, he just gestured with his hands without approaching the child. He said, ‘What kind of country is this, three of my cars were stolen, what is happening here,’ said Hrvat, who did not hear if anyone asked Mutap anything.

The first ambulance provided assistance to both Alisa and Dženan, and the young man was taken to KCUS. The second ambulance took Alisa Mutap.

Hrvat said he didn't remember if anyone asked them anything at the time, that they stayed at the scene a little longer and left. Later, they were called to the MUP KS to give statements.

The defense attorneys had several questions for this witness, one of which concerned whether the police officer's clothing was requested to be seized, given that blood from Alisa Mutap had dripped onto his uniform. Hrvat said he threw away the bloody pants and that no one asked for his clothes.

Judge Džemila Begović asked Hrvat if it was usual to call the shift leader or the ambulance in such situations. He did not answer this question precisely, even though he himself repeatedly emphasized how long it took for the ambulance to arrive at the scene.

The third witness was police officer MUP KS Velibor Ristivojević, who has been working in the Ilidža Police Department for the last ten years.

On the night of February 8, 2016, he arrived at the scene in Velika aleja with his colleague Elvedin Bojo, where they found colleagues from the Directorate for Police Coordination, Alisa Mutap, and the injured Dženan Memić.

“My colleague went to the young man and said that the ambulance should be expedited and that the guy wasn't doing well. I spoke with Alisa, and she said a vehicle hit them at high speed. I couldn't get any information from her about where the vehicle came from, what kind of vehicle it was, its license plate, or its color, only that it sped away. She was conscious, communicative, and gave us information about herself and Dženan,” Ristivojević said.

This police officer confirmed that he responded to a call from Alisa's father, Zijad, explained what had happened, and said he was coming quickly.

He said he didn't see how many phones Alisa Mutap had with her, but she seemed completely normal.

“I have experience with traffic accidents. Especially when someone is close, there is shouting, screaming, and it was strange to me that there was none of that here. It was strange to me that even when the ambulance took the young man away, she didn't ask if he would survive,” says Ristivojević.

The scene was secured, evidence collected, and the investigation began with the arrival of prosecutor Meris Ćato, investigator Sefedin Škrijelj, and technicians.

While the investigation was ongoing, more police officers arrived at the scene, and a search was requested for the vehicle and Mirza Ploskić, Alisa Mutap's ex-boyfriend with whom she had problems.

When asked by judge Branko Perić if there were any braking marks, the witness said there were no braking marks, but he also found it strange that someone would drive fast in Velika aleja.

The next hearing is on December 30, when four witnesses will be heard.