Verdict for Crime in Gornji Vakuf Today, Arrest for Crimes in Travnik

The Cantonal Court in Novi Travnik has scheduled the pronouncement of a verdict for today for Milorad Topić, charged with a war crime committed in 1993 in Gornji Vakuf – Uskoplje.

In his closing argument, prosecutor Ahmed Mešić requested a conviction, while the Defense believes the accused should be acquitted.

Topić is charged with separating Sulejman Duratbegović, a captured member of the medical corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), from other prisoners in the premises of the Elementary School in Pajić Polje near Gornji Vakuf – Uskoplje, and starting to beat him in another room, after which other soldiers joined in.

Testifying in his own defense, Topić stated that he was a member of the Croatian Defense Council but that in 1993 he was not present at the school premises at all.

- I was in the field. I had no contact with Sulejman Duratbegović, nor did I know him. After the war, we sat in a café and saw each other at a car wash. I did not know that he had been captured or beaten - said the accused.

When asked why he did not mention the café meeting in his statement to the Prosecutor's Office, the accused replied that his memory returned only after he was charged.

The Cantonal Court in Novi Travnik will also issue an order for the arrest of Hasan Alić, charged with crimes committed in the Travnik area, after he failed to appear at a hearing to enter a plea.

Pre-trial judge Suada Kahrić stated that the summons for the hearing was properly served and received by the accused's brother, and that his absence was unjustified.

Defense attorney Ibrahim Ramčić said the accused has health problems.

- It is impossible to get in touch with him. He is a non-communicative person. He cannot speak and cannot walk. At previous hearings, he was brought in on a stretcher - said Ramčić.

Cantonal prosecutor Ahmed Mešić confirmed that the services of medical teams were used during the investigation.

The indictment charges Alić, as a member of the “El Mujahid” detachment, with killing Dragan Dragoljub Popović, one of the abducted civilians, on October 21, 1993, in the morning hours in the hamlet of Orašac near Mehurići (Travnik municipality), BIRN reported, as carried by Patria.