Mutap and others: Police oversights identified during review

(Patria) - At the trial for the concealment of evidence related to the death of Dženan Memić in Sarajevo in February 2016, a witness for the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that police oversights were identified during a review of the work of police officers of Sarajevo Canton in the investigation of this case.

Nermin Šehović from the Federal Police Administration (FUP) said that he was appointed to an "ad-hoc" commission, which was formed at the request of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly with the task of analyzing the legality of police officers' actions, writes Detektor.ba.

He said that on January 24, 2017, they prepared a report in which they stated oversights, which mainly relate to official notes and record-keeping. Šehović said that the then chief cantonal prosecutor Dalida Burzić complained to him about the oversights of (Josip) Barić and (Hasan) Dupovac.

The witness said that he noticed inconsistencies in the times recorded differently in the documents. He stated that in the report they noted contradictions in Barić's official notes, and that Dupovac did not prepare an official note about the conversation with the father of the deceased young man, and handed it over to him after several months.

"Four pieces of glass were recorded on February 9, not processed... Alisa Ramić's testimony, father and mother were present," the witness said.

The accused Dupovac said that he told Šehović that he would have made a note if he had needed to, and that he did it later at his request. The witness said that he was not in a position to order him, to which Dupovac replied that he had received orders from his superiors to carry out the commission's instructions.

To the questions of defense attorney Ermin Gačanović, the witness confirmed that after the report, he participated in the questioning of witnesses in this case. The defense attorney also questioned him about previous contacts with certain individuals, suggesting that the witness was conducting a private investigation. Šehović said that he is a police officer and that he made official notes about everything.

To the questions of Barić's defense attorney Kadrija Kolić, Šehović said that the accused made two official notes, and that one states that there was a traffic accident, and the other states that there wasn't.

"One of the two official notes by Barić is correct," the witness said.

He confirmed to the defense attorney that a police officer is obliged to record different information received. Kolić insisted that the notes be presented in the courtroom to see what they say.

Šehović also stated that the investigation was completed the first night, and that the team was sent the next day and found new glass fragments, based on which the van was found. Defense attorney Gačanović denied that the van was found based on those traces.

Zijad Mutap, his daughter Alisa Ramić (formerly Mutap), the then head of the Traffic Investigation Department Hasan Dupovac, police officer Josip Barić, and hotel employee Muamer Ožegović are on trial for concealing evidence.

Five more witnesses were heard at the hearing. A witness from the police explained how he searched the computer with video surveillance from the "Crystal" hotel and that it was determined that a part from February 8 to 11 was missing.

"We wrote in our documentation that everything indicates that someone deleted it," said the witness, whose name cannot be published.

When asked if a power outage could have caused the recording to disappear, the witness said that an experiment should be conducted on that, since the power went out at the moment police officers were downloading the recording.

Radiology specialist Sandra Zubović testified that there were no signs of brain or skull trauma on Alisa Ramić's CT scan. She said that she and Dr. Kemal Dizdarević agreed on the finding, but neurologist Jasminka Vranić Đelilović did not. Zubović said about a concussion that it is a "clinical diagnosis".

Two friends of Alisa Ramić, whose names also cannot be published, were also heard, and they spoke about visiting the accused after they heard that she was injured with her boyfriend Dženan.

The first friend said that Alisa explained how she turned to Dženan to ask him something and that she no longer remembers what happened until she woke up in the ambulance.

The second friend stated similarly, adding that someone called Alisa's father and that he ran out of the house mentioning that a green "Renault Clio" was found.

This witness stated that on February 6, Dženan asked if Alisa was seeing her ex-boyfriend Mirza Ploskić. She said that before that, she had told him that she had seen them at Ilidža and that it looked like they were arguing. She added that Ploskić's relatives had come to Dženan on February 5 and told him that Alisa was not for him and to leave her.

Sabiha Tutun testified that she went with Dženan's sister Arijana to meet a boyfriend and girlfriend who had called her in March 2017 to give her information about the night of the incident. Tutun said that they recounted how they met Alisa and Dženan and how they later heard screams and dull blows.

Defense attorney Goran Dragović reported at the hearing that during the break, a person from the audience entered the toilet with Zijad Mutap and confronted him. Presiding Judge Branko Perić said that he would ask security to check this information.

The authorized representative of the injured family, Ifet Feraget, noted that he had previously reported that Mutap had brushed shoulders with Arijana Memić when leaving the Court. Perić said that the recordings were reviewed regarding this and that nothing inappropriate was noticed.

At the beginning of today's hearing, Perić addressed Feraget, telling him that with his statements in the media after the previous hearing, he had begun to spread distrust in the Court.

"Be assured that in this courtroom, no innocent person will be convicted, and no guilty person will be acquitted," Perić emphasized, to which Feraget replied that he wanted to protect the dignity of the prosecutor.

The trial continues on April 7.