Čemerno Case: Not a single one of the 120 witnesses was recorded during the investigation!

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Protected witness 'A' of the BiH Prosecutor's Office testified today before the BiH Court about participating in an operation in the village of Čemerno (Ilijaš municipality) with several defendants, and how five men and one woman were killed.

This protected witness spoke as a participant in the operation and recounted that fierce fighting took place. He revealed that prosecutor Vladimir Simović read him his statement before testifying.

Otherwise, Simović questioned the witness, reminding him of the statement he gave during the investigation in October 2017.

Several defense attorneys consistently objected because the prosecutor formulated questions with "in the investigation you said," while the defense emphasized that the prosecutor should state that it is written in the record. The witness himself also stated several times that he did not say some of the facts listed in the record, so the defense objected to the record being admitted as evidence, because, as they pointed out, it was not prepared in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code, specifically, it does not contain questions and answers.

Judge Halil Lagumdžija asked the prosecutor if they recorded the witness during the investigation, and the prosecutor stated that they did not have the technical capabilities, and that not a single one of the 120 witnesses was recorded.

Defense attorneys noted that the witness could not remember the name of his unit or who his immediate superior was, but he remembered "a lot of details from June 10th.".

The witness thus stated that he did not even know what a detonating fuse was, even though, for example, the record of his testimony stated that he spoke about it.

It was pointed out that the witness confirmed that the prosecutor had suggested certain things to him. According to the defense attorney, contrary to today's testimony, the earlier statement was "decisive, clear, eloquent, and with a lot of details.".

Lawyer Mersiha Delić asked the witness to describe the fighting, and he said it was fierce. He also said that he "later saw dead soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska between the houses and howitzers," but confirmed that he did not see the manner or circumstances under which they died.

Before the war, as the witness said, he was in prison for murder.

The BiH Prosecutor's Office accuses former members of the Territorial Defense (TO) and active and reserve police force Džemal Hadžić, Teufik Turudić, Džemal Smolo, Senad, Haris and Benjamin Sikira, Enes Durak, Mirsad, Nusret and Mirzet Bešlija, and Hamdija Spahić and Nehur Ganić of participating in a joint criminal enterprise in Čemerno in June 1992.
The trial continues on February 7th with the testimony of protected witness 'I'.