VikiĆ and others: Prosecutor withdraws witness because he was previously in the audience

(Patria) - At today's hearing for Dragan Vikić, who is charged along with Jusuf Pušina, Nermin Uzunović, and Mladen Čovčić for the murder of eight JNA members committed in Veliki Park in Sarajevo in 1992, the testimony of Nusret Smajlović was planned, but the prosecutor withdrew from his hearing because it turned out that he had been in the audience twice during this trial, which is not allowed.

The defense of Vikić pointed out that the witness told the prosecutor during preparation that he had been in the audience, and they suspect that this was done intentionally because part of this witness's testimony supports the accused and, as they stated, reflects the truth of this event.

Another witness for the BiH Prosecutor's Office spoke about the documents that arrived at the police in Sarajevo in the spring of 1992 regarding eight captured soldiers.

Ibro Šabanović, who worked at the then Republican Secretariat for Internal Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RSUP BiH), recognized his handwriting on the presented documents, although he could not remember the content itself.

Prosecutor Vesna Ilić presented him with a list of names of eight soldiers captured on April 22, 1992, on which it was indicated that a search should be issued for them.
At that time, as Šabanović stated, the police cooperated with the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), which lasted until May, when the JNA "took one side". The witness explained the procedure for issuing searches and further actions.

The Prosecutor's Office submitted four documents to the case file, including a dispatch from Malik Krivić, commander of the Novi Grad police station, dated May 12, 1992, stating that he had no information about the captured soldiers.

The defense of Dragan Vikić objected to the authenticity of all four documents, emphasizing that it is unknown who signed them and expressing doubt that they were created during the period they were dated.
Defense attorney Adna Dobojlić stated that Krivić testified at this trial and said that he had activities related to the prisoners the very next day, so it "cannot be that he sent the dispatch on May 12".

Vikić, as the commander of the Special Unit and commander of the Reserve Unit, is accused of not preventing or taking measures to punish his subordinates, as is Pušina, who was the Assistant Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Uzunović and Čovčić are accused as members of the Police Reserve Unit.

The trial continues on September 5 after the collective annual leave.