In its closing statement, the defences for Sasa Zecevic and Radoslav Knezevic argued that they did not take part in the murder of 200 civilians in Koricanske Stijene in 1992.
Zecevic’s defence attorney Radovan Stanic said that the statements given by witnesses, who said that his client was accompanying a convoy from which 200 men were taken out and shot, were contradictory.
Stanic said that, while being examined after his arrest in July 2009, Zecevic told the Bosnian State Prosecution that he did not escort the convoy of more than a thousand of civilians travelling from Prijedor to Travnik on August 21, 1992, but that he did not have an alibi for that day.
“He said that he did not know where he was. He mentioned that, one day later, on August 22, he participated in a terrain clearing at Koricanske stijene. It is not reasonable to ask him to remember where he was 17 years ago and who he was with,” Stanic said.
Zecevic also addressed the Court and said they he did not take part in the crime.
"I feel sorry for the victims of the crime, I feel for the families. They have a right to know what happened. Perpetrators should answer for this crime, but I am not one of them. False witnesses were used against me," said Zecevic.
Zecevic and Knezevic are charged together with Petar Civcic, Branko Topola and Marinko Ljepoja with having participated in the murder of 200 men, mainly Bosniaks, who had been separated from a convoy, at Koricanske Stijene on Mount Vlasic.
The indictment alleges that Civcic, Zecevic, Ljepoja and Knezevic were policemen in Prijedor, while Topola was a guard in the Trnopolje detention camp.
Stanic then commented on the testimonies given by a member of the Prijedor police Interventions Squad who pleaded guilty to crimes at Koricanske Stijene.
“Cetic has a criminal past. He was sentenced five times in the past. He is the kind of person who would tell a fictitious story in case he is asked to do that. His statement was agreed upon in advance,” the defence attorney said.
Ljubisa Cetic, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison, testified at the request of Zecevic’s defence.
While being examined by the defence, Cetic did not mention Zecevic’s participation in the murders at Koricanske Stijene, however he did speak about it while being cross-examined by the prosecution.
Knezevic’s lawyer Milan Vujin said he did not even know what to analyse in regard to his clients’ alleged participation in the crime on Koricanske Stijene.
"No witness said he saw Knezevic shoot. The prosecution tried to prove that Knezevic was there and took part in a joint criminal enterprise. Even if the Court finds him guilty of being there, there is no evidence that he was shooting”, said Vujin.
Previously in its closing arguments, the prosecution called for all five defendants to be found guilty.
The defences of the three remaining defendants will present its closing statement on June 14.
Timeline of events in the case against 13 former Serb fighters charged with committing war crimes in the villages of Cuska, Zahac, Ljubenic and Pavlac in Kosovo in 1999.