Former military policeman jailed for role in murder of at least ten Bosniaks held in Ripac village in 1992.
Presenting its closing statement, the state prosecution called upon the state court to find Zoran Bjelica and Novica Tripkovic guilty of crimes in the Kalinovik area and sentence them in accordance with the law.
Presenting its closing statement, the state prosecution said it had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Zoran Bjelica and Novica Tripkovic committed war crimes in the Kalinovik area.
Testifying at the trial of two former Bosnian Serb soldiers charged with crimes in Kalinovik, a defense witness said a man took a detained civilian to the first floor of a school building used as a detention facility. The witness then said she heard two gunshots.
Novica Tripkovic’s defense presented material evidence to the state court, including a book on the testimony of wartime rape victims titled “I begged them to kill me.”
Novica Tripkovic’s defense attorney was ordered to obtain permission from the Hague tribunal in order to invite a protected witness known as S5 to testify at the trial.
Findings by a team of psychiatric experts were presented at the Novica Tripkovic trial. The team determined whether Tripkovic was capable of following the trial. Tripkovic has been tried for war crimes in Kalinovik.
The proceedings against Marinko Bjelica will take place separately from the other defendants accused of committing crimes against civilians in Kalinovik. The trial chamber decided to conduct separate proceedings for Bjelica due to his poor health.
Defense witnesses at the trial of former Bosnian Serb fighter Zoran Bjelica say that he was in Montenegro when alleged crimes he committed in Kalinovik took place.
The trial of Marinko and Zoran Bjelica, as well as Novica Tripkovic, who are charged with crimes in Kalinovik in 1992, has been postponed for technical reasons, specifically due to the absence of the third indictee.