Bosnian Serb Wartime Camp Guards Call for Acquittal

Lawyers for Boris Bosnjak and Milos Mavrak, two of the four defendants on trial for committing crimes against prisoners at the Mosa Pijade military barracks in Bileca from May to July 1992, called on the Bosnian state court in their closing statements on Tuesday to acquit them.

Bosnjak's lawyer Nina Kisic said that during the trial, no evidence had been presented that there was a position of guard commander at the military barracks, let alone that Bosnjak held the post.

As for the detainees, Kisic pointed to evidence and witnesses' testimonies that some of them were members of armed forces and carried weapons, which she said indicated that they were not civilians.

Mavrak's lawyer said Dragoslav Peric that witnesses could either not identify his client at all, or made mistakes when trying to identify him.

Bosnjak and Mavrak, along with co-defendants Miodrag Grubacic and Ilija Djajic, are accused of participating in beating detainees at the former military barracks in Bileca and enabling others to enter the detention facility and assault the prisoners.

According to the prosecution, four people died at the detention camp due to physical mistreatment or insufficient medical treatment.

The indictment claims that Bosnjak was a member of the Seventh Battalion of the Bosnian Serb Army's Military Police who acted as commander of the guards at the camp, while the three other defendants were guards and also Bosnian Serb Army troops.

Grubacic and Djajic's lawyers will present their closing statements on January 28.