Ganic Prosecution Claims Fresh Evidence
Defence reportedly dismiss some of the new material as Serbian government propaganda.
Ganic Prosecution Claims Fresh Evidence
Defence reportedly dismiss some of the new material as Serbian government propaganda.
The Serbian authorities have provided fresh evidence in their bid to extradite former Bosnian president member Ejup Ganic, British prosecutors revealed last week during a hearing in London.
According to various news reports, the new material – totaling some 200 pages and two videotapes – was not considered in previous investigations conducted by the Hague tribunal and the prosecutor’s office in Sarajevo, which claims to still be investigating the case.
Serbia is seeking to extradite Ganic to stand trial for charges related to a May 1992 episode in Sarajevo, known as the Dobrovoljacka (Volunteer's Street) incident. At the time, Ganic was a member of the Bosnian presidency, effectively serving as a deputy to then-president Alija Izetbegovic.
A day before the incident, on May 2, 1992, Izetbegovic had been kidnapped by the Yugoslav army, JNA, at Sarajevo airport when he returned from peace negotiations in Lisbon.
On May 3, a deal was done according to which Izetbegovic would be released and a JNA column allowed out of the besieged city by the Bosniaks. But subsequently the column was fired upon. Belgrade says 18 soldiers were killed, and blames Ganic, who was effectively in charge while Izetbegovic was being detained.
Ganic maintains he is innocent of the charges, and his lawyers are fighting the extradition request and also claiming abuse of process.
Last week, prosecution lawyer Ben Watson, acting on behalf of Serbia, said that the two “illuminating and important” videos show footage of the convoy leaving Sarajevo. One of the videos was reportedly filmed by journalists accompanying the column, while the other was made by Serbian television in 1995. The videos will be shown during the formal extradition hearing, which will take place July 5-10 in London.
Ganic’s defence dismissed the videos as “racist propaganda made by the Serbian government”, reported the AFP.
The defence plans to present 11 witnesses to testify in the July hearings, while the prosecution will call two members of the prosecutor’s office in Belgrade, plus another individual whose role remains unclear, the news service Balkan Insight reported. The identities of the prosecution witnesses have not yet been released.
Ganic, now president of Sarajevo's School of Science and Technology, was arrested at Heathrow Airport on March 1 after attending a degree ceremony at the University of Buckingham, with which his school has links. He was released on bail on March 11 under several conditions, including a nightly curfew and a daily check-in at a police station.
Rachel Irwin is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
