Monday, November 5, 2007

FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL DRAGISA ZIVANOVIC PROVIDED AN ALIBI FOR HIM BEFORE BOSNIAN STATE COURT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 5,2007) - The Defence team of Serbian war criminal Dragisa Zivanovic, one of 11 Serbian war criminals indicted by the Bosnian State Court for genocide, completed its evidence presentation process with the examination of nine witnesses, who have provided an alibi for the indictee.

Witnesses Sasa Simic and Gojko Peric said that the two of them and the indictee's brother, Slavisa Zivanovic, were supposed to start their military service on July 14, 1995. The two witnesses claim to have visited Serbian war criminal Dragisa Zivanovic's family house a day before, as he organised a farewell party for his brother. Simic said that he stayed at the party until 2.00 am and that Serbian war criminal Dragisa Zivanovic was there all that time.

The Bosnian State Prosecutor charges the 11 former members of the genocidal paramilitary formations of the Serbians living in Bosnia with involvement in the mass murder of more than 1,000 Bosnian civilians in the eastern Bosnian village of Kravica. The indictment alleges that those Bosnian civilians were captured and taken away by the genocidal Serbian aggressor on July 13, 1995.

Witnesses Nenad Mitrovic, Radisa Maksimovic, Obrenija Radovanovic, Stanka Blagojevic, Milomir Blagojevic and Zeljko Zivanovic all claim to have attended the farewell party that Serbian war criminal Dragisa Zivanovic organised for his brother. They also reiterated that they saw Zivanovic many times in Skelani "seven or eight days" before the party, as he was making the preparatory arrangements.

Witness Bogoljub Simic told the Bosnian State Court that a group of Serbians living in Bosnia, including Slavisa Zivanovic, was due to start military service on July 14, 1995.

To support this statement,Serbian war crimianal Dragisa Zivanovic's defence attorney Stanko Petrovic presented, as material evidence, a list of people who were supposed to start their military service on July 14, 1995. The list includes the names of Slavisa Zivanovic, Sasa Simic and Gojko Peric.

The next hearing is due to take place on November 14, 2007.

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