BOSNIAN STATE COURT TO SENTENCE SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL ZELJKO LELEK ON MAY 23

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May,19,2008) – The Bosnian State Court will pass verdict in the case against Serbian war criminal Zeljko Lelek, indicted of crimes against humanity,committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

Defence presented the closing on Friday, asking the Bosnian State Court to find Serbian war criminal Lelek not guilty.

Defense attorney, stated that the indictment did not prove that Lelek committed the crimes mentioned in the indictment. Because of that, he proposed that the defendant is found not guilty.

The defense is of the opinion that the prosecution presented no valid evidence that Lelek committed murder, torture and rape in the area of the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad in the period of April, May and June of 1992 and that the witnesses’ statements were contradictory and inconvincible.

Serbian war criminal Zeljko Lelek stated to have committed not a single criminal offense and that he apologized to the genocide victims on his and on behalf of his people for crimes committed.

Serbian war criminal Zeljko Lelek said that the Bosnian State Prosecutor had tried to link him with Serbian war criminals Milan and Sredoje Lukic. He added to have been in a constant fight with the two.

He made clear that he and Serbian war criminal Milan Lukic have never been on good terms, before or after the war. He emphasized that Serbian war criminal Milan Lukic threatened him with death for helping Bosnian civilians during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

The Bosnian State Prosecutor’s Office representatives also held closing in the case. They proposed Serbian war criminal Zeljko Lelek to be found guilty on all items of the indictment and that he is sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment.

According to the indictment, Serbian war criminal Zeljko Lelek participated in 1992, in the period of April, May and June, in murder, torture and rape, in the time of a broad and systematic attack of the genocidal Serbian aggressor's formations against the Bosnian population in Visegrad.

In early 1992, Serbian war criminal Zeljko Lelek, together withSerbian war criminal Milan Lukic, raped a Bosnian woman, insulting her also on national and religious basis. The indictment also states that this Bosnian woman was raped by the Serbian war criminals on the daily basis and physically and mentally molested, in the following ten days.

The Bosnian State Prosecutor’s Office emphasized that Serbian war criminal Zeljko Lelek did nothing to prevent the crimes. On the contrary, he personally participated in them.

Serbian war criminal Zeljko Lelek has been imprisoned by the Bosnian authorities since May 5,2006.
.