TRIAL OF CROATIAN WAR CRIMINAL ANTE KOVAC BEGINS BEFORE BOSNIAN STATE COURT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 13,2008) - At the beginning of the trial of Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac the Bosnian State Prosecution laid out yesterday its plans for presenting evidence. The Defence will present its plans at a later stage.

In its introductory argument, the Bosnian State Prosecutor said it would prove that Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac had participated in crimes against Bosnian civilians in the Vitez area in 1993,during the Croatian aggression against Bosnia.

The Prosecution will examine 22 witnesses, including a Bosnian women who claim to have been raped by Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac.

"In the course of the evidence presentation process the Bosnian State Prosecution will examine four protected witnesses and present 24 pieces of material evidence,” Prosecutor Mirko Lecic said. “By doing this we will prove the actions committed by the indictee."

Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac is charged, as commander of the fascist Croatian aggressor's formations with having "ordered and approved" the unlawful detention of some 250 Bosnian civilians in the premises of the Radnicki Univerzitet, the Public Accounting Service, and a cinema in the central Bosnian town of Vitez in the course of 1993.

The detained Bosnian civilians were held in inhumane conditions. They were forced to work on the frontline between the Bosnian Army and the fascist Croatian aggressor, and at the "Kaonik" concentration camp and in buildings belonging to the Chess Club in the central Bosnian town of Busovaca.

"We will prove that the indictee raped witnesses A and B and confiscated valuables from some civilians," Lecic said.

The Defence will present its introductory arguments only after the Prosecution has presented all its evidence.

Croatian war criminal Anto Kovac was arrested by the Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in January 2008. The Bosnian State Court confirmed the indictment in March this year. Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The examination of the first Prosecution witnesses is due to take place on Friday, August 15, 2008.
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