Miljkovic: We received the translated witness statement five minutes before the hearing, we will not make concessions to the prosecution

Attorney Predrag Miljkovic, following the postponement of the hearing for Zoran Kostic and Dragan Milovic, stated that the translated statement of the witness who was supposed to testify today was delivered to the defense only five minutes before the start of the hearing, despite the prosecution’s earlier promise made at the previous session to provide the translation that same day.

Kostic and Milovic are accused of committing a war crime in Vucitrn in 1999.

Miljkovic, who represents Zoran Kostic, said that the defense will no longer make concessions to the prosecution.

“Today’s hearing in the case against Zoran Kostic and Dragan Milovic was postponed at the request of the defense because we did not receive the translated statement of the witness who was supposed to testify today. At the previous session, held on October 6, the defense insisted on receiving the translation of this statement, which, by the way, was taken last year, and the prosecution promised to translate and deliver it to us that same day. However, today I was handed the statement five minutes before the start of the hearing. As a matter of principle, we did not want to proceed with the questioning, not even with a limited or direct examination of the witness, because this kind of behavior by the prosecution is evident in several cases. In this case, we already allowed one witness to be heard in this manner, but there will be no further concessions from the defense. There is no reason to, the prosecution makes no concessions for us. From now on, until we receive translations of all statements and material evidence, we will not proceed with any hearings,” Miljkovic said.

As he added, the statement of the witness who was supposed to testify today was taken 15 days after the indictment was filed.

According to Miljkovic, the fact that the trial panel accepted this statement as evidence nonetheless constitutes a serious procedural violation.

“It should not have been accepted as evidence, because the investigation had already been concluded. Once the indictment is filed, the investigation is considered closed. This evidence was not collected during the investigation, as the law clearly stipulates. The statement was taken 15 days after the investigation ended, and we objected that such a statement cannot be admitted, nor can the witness testify. The prosecution already knew about this witness during the investigation, he was mentioned by name in the files, but the prosecution or the police were either negligent or failed to act. We cannot allow such mistakes. The trial panel permitted the witness to be heard, but I believe this will result in a serious procedural breach, and we intend to pursue this matter to the end,” Miljkovic added.

The Basic Court in Pristina was scheduled today to continue the trial of Zoran Kostic and Dragan Milovic, accused of war crimes against the civilian population in the Vucitrn area in 1999, but the hearing was postponed.

The next session is scheduled for November 24 at 1:15 p.m.