Today, for the fifth time in a row, the trial of Slobodan Peković, accused of war crimes against the civilian population, was postponed. Peković is charged with killing two people and raping a Bosniak woman in Foča in 1992 as a soldier of the Army of the Republika Srpska. This is the first trial in Montenegro for sexual violence committed during the war. The victim of this violence has the status of a protected witness (A1).
The trial was postponed due to the justified absence of the defendant Peković’s defense attorney, Ratko Pantović, and the inability of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to secure the testimony of five witnesses regarding the murders today. As the witnesses are in BiH, their testimony is being conducted via video link, through international legal assistance, for reasons of procedural economy.
The last hearing in this case was held on May 31, 2023, and since then, hearings have been postponed four times due to the defense attorney’s health reasons. The court asked Peković to state whether he wanted another attorney, which he refused.
Special Prosecutor Tanja Čolan Deretić requested an expert evaluation of the attorney’s medical documentation to assess whether he will be able to follow the trial proceedings in the near future. If the evaluation shows that he will not be able to, the prosecutor requested that a court-appointed attorney be assigned to the defendant.
The legal representative of the injured party A1, attorney Dalibor Tomović, additionally highlighted the need for an urgent resolution of this issue, as Peković is due to be released from detention in October this year. He was primarily detained due to the risk of flight.
To ensure a more efficient conclusion of the proceedings, the next hearings are scheduled for April 22, May 17, May 28, and June 11, 2024. After hearing the remaining five witnesses, closing statements are expected.
Attorney Dalibor Tomović represents the injured party within the framework of the Human Rights Action project, which is part of the regional project “EU Support for Confidence-Building in the Western Balkans,” funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
