ZAGREB, Sept 27 (Hina) - This is not the trial of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and the Ustashi movement but of what stands in the indictment, Ivan Kern, attorney for Dinko Sakic, said before the Zagreb County Court on
Monday. In his closing argument, Kern dismissed all accusations against his client, adding the prosecution has failed to prove that Sakic is guilty of the charges from the indictment. Sakic was the commander of the World War II concentration camp Jasenovac.
ZAGREB, Sept 27 (Hina) - This is not the trial of the Independent
State of Croatia (NDH) and the Ustashi movement but of what stands
in the indictment, Ivan Kern, attorney for Dinko Sakic, said before
the Zagreb County Court on Monday.
In his closing argument, Kern dismissed all accusations against his
client, adding the prosecution has failed to prove that Sakic is
guilty of the charges from the indictment.
Sakic was the commander of the World War II concentration camp
Jasenovac. #L#
"The prosecution has failed to prove Sakic's responsibility as a
commander or his responsibility for the suffering of some 2,000
inmates, or his personal responsibility for the death of Mile
Boskovic, two Jewish inmates, and an unidentified prisoner, whom he
had allegedly killed because of a corn cob", Kern said, adding the
prosecution had even failed to determine the exact time Sakic
commanded the camp. Unlike the prosecution, who claim that Sakic
commanded the camp from May 1 to October 28, 1944, the defence claim
Sakic ran the camp from July to late September 1944.
"Their statements do not match, they are vague and do not support
the indictment", said Kern speaking about the statements of some
witnesses who charge Sakic of acts which, the attorney said, were
committed at a time when Sakic was not the camp's commander since he
had already been reassigned to Zagreb.
Kern said it was obvious that some witnesses had changed their
statements in the period between the investigation and the main
hearing, mostly to the detriment of the defendant.
Speaking about the statements of some 30 survivors, Kern said half
of them had never been in the camp during Sakic's service there,
whereas of some ten witnesses who charge Sakic several had heard
about him only indirectly. Because of these discrepancies, the
defence finds the statements of witnesses directly charging Sakic
at least dubious. This is why Kern requested the panel of judges to
carefully study those discrepancies when reaching the verdict.
"Claims by the prosecution that the discrepancies in the statements
were caused by the passage of time are detrimental to the
prosecution and not defence", Kern said.
Dismissing items in the indictment and the closing argument of the
prosecution in the part in which witness statements are cited, Kern
said come witness statements, especially those by Dervis Sarac,
were false. Sarac's "late" recollection is aimed solely at accusing
Sakic at any cost.
The defence does not deny the event which happened on September 21,
when inmate Boskovic was shot dead and the group he belonged to
hanged. "Sakic himself spoke about his role in that event before the
trial. He admitted that he had attended the execution of Boskovic's
group, but he had neither ordered, nor carried it out, and is
therefore not responsible", said Kern.
Although he doubts the authenticity of witness statements, Kern
believes it can be concluded from them that Sakic was not the
Ustashi officer who had tortured and killed inmates.
Commenting on the charge that during Sakic's command of the camp,
about 2,000 inmates died or were executed, Kern said the charge was
not founded. "What we have here is the manipulation of figures for
which there is no evidence", he said.
Kern also holds that expert witnesses did not state anything that
would directly charge Sakic. Recalling that the County State
Attorney had himself admitted that the archive material about the
camp was scarce, Kern said there was not a single articulate
document which would charge his client, save the list from the
package-room, which contained the names of prisoners who had been
receiving packages.
Speaking about the extradition procedure, Kern said after the
investigation the County State Attorney's Office issued an
indictment in which most of the charges on the basis of which Sakic
was extradited from Argentina had been changed. "A trial was
requested for one thing and he (Sakic) is being tried for another
thing", Kern said stressing Argentina was duped into extraditing
its citizen and the defendant's rights were violated because he was
convinced that he had not committed the crimes he was charged with
and therefore he accepted his extradition without an appeal.
The trial of Sakic continues on Tuesday, when defence attorney
Branko Seric will continue presenting the closing argument.
(hina) rml