Final statements were presented today before the High Court in Podgorica in the case against Slobodan Peković, a Montenegrin citizen accused of committing war crimes against the civilian population in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.

Slobodan Peković previously bore the surname Ćurčić. As he explained, his daughters changed his surname due to threats he had received, having lived under the burden of these charges for 30 years.

Peković is accused of participating, as a member of the Army of the Republika Srpska (ARS), in an attack on the village of Hum near Foča in June 1992. During the attack, he allegedly shot and killed Emina and Mujo Šabanović with automatic weapons and then set fire to their house with their bodies inside.

He is also accused of raping a Bosniak woman (protected witness A1) in Foča in early September 1992. According to the indictment, he took her, her daughter and several other women and children from the “Partizan” Sports Hall — where they had been detained with other Bosniak civilians — to an apartment across from the police station, where he, along with others, raped her.

The “Partizan” Sports Hall was one of the most notorious detention centers during the war in BiH, where Bosniak women and girls were systematically raped and abused. From April 1992 to March 1993, this facility was under the control of the VRS. Crimes committed in “Partizan” were not isolated incidents but part of a broader campaign of ethnic cleansing in Foča and its surroundings.

For systematic rapes and other crimes connected to the “Partizan” facility, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Court of BiH convicted five individuals: Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovač, Zoran Vuković, Gojko Janković, and Jasko Gazdić.

Special Prosecutor Tanja Čolan Deretić, representing the prosecution, stood by the indictment claims, stating that they had been proven. She argued that the defendant’s claim — that he did not kill the Šabanovićs in Hum — was refuted by witness testimonies identifying him among the soldiers. She especially referred to the statement of witness Ramiza Grcić, who saw Serbian soldiers taking Emina Šabanović from her house, hitting her with a shovel, dragging her through thorns by her hair, and carrying her unconscious to Mujo Šabanović’s house. That house was later set on fire, and the charred bodies of Emina and Mujo were found. Ramiza identified Peković as one of the soldiers after he removed a sock from his head, and she had known him well before the war. The prosecutor emphasized that the material evidence, especially the autopsy report, fully supported the witness statements, thereby proving the first count of the indictment.

Regarding the second count, the prosecutor stated that the victim’s testimony (protected witness A1) — claiming she was raped by Peković — was corroborated by the testimony of witness A2. She highlighted the anthropological description of the attacker as a tall and large man, noting that A1 is 158 cm tall and had just been told her husband, mother, and one child were killed at KPD Foča, while she was detained with her other daughter. In such trauma, it is natural that the attacker would seem enormous to her. The prosecutor also reminded the court that Jasko Gazdić was previously convicted by the Court of BiH for the same sexual violence against A1, among other war crimes, and sentenced to 17 years in prison. During that trial, the victim clearly identified both Gazdić and Ćurčić (now Peković) as the rapists, and the court found her testimony credible, detailed, and supported by medical documentation.

The victim’s legal representative, lawyer Dalibor Tomović, stressed that witness A1 had remained consistent in all her statements given during the investigation — that she and A2 and others were taken from “Partizan” Hall in Foča to an apartment near the Ministry of Interior building, and that they were then taken one by one into another room, where the accused Peković was escorting them. When it was A1’s turn, she was taken into a room where Dragan Vuković was sitting on a couch with a pistol. She was ordered to undress, forced to perform oral sex on one, while the other raped her. She testified that right after Peković, Jasko Gazdić entered the room and also raped her, which she could see from her position in relation to the door.

Since A1 was alone with rapists, there were no other direct witnesses. However, protected witness A2 supported her account by describing the events before and after the rape. A2 stated that she saw A1 through the bathroom door’s glass but couldn’t see the perpetrator’s face. She added that A1 was returned to the room disheveled, pale, visibly crying, and in bad shape.

The victim’s representative proposed that the High Court in Podgorica accept the victim’s civil claim and order the defendant to pay €100,000 in non-material damages for the violation of her physical and psychological integrity.

Defense attorney Mirjana Camović argued that all the witnesses described the person they identified as Slobodan Ćurčić as tall, with long blonde hair and light-colored eyes — which entirely contradicted the defendant’s physical appearance, as recorded in the court minutes from the main hearing on September 30, 2022, and confirmed by expert witness Dr. Nemanja Radojević.

She added that the court could not base a verdict on witness Ramiza Grcić’s statement, as it was incomplete in describing the accused (she couldn’t be re-examined because she passed away). Also, her statement about seeing Serbian soldiers taking Emina Šabanović did not necessarily mean the accused participated in the act or was among them.

The defense emphasized that it was not proven that the defendant was present at the scene during the attack on Hum or that he committed any actions against Mujo and Emina.

Furthermore, the victim A1 described the perpetrator as a tall, blonde man with long hair and light eyes, which did not match the defendant’s appearance. The victim’s representative explained that such descriptions were understandable, as many soldiers during that time wore wigs and disguised themselves during attacks.

The defense reminded the court of the principle in dubio pro reo — when in doubt, rule in favor of the defendant — a cornerstone of the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The burden of proof lies entirely on the prosecution, and any doubt must benefit the accused.

“In this case, reasonable doubt has not been raised to the level of certainty. Considering the facts and evidence, I propose the defendant be acquitted,” Camović concluded.

In his final statement, the defendant Slobodan Peković said: “Your Honor, my conscience is clear. I did not kill. I did not rape. I am sorry for what happened to those people, but I wasn’t there, so I cannot be the accused. That is all.”

The trial against Peković before the High Court in Podgorica, presided over by Judge Nada Rabrenović, lasted nearly three years. It began on September 30, 2022, after two prior hearings were postponed due to illness of the judge and defense attorney. During the proceedings, there were two long periods of inactivity — lasting 11 and 8 months — mostly due to the illness and absence of the presiding judge and defense lawyer, so no hearings were held for a total of 19 months.

Despite this, the court in the previous hearing declined to decide on the victim’s civil claim, submitted early in the trial, reasoning that it would lead to “delays in the proceedings.”

During the trial, 11 witnesses were heard, seven of whom were from Bosnia and Herzegovina and testified via video link, without the need to travel to Montenegro.

The verdict is scheduled to be delivered on July 21 at 10:30 a.m.