Misetic tackles war crimes case Chicago Lawyer March, 1999

March, 1999

THE YOUNG LAWYERS; Pg. 16

Misetic tackles war crimes case

MARY WISNIEWSKI

Luke S. Misetic of Pedersen & Houpt concentrates in commercial litigation.

But in December 1997, the 28-year-old law firm associate decided to represent a defendant in an unusual criminal case to be tried by a United Nation war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.

Anto Furundzija, a Bosnian Croat soldier, was accused of standing by while a subordinate raped and tortured a Muslim woman.

Misetic's involvement in the case may be a natural progression: His parents are Croatian, and he speaks the language fluently. Misetic was retained by Furundzija through a contact at the Croatian-American Association in Washington, where Misetic worked as a lobbyist before joining Pedersen & Houpt.

Also representing Furundzija is Sheldon Davidson, a Pedersen & Houpt partner, who before joining the firm in 1973 had worked for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Misetic and Davidson are being paid through the War Crimes Tribunal, said Misetic.

Furundzija's trial was the first to deal specifically with sexual assault inflicted during an interrogation, according to news reports.

The trial began in June 1998 and was held off and on through December 1998, when Furundzija was found guilty of two United Nations war crimes counts for failing to stop the rape and then taking no action against the rapist. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

We're definitely appealing," Misetic said. Misetic said the defense already has filed a post-trial motion asking that the presiding judge of the case be disqualified and that Furundzija be retried. He plans to appeal before the end of March.

Misetic says he believes the victim, who had been psychologically traumatized by the event, incorrectly identified Furundzija as being present during the crime.

Furundzija, 29, allegedly was interrogating the victim, identified as Witness A," as she was raped at the headquarters of his unit, known as The Jokers." The unit allegedly took part in a violent campaign by Bosnian Croat forces to drive Muslims out of the central Bosnian Lasva River Valley in 1993.

The subordinate who actually raped the woman has not been found, Misetic said.

The defense has argued that a Bosnian Croat witness who was beaten by the same subordinate who raped Witness A" denied Furundzija was present for her assault. The defense also argued that the woman's statement had changed since she first talked to investigators.

Before trial began June 8, 1988, the defense accused prosecutors Michael Blaxill of the United Kingdom and Patricia Viseur Sellers of Philadelphia of misconduct for, among other things, withholding the victim's witness statement from the defense for six months. Blaxill declined comment and Viseur Sellers could not be reached.

On June 5, 1998, the panel of three judges found that the prosecution had engaged in a consistent pattern of non-compliance with the orders of the Trial Chamber," according to court documents.

In July, the judges found that the prosecution had withheld psychiatric evidence about Witness A and ruled that the case be re-opened, according to Misetic. The trial resumed in November, and Furundzija was convicted Dec. 10.

Misetic's post-trial motion claims that the defense learned after the trial that the presiding judge, Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba of Zambia, and prosecutor Viseur Sellers worked together for the U.S. Commission on the Status of Women, which defined rape as a war crime and agreed that the definition of rape should be expanded and strong sentences imposed.

The motion argued that the judge should be disqualified because of her affiliation with the prosecutor and the Commission, according to Misetic.

Misetic said that his trips to the former Yugoslavia to investigate the case have left him amazed at the resiliency of the people.

The devastation is unbelievable," he said.

February 22, 1999