Sead Miljkovic of East Ridge removed his glasses, dried his tears and wiped his forehead in apparent relief as a judge announced Friday he was not responsible for torturing two men during the Bosnian War.
Jurors deliberated for about two hours at the Chattanooga federal courthouse before reaching a unanimous verdict Friday that Miljkovic was not guilty of two counts of torture.
His wife gasped from the audience and broke out into sobs. Defense attorney Logan Davis hugged Miljkovic while defense attorney Bryan Hoss high-fived a few people sitting in the front row.
Miljkovic was accused of beating two unarmed prisoners of war, Emir Pehlic and Ibro Nuhanovic, from 1994 to 1995 during the Bosnian War.
The majority of the trial was conducted through translators because most of the witnesses were from Bosnia or Bosnian was their first language. The United States fronted the bill for flights and accommodations, and some witnesses were in a nearby hotel for over nine days, according to trial statements.
Pehlic and Nuhanovic were among the witnesses who traveled over 5,000 miles to testify against Miljkovic.
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Hoss argued during closing statements that people know torture when they see it, and Miljkovic’s alleged actions didn’t constitute torture.
“Nobody was raped,” Hoss said. “Nobody was waterboarded. Nobody was drowned.”
Bosnia was in the midst of a civil war, Hoss said. Pehlic and Nuhanovic were captured army men, and this was not a case of two men who were serving a DUI sentence when they were allegedly beat by a guard.
“This is not Silverdale,” he said.
The country of Bosnia declared independence in March 1992 from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
A war broke out between Bosnians who supported their central government and a group of opposing Bosnian Muslims who established their own self-proclaimed government group, the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia.
Staff photo by Abby White / Defense attorneys Logan Davis, left, and Bryan Hoss enter the Chattanooga federal courthouse for Sead Miljkovic’s trial. Miljkovic was found not guilty Friday of the torture charges against him.The headquarters of the self-proclaimed province was Velika Kladusa, which was Miljkovic’s hometown.
Miljkovic became part of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia’s army, according to trial testimony. He was eventually stationed as a guard at a reconstructed castle, Stari Grad or Old Fort, that overlooked his hometown.
Pehlic and Nuhanovic were both captured during the war and brought to the castle to perform forced labor, according to their testimony.
Federal prosecutors argued during closing statements they were beaten, broken and forever changed there.
One of the witnesses started to cry and couldn’t speak briefly during the trial when prosecutors showed him a photograph of the castle.
Nuhanovic pointed to Miljkovic at one point and identified him to jurors as the man who allegedly beat him.
“I would never forget the face of the man who was beating me,” he said.
Pehlić allegedly was beaten with a rubber baton, his head forcefully pushed down toward a bayonet in order to make him believe his throat would be impaled. Nuhanović was allegedly beaten with bats and sticks and forced to fight other prisoners.
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When federal agents searched Miljkovic’s home, they found a framed photo of Old Fort where he served as a prison guard.
“To this day, the defendant has been proudly displaying the crime scene where he tortured prisoners of war,” prosecutor Elizabeth Nielsen previously said.
But Hoss said it didn’t make him sadistic because he had a picture of the place that was his hometown.
He pointed to the fact that both witnesses waited decades to bring allegations against Miljkovic, and both of their stories changed repeatedly over the years. He said that Nuhanovic was visibly angry on the stand when he was questioned about lying.
The men had an ax to grind, Hoss said.
Miljkovic has never returned to Bosnia since he immigrated to the United States, according to prosecutors. He came to America using the name Sead Dukic and has lived in East Ridge for over 20 years.
He is charged with three counts of passport fraud in connection with the alleged fake name. Miljković is nearing the end of negotiations on a plea deal for those charges, which will bring an end to his case, according to Hoss.
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.
Staff photo by Abby White / Sead Miljkovic enters the Chattanooga federal courthouse for his trial. He was found not guilty Friday of the torture charges against him.