Defense disputes translation of Serb document

A judge is expected to rule on it when Sekula Bilic's immigration fraud trial resumes today.

By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published August 21, 2007

TAMPA - Day One of the immigration fraud trial against Sekula Bilic ended early Monday when his defense attorneys disputed the English translation of Serb military documents that bolster a federal prosecutor's case.

Bilic, 36, is the latest in a line of Tampa Bay area Bosnian Serbs to stand trial, accused by the U.S. government of falsifying immigration documents by claiming they did not serve in the military.

The cases come following a dragnet by the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to find soldiers involved in the massacre at Srebrenica, where more than 12,000 Bosnian Muslims were executed.

The local defendants, who now live in St. Petersburg, were not accused of direct participation in war crimes, but prosecutors say they may have served in units that were involved.

On Friday, the case against Serb refugee Branko Popic, 59, ended in a mistrial. It was the second time a jury deadlocked in the case against Popic. In June, a judge declared a mistrial when jurors split 11-1 for conviction. This time, jurors were split 11-1 on a not guilty verdict, his attorney said.

In Bilic's case, a grand jury indicted him in September 2001 on a charge that he lied about serving in the Army of the Republic of Srpaska and in the Yugoslavian National Army.

Defense attorney Igor Sikavica told U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew that documents used against Bilic had been inaccurately translated.

Bucklew dismissed jurors just before 4 p.m. and said she'd spend the evening reviewing the documents. She is expected to rule on the authenticity of the translation when the trial resumes at 9:30 a.m. today.

Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 21, 2007, 00:07:11]