Sarajevo Gunman Had Bomb Making Manual on Laptop

At the trial of Mevlid Jasarevic, who is charged with shooting at the US embassy in Sarajevo last year, a state investigator testified that the defendant’s computer contained photos of weapons and bomb making manuals.Irhad Kos, a witness from the State Investigative and Protection Agency, said that Jasarevic’s computer contained topographic maps of Bosnian towns, a biography of Osama bin Laden, photos of planes and military airports and a manual on how to use military equipment.

“We found a folder with four videos, including Jasarevic’s DVD message, two test recordings and a video featuring a woman, in which two rifles can be seen in the background, the same ones you can see behind Jasarevic’s back [in his DVD message],” said Kos.

One file, he said, contained instructions on how to make and prepare land mines and car bombs. There were also videos of combat and murders, and videos glorifying killed mujahedeen.

Jasarevic’s lawyer Senad Dupovac told the reporters after the hearing that all the materials found on the laptop can be found on the Internet, including the maps, adding that they are probably not the kind of material that is usually downloaded but that he was not the one to judge that.

He explained that the most important task for the defence is to disprove the prosecution’s claim that Jasarevic was a part of a terrorist organisation.

The defence also maintains that local civilians and policemen were not the defendant’s target, only US military policemen “who were killing Iraqis”.

The indictment charges Jasarevic with attacking the US embassy and with shooting 105 bullets in 50 minutes from an automatic rifle and wounding a policeman.

Two alleged helpers are charged with assisting him in hiding the DVD message that Jasarevic recorded before coming to Sarajevo, and with destroying ammunition and military equipment that had been obtained for terrorist purposes.

The indictment says that all three were dissatisfied with the position of the hard-line Muslim Wahhabi community in Bosnia, to which they belonged, and wanted to change that position through violence.

All three men have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The defence also insists that the two alleged helpers did not know about Jasarevic’s intentions.

Jasarevic is also indicted by the US Justice Department, which charged him in April, among other matters, with attempted murder alongside nine other counts in connection with the shootings.