Posted on 05/14/2012 12:45:26 PM PDT by Ravnagora
BELGRADE -- The proceedings for rehabilitation of WWII General Dragoljub Mihailović resumed on Friday [May 11, 2012] before the Higher Court in Belgrade.
Mihailović was a commander of the Chetnik movement during World War II who was sentenced to death in 1946.
The court listened to audio recordings from the trial against Mihailović, provided by historian Slobodan Marković, specifically one part of his closing argument given on July 10, 1946.
“By comparing stenographer's notes and transcripts of the audio recording, it is evident the former were cut short by 27 percent and the meaning of sentences was often changed,” Marković said, noting the notes were "a blatant ideological forgery."
Several dozens of Mihailović supporters gathered before the courthouse Friday morning.
The late general's grandson Vojislav Mihailović filed a motion for rehabilitation and reversal of the verdict dated July 15, 1946, sentencing Mihailović to execution by a firing squad.
The motion was supported by the Serbian Liberal Party, headed by Kosta Čavoški, a member of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, the association of Chetnik veterans, the association of political prisoners and victims of the Communist regime, international law professor Smilja Avramov and others.
They claim Mihailović was kept from seeing his lawyer before the trial, faced a prejudiced court and had not seen the indictment against him until seven days prior to the trial.
He was executed on July 17, 1946, only two days after sentencing.
Aleksandra's Note: The next hearing in the Mihailovich Rehabilitation process is scheduled for June 22, 2012.
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