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16 December 2003
AMSTERDAM — The public prosecutor’s office (OM) wants the three young men arrested in connection to the murder of 16-year-old Maja Bradaric to undergo psychiatric assessments.
The prosecution has submitted its request to a judge in Arnhem, claiming that it is vital that the suspects undergo personality tests. No decision has been made about the request, news agency ANP reported on Tuesday.
Chief suspect Goran M., 18, of Beuningen, his friend Ferdi O., 18, and Goran P., 16, both of whom come from Nijmegen, are being held in various places across the country. Both M. and O. have confessed to the crime.
The prosecution has refused to reveal what type of psychiatric assessment should be conducted or who should carry it out.
The suspects were arrested after Maja’s burning body was found dumped near the eastern city of Nijmegen shortly after midnight on 18 November. She died before her body was set alight and examinations have indicated she was not sexually abused. She was buried in Nijmegen on 26 November.
According to the lawyer representing P., two psychiatrists have already seen the boy since his arrest. The psychiatrists claim that the 16-year-old suffered war trauma in his native Bosnia before emigrating to the Netherlands.
They claim the trauma led to the suspect freezing up when the two 18-year-old suspects strangled Maja, also of Bosnian descent, in a car and later set her body alight after dousing it with petrol. P denies involvement in the murder.
The prosecution believes a motive for the murder is relationship based, but the murder is still shrouded in confusion.
P.’s lawyer alleges that M strangled Maja because he wanted revenge after the victim’s parents accused M.’s parents of negligence over the death of his sister. But a lawyer representing M has a different motive, claiming that his client has revealed a motive to him in confidence, but expressly requested that it remain secret.
On the other hand, O.’s lawyer said M’s story is new and also claims that the motive for the murder is relationship-based.
The three suspects will appear in the Arnhem Court on 23 December when a decision will be made as to whether their remand detention will be extended by another 30 days.
[Copyright Expatica News 2003]
Subject: Dutch news