Sibenik County Court investigating judge Igor Ninic will question the first witnesses in the case against truck driver Dragan Paravinja, suspected of murdering 17-year-old Antonia Bilic of Drnis, on Wednesday and Thursday, Paravinja's court-appointed attorney Branko Baica told reporters on Monday.
The judge is expected to hear members of the missing girl's family and all other witnesses relevant for the case, after which the presentation of evidence will begin, probably in early August, said the attorney.
Baica added that so far no request had been made to expand the investigation into his client who is suspected of murder and two cases of attempted rape.
Baica said that a court in Bosnia and Herzegovina was expected to organise the questioning of witnesses in its area of jurisdiction should it prove to be necessary for the proceedings that were being conducted in Sibenik.
Paravinja was extradited to Croatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina last Friday and transferred to the prison in Sibenik.
The Bosnian authorities have temporarily extradited him to Croatia, which wants him on suspicion of killing Antonia Bilic, for whose body police have been searching for more than a month.
After his arrest in Bosnia, Paravinja confessed to the police in Banja Luka that he had strangled the underage girl from the town of Kricke near Drnis and dumped her body into the River Krka. He then denied his confession before the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying his statement was extorted by beatings.
Antonia Bilic was last seen on Cikola Bridge in Drnis on the morning of June 7 entering a truck driven by the convicted rapist Paravinja.
After the investigation into the circumstances of Bilic's disappearance, the Croatian authorities must hand over Paravinja back to the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They must do so by the time a court in Sokolac, where Paravinja was recently sentenced to two years and ten months in jail for rape, hands down a final verdict.
Serbia, where Paravinja was sentenced to four and a half years for rape but avoided serving the sentence by fleeing to Croatia, has also requested the handover of Paravinja from Bosnia.
Should the verdict delivered by the Sokolac court become final, the three countries will agree where Paravinja will serve this sentence and the one handed down by a Serbian court.
