United States v. Razic
| Decision Date | 22 October 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. C18-1001-LTS,C18-1001-LTS |
| Citation | 496 F.Supp.3d 1241 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Eso RAZIC, a/k/a Esad Razic, a/k/a Brico, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
Jacob A. Schunk, US Attorney's Office, Cedar Rapids, IA, Aaron R. Petty, US Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation Executive Office for Immigration Review, Chicago, IL, Steven A. Platt, US Department of Justice, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.
John L. Riccolo, Laura May Schultes, RSH Legal PC, Cedar Rapids, IA, Robert J. Pavich, Pro Hac Vice, Pavich Law Group, PC, Chicago, IL, for Defendant.
This is a civil denaturalization case pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a), in which the plaintiff (the Government) seeks to revoke the naturalized citizenship of defendant Eso Razic. The Government alleges Razic fraudulently and unlawfully procured refugee status, and eventually naturalized United States citizenship, by concealing and misrepresenting his military involvement during the Balkans Conflict in the early 1990s and his participation in persecutory acts during that time. See Doc. 1 at 1. The Government alleges the following causes of action:
I conducted a three-day bench trial beginning November 13, 2019. See Docs. 63-65. Prior to trial, I entered a Final Pretrial Order (Doc. 60) that included stipulations of fact by the parties and also identified pending evidentiary issues. I allowed the parties to make a full evidentiary record at trial with the exception of testimony from two defense witnesses. I reserved ruling on all other issues raised in the parties’ motions in limine until after trial. Doc. 61.
At trial, the Government presented expert witness testimony from Dr. William Tomljanovich and Hillary Hoover. See Doc. 65-1. The Government also submitted deposition testimony from Robert Rebac, Stefa Misita and Milan Bekan. Docs. 65-18; 65-20; 65-21. At the close of the Government's case, Razic moved for a directed verdict, which the Government opposed. See Doc. 71 at 34-35. I reserved ruling. Razic testified on his own behalf and presented testimony from his wife, Videla Razic and brother, Ejub Razic. Id. At the close of his case and the Government's rebuttal evidence, Razic renewed his motion for directed verdict. I again reserved ruling. Id.
Following the trial, and upon completion of the trial transcript, the parties submitted supplemental briefs to address pending evidentiary issues in light of the trial record. See Docs. 76, 77. I entered an order (Doc. 79) on the pending evidentiary issues on April 29, 2020. I then allowed the parties to submit briefs on the merits. See Docs. 81, 86 and 89. On October 8, 2020, I heard closing arguments by telephone.
Having carefully considered all of the evidence, briefing and arguments, I make the following findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a).
1. In 1992, Razic, Videla1 and their son, Denis, were living in the village of Tasovcici in Bosnia.
2. Razic, an ethnic Muslim, was working as a barber and was known by the nickname "Brico," meaning "barber." His barbershop was located near the connecting road between Tasovcici and the town of Capljina.
3. Videla, an ethnic Serb, was completing her degree in elementary school education.
4. In addition to Bosniaks (predominantly Muslim) and Serbs (predominantly Eastern Orthodox), a third ethnic and religious group in Bosnia at this time was the Croats (predominantly Roman Catholic).
5. In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia attempted to secede from Yugoslavia.2
6. In early 1992, the Republic of Bosnia held a referendum on independence from Yugoslavia. The Serbs largely boycotted the referendum and favored remaining with Yugoslavia. The Bosniaks and Croats supported the measure.
7. In April 1992, Bosnia became an independent state, although it was not immediately recognized as such by other countries.
8. The Serbs then attacked the new state's government with support from the federal Yugoslav People's Army (JNA).
9. Bosniaks and Croats jointly defended the new republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each group had its own military force. The Bosniaks formed the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ABiH) and the Croats formed the Croatian Defense Council (HVO). While the two groups initially allied against the Serbs, this partnership deteriorated in 1993 and led to conflict in Bosnia.
10. In August 1992, the HVO divided each territory of Bosnia into four operational zones and each operational zone into brigades centered on a municipality.
11. The First Brigade, "Knez Domagoj," was headquartered in Capljina, which is both a municipality and a town inside the municipality.3
12. Although formed by the Croats, the HVO was very organized and successful at recruiting Bosniaks at the beginning of the war in 1992.
13. In early 1992, Serbs occupied the east bank of the Neretva River (including Tasovcici) and Croats occupied the west bank (including Capljina).
14. On June 7, 1992, the HVO and HOS4 launched Operation Jackal to drive Serbs out of the area. The HVO controlled the entire region by the first or second day of the operation.
15. During this operation, Milan Misita, an unarmed ethnic Serb living in Tasovcici, was killed. His wife, Stefa Misita, was told by a neighbor (Iva Preradovic) and Razic's father-in-law (Scepo Bekan) that Razic and Edo Sakoc had captured Milan and intended to turn him into the HVO or HOS. However, they encountered three HVO soldiers on their way to Capljina, one of whom (Zlatko Vegar) shot Milan.
16. In April 1993, fighting broke out between the HVO and ABiH, with HVO units killing and expelling local Bosniaks and ABiH units committing massacres against Croat civilians. Individuals in mixed marriages were particularly vulnerable to persecution. The HVO began detaining Bosniaks at prison camps around this time.
17. On June 30, 1993, General Petkovic of the HVO ordered the arrest and detention of all military-age Bosniak males, including those Bosniak males fighting within the HVO.
18. In August 1993, the HVO began releasing Bosniaks from prison camps who had served in the HVO prior to being detained. They were told to leave the country.
19. By September 1993, nearly all Bosniaks in Capljina had been expelled.
20. According to Razic and his wife, Videla and Denis fled to Croatia in April 1992. Razic went to live in Videla's uncle's apartment in Capljina. Videla and Denis returned at the end of June 1992. By that time, the Razics’ home had been burned down and the barbershop damaged from grenades. The family lived in the apartment in Capljina and Razic repaired and reopened the barbershop. The situation was relatively stable between July 1992 and June 1993. When the conflict between the Muslims and Croats erupted, Razic, his brother Ejub (who lived in Croatia) and a Croat friend, Goran Tomicic, developed a plan to smuggle the Razics out of Bosnia and into Croatia. Videla and Denis left in July 1993, Razic's parents left in August 1993 and his brother Enes’ family left in September 1993. While Razic was planning to escape the morning of October 2, 1993, he was allegedly forced at gunpoint by Robert Rebac to a post on the frontline at Kvanj hill. While on the frontline, Razic testified he was ordered by Mizra Kudra and Rebac to cross over and surrender to the ABiH. He did so and was imprisoned for two months until his captors assured themselves he was a Muslim civilian and not an enemy soldier. Razic then spent 10 months living with his aunt in Bosnia before he was smuggled out of Bosnia and into Germany with the help of his brother. There, he was reunited with Videla, Denis and his other son, Teo (born in September 1993). The family lived as refugees in Germany until 1998 before applying for refugee status in the United States.
21. According to the Government, Razic was a member of the HVO with his service beginning no later than July 1, 1992, and ending upon his surrender to the ABiH in October 1993. The Government relies on the certified master rolls of the HVO's 50th Home Guard Regiment (successor to the HVO's "Knez Domagoj" Brigade) and a certified printout of an electronic list of members of the 50th Home Guard Regiment. See Docs. 65-33; 65-34. It also cites attendance rosters, see Docs. 65-35; 65-36; 65-37; 65-38; 65-39; 65-40; 65-41, and payroll records. See Docs. 65-16; 65-21. These documents contain Eso Razic's name, his purported signature (a point of dispute between the parties) and personal identifiers (father's name, birthplace, birthdate).
22. The Government also offers a different account of the Kvanj hill incident in October 1993 and Razic's actions on that date.5 It contends that Rebac and Razic were in the same HVO unit. Because the Bosniaks and Croats had begun fighting around this time and both Bosniaks and Croats served in the HVO, the Government contends that upon learning the HVO had begun detaining families of Bosniak HVO members, Razic and other Bosniak members of his unit developed a plan to turn over their Croat compatriots to the Bosniak-majority ABiH. Kvanj hill was near the dividing line between HVO and ABiH forces. The Government maintains that Razic killed two Croats (Ivica Bunoza and Martin Markovic) at Kvanj hill while HVO commander Kudra detained Rebac, also a Croat. The...
To continue reading
Request your trial