BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A federal jury is considering the case of a Vermont man accused of committing war crimes in Bosnia 21 years ago and then lying to U.S. immigration authorities about it.
The jury hearing the case against 55-year-old Edin Sakoc (EHD’-een SAH’-kohch) resumed deliberations Friday morning after asking the judge a question about the definition of “persecution.”
If convicted, Sakoc could be stripped of his U.S. citizenship and deported.
Prosecutors allege Sakoc lied when he denied being involved in war crimes in 1992. He is accused of raping a woman and aiding in the killings of two elderly women.
Defense attorneys say the witnesses’ stories were inconsistent, and another person committed the crimes.
Sakoc became a U.S. citizen in 2007.
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