Lazarevic at al: No Signs of Chauvinism

Adem Hamzic,who appeared as a Defence witness for Dragan Stanojevic in a trial dealing with crimes committed in Zvornik, said that he had known the indictee from be fore the war. He said they were good friends, but he did not know where Stanojevic was or to which military unit he belonged during the war.

“I played football with Dragan before the war. He never show any sing of chauvinism. We were like brothers. He did not contact me during the course of the war. In July 1992 I fled, together with my family, from Gornji Sepak, near Zvornik, to Serbia.From there I went to Germany,”Hamzic explained.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Stanojevic, Sreten Lazarevic, Mile Markovic and Slobodan Ostojic, as members of reserve police forces with the Public Safety Station in Zvornik,with having participated in detention and torture of civilians in the offence court and in the “Novi izvor”buildings in Zvornik.

Hamzic told the Trial Chamber that he went to Gornji Sepak in 1998, saying that he visited his house together with Stanojevic.

“I did not dare go there alone. I asked Dragan to join me, which he did. My house was devastated. We went back to Dragan’s house, where we had lunch together,”the witness said, adding that he returned to live in his house in 2001.

Hamzic said that Stanojevic helped him, upon his return home, by providing him with firewood and flour.

“To me,Dragan is even better now than he was before the war. We help each other in thefield. Most of my earnings come from the Serbs, as 90 percent of Bosniaks have still not returned to the area,” the witness said, adding that Stanojevic was from Rocevici village, which was about three kilometers away from Gornji Sepak.

The trial is due to continue on August 20, when the Defence will examine four witnesses.