Klickovic et al: Taking Care of Civil Life

He condemned the murder of a group of men in the Petar Kocic school building.

On the third day of his testimony for the defence of Gojko Klickovic, Miroslav Vjestica said he condemned the murder of men in the school building in Bosanska Krupa. Speaking about the indictee, Vjestica said that he took “care about the civil life” in the town.

“In his capacity as President of the wartime Presidency in Krupa, Gojko did not give any orders to the military. He was not in a position to do that. He was elected by the people. He successfully led the municipality and took care of the life in it. He was fast and reckless. He wanted to help everyone,” Vjestica explained.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Gojko Klickovic, Mladen Drljaca and Jovan Ostojic with participating in crimes against humanity committed in the Bosanska Krupa area in the course of 1992. The three men are charged with participating in a joint criminal enterprise that began in the summer of 1991.

“I heard that Joja Plavanjac committed those murders. I condemn him for doing that and I think that he should have been tried. I do not know anything about that man. I had no contact with him whatsoever,” Vjestica said.

The indictment further alleges that, at the beginning of August 1992 a person named Joja Plavanjac killed a few men, who were detained in the Petar Kocic school building in Bosanska Krupa.

The same witness said that a person named Zdravko Marceta told him about the murders of Muslims in Krupa that were committed during the course of the conflict that began on April 21, 1992. He was allegedly also told that the bodies were “transported in a cooler truck to Bihac”, as per an agreement made with Fikret Abdic.

Fikret Abdic, former leader of the Western Bosnia Autonomous Region, WBAR, was sentenced, by a second instance verdict passed down by a court in Croatia, to 15 years’ imprisonment for participation in crimes committed in the WBAR from 1993 to 1995. At the beginning of June 2009 he testified for Klickovic’s defence via video link from Rijeka.

The Defence of Klickovic examined Mile Mudrinic, former Chief of the Criminal Section with the Public Safety Station in Krupa, who testified as a Prosecution witness at this trial in November 2008.

Mudrinic said that “each citizen” in Krupa could “hear the rumours” about the participation of Plavanjac in the murder of some men in the school building, adding that Klickovic was considered “a very reputable man” by Arapusa residents.

“When we conducted a crime scene inspection in Arapusa, before the conflict had begun, the residents wanted Klickovic to be there as well. When he arrived, I noticed that they addressed him rather than the municipality president, because of his good reputation,” Mudrinic said.

The trial is due to continue on Wednesday, June 17, 2009.