Koricanske stijene: Fight to Leave

Jovan Vukoje said that, after the conflict began in late May 1992, “a huge number of people left the town”, adding that he saw “a mass of people getting on buses”.

“Getting on one of the buses was a privilege. People fought to leave on the buses. (…) I think the municipal authorities made a decision on the forming and leaving of the convoy. They asked the police forces to assist them. I think this included traffic and security functions. I did not see any other role that the police had,” Vukoje said, adding that he did not see any policemen in the buses, but that he had heard that some of them were there.

Vukoje testified for the Defence of Dusan Jankovic, who is charged, together with Zoran Babic, Milorad Radakovic, Milorad Skrbic and Zeljko Stojnic, with escorting a convoy consisting of about 1,200 Bosniaks and Croats who were being transported from Prijedor to Travnik on August 21, 1992.

The Prosecution alleges that the indictees separated about 200 men from the rest of the convoy on Mount Vlasic, took them to Koricanske stijene and shot them.

The indictment states that Jankovic was Commander of the Public Safety Station, PSS, in Prijedor and the other indictees were members of the First Interventions Squad with the PSS at the time.

Spouses Slavko and Gorjanka Kovacevic testified for the Defence of Dusan Jankovic, saying that their friend, Luka Ignjatovic, had told them that he had heard from others that Jankovic escorted the convoy of civilians traveling to Tavnik, but that he had not seen him personally.

“Luka told me that Jankovic’s family was angry with him, when he allegedly told them he had seen him escorting the convoy. However, he told me he had not seen him, but other people told him about it. He said that SIPA (the State Investigation and Protection Agency) investigators came to him and forced him to sign a statement confirming these allegations, but he did not want to do it,” Slavko Kovacevic and his wife said.

The two witnesses said they were ready to face Luka Ignjatovic in court.

In October 2009 Ignjatovic testified for the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said he was an assistant driver on one of the trucks transporting the civilians from Prijedor.

The trial is due to continue on Tuesday, May 4, 2010.