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Ostojic, former commander of the 11th Krupa Light Infantry Brigade with the Republika Srpska Army, VRS , Gojko Klickovic and Mladen Drljaca are charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war in the area.
Predrag Bjeljac said he was Ostojic’s “personal escort” during 1992 and that they were not in Bosanska Krupa at the beginning of August 1992. Bjeljac is Ostojic’s brother-in-law.
“We were not in Krupa at the time, because the commander went to Drvar and on Mount Kupres to dismiss the assistant commander for morale with the 7th VRS Motorized Brigade. Upon our return, nobody told me that Plavanjac had killed someone. After the war people were saying various things, but I did not believe them,” Bjeljac said.
Prosecutors allege that Joja Plavanjac killed 11 Bosniak detainees between August 1 and 12 in the Petar Kocic school building.
Previous witnesses have said that Plavanjac was member of the 11th Krupa Brigade and committed the crime a few days after a Jasenica resident had killed his mother.
Ranko Radanovic, who also testified for Ostojic, said he worked as his driver in July 1992, when, as alleged in the indictment, the indictee was appointed commander of the 11th Krupa Brigade.
Radanovic said he was not present in the Krupa area at the beginning of August and that he heard about the murder of men following indictee Ostojic’s arrest in 2008.
“We were in the field when Slavka Plavanjac was killed. At that time we stayed in Drvar, on Mount Kupres and in Banja Luka where the commander went to visit his family. I found out about the murders from media reports about the commander’s arrest. I was surprised, as he was an honest and decent man who respected all warfare rules,” Radanovic said.
The trial will continue on August 24.
