Memic et al: Cleaning of Terrain in Trusina

Ramiz Beciri, who appeared as a Prosecution witness at the trial for crimes committed in Trusina village, said that in mid April 1993, Nihad Bojadzic, Deputy Commander of the Special Purposes Squad with the Main Command Headquarters of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ordered him to participate in “moving the frontlines in favour of the Army in the Trusina area”.

Beciri is a former member of the Special Purposes Squad with the Main Command Headquarters of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“There were maybe about 40 of us in the area. Upon our arrival in Trusina, we were divided into three groups in order to facilitate the attack. Some village residents were assigned to us as guides. They were members of the 45th Mountain Brigade. (…)

“Prior to entering the village itself, we split and came in from various directions. My group was in the central part of the village, while another group went to the trenches on a hill on the right-hand side. The third group went to the left, towards the village,” Beciri recalled.

The witness recognised Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin and Nedzad Hodzic in the courtroom, saying they were members of his unit. He said they were present in Trusina on that day.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has charged Zulfikar Alispago, former Commander of the Zulfikar Special Purposes Squad with the Main Command Headquarters of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nihad Bojadzic, his Deputy, Memic, Salcin and Hodzic, former members of the Squad, as well as Senad Hakalovic, former member of the 45th Mountain Brigade with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with having participated in the attack on Trusina village, Konjic municipality, on April 16, 1993.

The State Prosecution alleges that 18 civilians and four members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, were killed in the attack.

Beciri recalled that, just after he had entered Trusina village, he heard shooting. He said his group’s task was to “clean the terrain and Croat houses”.

“The guides told us those were Croat houses. We found two women in the first basement. We forced them to come out and we moved on. We then saw two HVO soldiers coming from the hill where the group which had been on our right-hand side was located. We took their rifles away. I moved on,” the witness said.

Beciri said that he went, together with men named Semko and Kokic who were members of his Unit, towards the other part of the village, adding they were “shot at from positions located above the village”. He said that Semko was killed.

The witness explained that after having searched the village, he saw “about twenty village residents”, including a wounded girl, standing in front of a house, adding they were guarded by Squad members.

“I went back to the Centre in Bradina, but the others stayed. (…) We gathered in the evening on the same day and discussed the operation. Some Squad members told me that a certain number of village residents had been killed. They said they had swept the place away,” the witness said, but he was not able to say which Squad members spoke about the murders.

Beciri told the Court that “one or two days after the attack on Trusina” he attended a funeral of a killed member of his unit, adding he saw Zulfikar Alispago, whom he identified as commander of his squad.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has charged Alispago with having failed to punish his subordinates who participated in the murders committed in Trusina.

The next hearing is due to take place on Tuesday, November 2, when the Defence teams will cross-examine Beciri.