Pelemis and Peric: Precise and Systematic Man

At that time witness Dusko Vukotic was Assistant Chief for Intelligence Affairs of the Zvornik Brigade Headquarters with the Republika Srpska Army, VRS. From his post in Kula grad, he intercepted conversations between members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“When a direct conflict with police forces took place, I saw a column of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina… I was convinced they would enter Zvornik. If they had had they information about the situation in our zone of responsibility, they would have entered Zvornik when most of our forces were in Srebrenica,” Vukotic said.

According to his intelligence estimates, the column consisted of up to 15,000 people. He said he did not know at that time that men who were part of the column were later captured. He said that he heard about mass executions in Pilica village, near Zvornik, later on.

The Prosecution has charged Momir Pelemis and Slavko Peric with having participated in the murder of about 1,200 men from Srebrenica on Branjevo military farm and about 600 men in the Cultural Center in Pilica on July 15 and 16, 1995. The Prosecution alleges that Pelemis was Deputy Commander of the First Battalion and Peric was Assistant Commander for Security.

According to the charges, the detainees were first held in the Kula school building in Pilica. Acting with Pelemis’ knowledge and under his command, Peric allegedly found soldiers and deployed them to the area to guard it.

Vukotic said that a member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina with whom he communicated via radio told him: “What you are doing down there is not good”.

“When I thought about it later on, I realised he was probably referring to the murders… I do not know who knew about them and who did not. I may have heard about them had I gone from Kula to Zvornik,” the witness said.

When asked by the Prosecutor if he was deemed a traitor because he stuck to the rules of warfare, the witness said he may have been deprived of information despite the fact that he was member of the Zvornik Brigade Command.

“They wanted to replace me. Some people did not trust me. I stuck to the rules, saying that a subordinate is obliged to carry out an order unless it is a criminal act. The Command knew it could not easily manipulate me. They probably hid such things from me. I suppose they did not trust Peric either,” Vukotic said.

As he explained, he met Peric in 1994, when the Command sent him to the field in order to bring together the Lokvanj and Pilica Battalions and form the First Battalion.

“The battalion had many soldiers and a long frontline, but it did not have any active officers. In a situation like that one, you must recognise who your allies are. At that time I noticed that Slavko was a precise and systematic man with good inter-personal skills. I think I appointed him squad commander,” Vukotic said.

The trial is due to continue on February 8.