Local Justice – Stjepanovic: Indictee Did Not Participate in Attacks

Prosecution witness Petar Lukic, a former member of the Serbian Crisis Committee in Bosanska Bijela, recalled the attack on the village in June 1992, when he lost his father.“I saw a soldier dressed in a black uniform in front of my house. He told me to surrender. The shooting then started. Milan Sekulic was killed in my house. A few minutes later the shooting stopped. I went to my father’s house, where I found him dead,” Lukic said.This witness said that he saw a few unknown soldiers in the vicinity of his father’s house, adding they were taking away some Serb men, women and children.“I did not see indictee Ivan Stjepanovic participating in the attacks or murders on that day. Later on, a Milan Peric told me the indictee had participated in those actions,” the witness explained.Ivan Stjepanovic, former member of the Reconnaissance Squad with the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, is charged with having participated in the attack. The Brcko District Prosecution alleges that from June 1992 to September 1994, Stjepanovic committed several murders, robbed and pillaged property, and treated civilians inhumanely in Bijela, Cerik and Bukvik villages, Brcko municipality.Dobrivoje Lukic testified about the same event. He said he was wounded by an unknown soldier during the course of the attack on Bosanska Bijela.Witness Lukic said he had known the indictee from before, but he did not see him in Bijela in June 1992.Third Prosecution witness Niko Milanovic spoke about the events that took place in Cerik village, Brcko municipality on June 17 and August 28, 1992.Milanovic said the village was attacked from several directions, adding a certain number of civilians, Serb men and women, were killed during the operation.Like the other witnesses, he said he did not see indictee Ivan Stjepanovic during the course of the attacks.At this hearing indictee Stjepanovic asked the Trial Chamber to appoint an ex-officio Defence attorney “because of my difficult financial situation”. The Chamber will render a decision concerning the request at a later stage.The trial is due to continue on March 2, 2011.M.A.———————————————————————————————–This article is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of Balkan investigative reporting network (BIRN) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.