Kornjaca et al: Witness Recognises Indictee

Witness Hiba Cicvara recalled the last time she saw her son Muharem, in May 1992. She blamed Milorad Zivkovic for the fact that her son was taken to detention.

“My son Muharem was arrested on May 6, 1992. Salko Colak was arrested with him. The two of them were taken to a container in Mostina. I visited him on the following day. He told me that the two of them had been on their way to Pljevlja, when they were told to get off the bus and go back home. Zivkovic saw them and sent a patrol to arrest them and detain them in Mostina,” Cicvara said.

The witness recognised indictee Kornjaca in the courtroom, describing him as a person who “spread terror” among people in Cajnice. She said that her son told her that he had mistreated him while questioning him.

“My son told me at the time that he would remember Milun’s eyes for as long as he lived, because those eyes were more frightening than the eyes of any animal, he said.

“Muharem told me that they had not beaten him, but Milun’s team would come at night and beat them up. He said that, as the night approached, they would feel as if death was coming,” the witness said.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Milun Kornjaca, Milorad Zivkovic and Dusko Tadic with the persecution of Bosniaks in the Cajnice area and the murder of 11 civilians in Mostina on May 19, 1992.

The indictment alleges that Kornjaca was Commander of the Plavi orlovi (Blue Eagles) paramilitary unit, Zivkovic was Chief of the Public Safety Station in Cajnice and Tadic was a member of the Plavi orlovi.

The trial of Kornjaca and the trial of Zivkovic and Tadic are being conducted separately before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but joint witnesses are examined at the same hearings to increase efficiency.

Witness Cicvara said that her son was then transferred to the hunters’ house in Mostina, where he was killed. She said she found out about the murder of men in that house as she was fleeing to Pljevlja.

“A person named Tomo told me that an evil thing had happened in Mostina. I asked him if my son was alive, but he said he did not know. Upon our arrival in Pljevlja, we heard that trench diggers had been sent to that place to bury the dead. Later on Mirsad Colak, whose brother Salko Colak survived the shooting in the hunters’ house, told me that Rus and Veljo Tadic shot our men using machine guns and then threw a grenade at them,” Cicvara said.

The witness explained that he knew indictee Dusko Tadic by his nickname Rus.

Cicvara said she lived outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina for some time, but she then returned, because she hoped she would be able to find her son Muharem’s remains.

“I felt an urge to go back, even if it was just to find his bones. My husband died from sorrow over our son’s death. His last wish was to find his remains and lie next to him, but he did not live to do this,” the witness said.

Responding to questions posed by Milun Kornjaca’s Defence during the course of cross-examination, the witness said she did not see the indictee on the occasion of her last visit to her son.

The trial is due to continue on March 21 this year.