Memic et al: Murder of Father and Brother

Ilija Drljo, former member of the Herceg Stjepan Brigade with the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, said that he was at Kriz, above Trusina village, on April 16, 1993, when the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina attacked the village.

“The shooting began at about seven o’clock in the morning. They were shooting at us with automatic weapons. We then responded by opening fire. All of a sudden they stopped shooting at us and we heard bursts of bullets being fired in the village, but we were not able to see anything,” the witness said.

Drljo said that some time later his mother Milka came to the HVO positions and told them that members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina had occupied the village and said that HVO soldiers had to surrender or else they would kill all of the civilians in the village.

“When she said that, some men decided to surrender. My brother Ivan, Stipe Ljubic, Nedeljko and Pero Kreso were among them. I decided to withdraw from our position and go to Buturovic Polje. Some people decided to join me. Had I not done that, I would not be here today,” Drljo said, adding that it was the last time he saw his brother.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic, Nedzad Hodzic, Nihad Bojadzic and Zulfikar Alispago, known as Zuka, with the murder of four HVO members and 18 civilians in Trusina village on April 16, 1993.

The indictment alleges that Alispago was Commander of the Zulfikar Special Purposes Squad with the Main Command Headquarters of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is charged with having failed to punish the soldiers who participated in the murders, while Bojadzic, former Deputy Commander of the Zulfikar Squad, is charged with having commanded the attack on the village.

The State Prosecution considers Memic, Salcin and Hodzic, former members of the Zulfikar Special Squad, and Senad Hakalovic, former member of the Neretvica 45th Mountain Brigade, responsible for participating in the attack on the village.

Witness Drljo said that he saw his mother in Buturovic Polje two days later, after the civilians from Trusina had been exchanged, adding that his mother told him that his father and brother had been killed.

“She said that Ivan was shot after having surrendered. They lined them next to an old house, below our house, and shot them. She said that some of ‘Zuka’s soldiers did it. They put my brother Dragan, who was 12 or 13 years old, in the line to be shot, but they took him out of the line eventually. My mother said that a soldier from Zenica had rescued him,” Drljo said.

The witness said that his mother told him that besides members of “Zuka’s Unit’, some local Bosniaks were also among the members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina who attacked Trusina. She told him that she recognised indictee Senad Hakalovic among them.

The next hearing is due to take place on Monday, April 11 this year, when the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina will examine a protected witness.

D.Dz.