Pustivuk: Company “Led by Indictee”
A Prosecution witness says that in May 1992 Srpko Pustivuk, former member of the Public Safety Station in Ilijas, led the group of armed men who allegedly conducted an attack on Gornja Bioca village.
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Prosecution witness Izet Sehic said that in May 1992 he saw “a company led by Srpko Pustivuk” going towards his neighbour Uzeir Selimovic’s house, adding that he then found out about the murder and wounding.
“Our Serb neighbours were in the column of people. They were led by Srpko. All of them were armed. We soon heard shooting coming from the direction in which they had gone. Our neighbour, whose house was next to Selimovic’s, came to us, running, and said that Uzeir and his son were killed and one child was wounded,” Sehic said.
According to the indictment, Pustivuk participated, in collaboration with other members of the Army and Police of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in an attack against civilians, including children, in Gornja Bioca village, Ilijas municipality in May and June 1992.
The Prosecution alleges that one civilian was killed in the attack and three were severely wounded. The indictment alleges that Srpko Pustivuk, former special policeman with the Public Safety Station in Ilijas, participated in the arrest and detention of Bosniak civilians, who were then taken to other detention camps and facilities.
Sehic said that following the murder of Uzeir and Zahid Selimovic, all Bosniak residents were detained in a school building in that village. After being held in the school building for five days, all prisoners were transported by bus to a school building in Podlugovi, “as per an order given by Srpko Pustivuk”, he added.
“We were held in detention in Podlugovi for 71 days. We were hungry all that time. After that some of us were transferred to Zuc, where I was often used as a human shield.” Sehic said.
The witness was not able to recognise the indictee in the courtroom, because he said, he suffers eyesight problems caused by his wounding on Zuc hill in 1993.
Second Prosecution witness Relja Rakic said that he participated in guarding the school building in Bioca in June 1992. He said that according to the information available to him, “Muslims asked to stay in that building for security reasons”.
“They were glad to be in that building. They believed they were safer, because they did not know who was in the woods,” Rakic said.
The witness said that he did not see indictee Pustivuk in the school building or in front of it, adding that he never “heard any bad things” about him.
Three new Prosecution witnesses are due to be examined at the next hearing, scheduled for April 26.
J.Đ.
