Jevic et al: Danger From the Woods

Nenad Andric, former member of the First Company with the Public Safety Centre in Zvornik, said that on July 12, 1995, members of his Company were deployed on the road between Sandici and Konjevic Polje in order to “ensure uninterrupted passage of vehicles” and because of “the danger of armed groups of Muslims”, who were walking through the woods.

“It was quiet when we arrived. We heard shooting at night. At about four o’clock a big explosion could be heard in the woods. I was wounded, just like two other colleagues, and one person was killed,” Andric said, adding that they were wounded by bullets.

Andric testified in defence of indictee Dusko Jevic, who is on trial, together with Mendeljev Djuric, Goran Markovic and Nedjo Ikonic, for participation in the forcible resettlement of the Bosniak population from Srebrenica area and the murder of more than 1,000 men in Kravica in July 1995.

The indictment alleges that Jevic was Commander of the Training Centre on Mount Jahorina with the Special Brigade of the Republika Srpska police, Djuric and Ikonic were company commanders with that unit and Markovic was a squad commander.

Nedeljko Sekula, who also testified in defence of Jevic at Thursday’s hearing, was a member of the Second Squad with the Special Police Brigade. He said that his Squad was in the Srednje area, near Sarajevo at the beginning of July 1995, adding that he did not have any information about the plans for deployment of members of that unit to the Bratunac and Srebrenica area.

Sekula said that on July 11, 1995, he left Srednje to pay a two-day visit to his mother, adding that, two days later he came to Sandici, where he saw his colleagues, who were also members of the Mine-throwers Squad.

“The mine-throwers were not in combat positions. They were told to wait there. Later on they told us that we should go to Konjevic Polje,” Sekula said, adding that members of his Squad received concrete tasks in the field and they were not informed about plans in advance.

The trial is due to continue on Thursday, April 28.

M.T.