Koricanske stijene: Innocent People Killed

Witness Markovic said that she came to Prijedor to attend her brother’s wedding in 1992, adding that it was then that she found out that civilians had been killed at Koricanske stijene.

“We came because my brother was supposed to get married in early August, but the wedding did not take place because the bride ran away. Three weeks later we went to her parents’ to reconcile with them.

“After that my brother told me about a convoy from Prijedor, saying that a group of Interventions Squad members had killed civilians,” Markovic said, adding that her brother did not share any details.

The witness said that her brother just told her that he had luckily not escorted the convoy, but he had to hide somewhere, together with other members, because of the murders.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Knezevic, Sasa Zecevic, Marinko Ljepoja, Petar Civcic and Branko Topola with having escorted a convoy of more than 1,000 civilians who were travelling from Prijedor to Travnik on August 21, 1992.

Along with others, the indictees allegedly separated and killed about 200 men at Koricanske stijene.

The indictment alleges that Civcic was Commander of the First Section with the Interventions Squad of the Public Safety Station in Prijedor, Zecevic, Ljepoja and Knezevic were members of the Squad and Topola was member of the Territorial Defence, TD.

Markovic said that her brother had problems with his leg, so he was not able to walk normally, adding that in August he spent about one hour a day in the police station and the rest of the time at home.

Goran Markovic, witness Markovic’s husband, also testified at this hearing. He said that he told him about the convoy from Prijedor and that he did not participate in escorting the convoy.

“He said: ‘Thank God I was not there, because innocent people were killed’. Later on I found out that he went to some battlefield,” Markovic said.

Darko Zgonjanin, who has known indictee Knezevic since childhood and was supposed to be his best man at the wedding, also testified in defence of indictee Knezevic at this hearing. Witness Zgonjanin confirmed that the indictee worked at the police station in Prijedor and he was dressed in “ordinary police uniform”.

The trial is due to continue on May 12 this year, when indictee Knezevic and two other witnesses will testify in his defence.

A.J.