Local Justice – Bogdanic: Witness Accuses Indictee

At the trial for war crimes committed in Kotor-Varos, Kovacevic said that three uniformed persons came to her house on September 9, 1993. The witness said that indictee Bogdanic was among them, adding that he fired several bullets at Mujo.

“Mujo was sitting in front of the house with his grandson, who was a minor. I was in the flower garden with my daughter-in-law Sabiha when the murderers came. I was standing next to Miladin, when he fired the bullets at Mujo. When I moaned, he told me to shut up. After having heard him speak, I was even more sure that it was him,” Kovacevic said.

The District Prosecution in Banja Luka charges Bogdanic with having killed one non-Serb in Kotor-Varos municipality in September 1993.

Witness Kovacevic confronted indictee Bogdanic in the courtroom, saying: “Shame on you. You thought we would never meet again. You had lunch at our house several times. You killed my Mujo in order to confiscate his property”.  

Dr. Cvijeta Kovacevic, who also testified for the Banja Luka Prosecution, said that she worked in the clinic in Kotor-Varos in 1993, adding that she examined Mujo’s corpse and determined that he had been killed by a firearm.  

Ekrem Kovacevic, the brother of Mujo, said that he did not dare come out of the house when he heard the shooting and moaning of his sister-in-law.  

“When the situation calmed down, I came to the house. I saw my brother lying on the ground. He was covered with blood. My sister-in-law was moaning. She said: ‘Look what they did to my Mujo’. She then said that she knew who the murderer was, but she did not want to tell us,” Ekrem Kovacevic said.  

Testifying for the Banja Luka Prosecution, witness Fikreta Rahmanovic, neighbour of Mujo, said that she did not know anything about the murder, except for having heard that he had been killed.

“At that time all Muslims were scared. People were resettled. I did not dare sleep at my place for three years. His wife knew who had killed him, but she never wanted to tell us,” Rahmanovic said.

The trial is due to continue on July 21.

G.O.

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This text was written as part of a project supported by US citizens through USAID in Bosnia and Herzegovina. BIRN is fully responsible for the content of the text, which does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, or the US Government.