Kos et al: More than One Thousand People Killed in Pilica
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Rifat Kesetovic, court medical expert, who testified for the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that a primary grave, which could be linked with the murder of Srebrenica residents in the Pilica Center, Zvornik municipality, in July 1995, was found at Cancari village, Srebrenica municipality.
“The body parts of people were scattered in several graves. Up to now, 1,247 people have been identified through DNA analysis. This is about 200 more compared to previous years,” Kesetovic said, adding that 1,500 more unidentified remains were linked to the events in Srebrenica.
According to his report, body parts of persons whose remains were found in the primary grave were found in seven secondary graves discovered near Cancari village. It further says that a total of 5,431 persons killed in Srebrenica have been identified so far.
The State Prosecution charges Franc Kos, Stanko Kojic, Vlastimir Golijan and Zoran Goronja, former members of the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad with the Main Headquarters of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, with having participated in the murder of more than 800 Srebrenica residents, who had first been held in Pilica, on Branjevo military farm in July 1995.
The State Prosecution’s indictment alleges that Kos was Commander of a unit with the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad, while the other indictees were members of that unit.
As his examination continued, Kesetovic said that during the exhumation of remains, it was determined that most of those people died in violent way, while, in some cases, it was not possible to determine the cause of death.
“We are talking about the identification of skeletal remains. If there is no bullet-made hole mark on a bone, that does not mean that the person was not killed in that way. The person could have gotten a deadly injury on any body part which no longer exists,” Kesetovic explained, adding that the youngest victim, whose remains were found on Cancar road, was born in 1980 and the oldest in 1911.
Cross-examination of expert witness Kesetovic is due to begin on June 7, 2011.
D.E.
