Zecevic et al: On a Bus with Indictee

Testifying in defence of indictee Ljepoja, Savo Kreic, former bus driver, said that he drove a bus that transported civilians from Prijedor to Travnik on August 21, 1992, but the bus broke down.

According to witness Kreic, indictee Ljepoja was on the bus, transporting about 50 civilians, as an escort. The witness said that, after they had passed Knezevo, the bus engine overheated on a hill. He said that Dado Mrdja and Miroslav Paras came and ordered them to transfer the civilians to other vehicles.

“They wanted the bus escort to go with them as well. I said I was too afraid to stay alone in the wild, so I said that he should stay with me. They agreed. We stayed there for about 20 minutes. When I poured some water in the engine, the engine cooled, so we moved on. We arrived in Prijedor in the early evening,” Kreic said.

As he said, Kreic found out about the murders at Koricanske stijene on the following day.

Mrdja, former member of the Interventions Squad with the Public Safety Station in Prijedor , was sentenced by The Hague Tribunal to 17 years’ imprisonment for crimes at Koricanske stijene. Paras, former Commander of the Interventions Squad with the Public Safety Station, died in the meantime.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Ljepoja, Sasa Zecevic, Radoslav Knezevic, Branko Topola and Petar Civcic with participating in the separation of civilians from a convoy traveling from Prijedor to Travnik on August 21, 1992 and the murder of 200 men at Koricanske stijene.

The indictment alleges that Ljepoja, Zecevic, Knezevic and Civcic were members of the Interventions Squad of the Public Safety Station in Prijedor , while Topola was guard in Trnopolje detention camp.

During the course of his testimony witness Kreic admitted that he told State Prosecution investigators during the investigation that he did not know the policeman, who was assigned to his bus as escort and that he could not remember his name.

“They showed me some photographs. I pointed to the person who was with me on that bus. I found out that his name was Marinko Ljepoja after I had given those statements, but I am saying now that Ljepoja was with me,” Kreic said.

When asked by Trial Chamber Chairman Vesna Jasenkovic why he gave a different statement during the investigation, the witness said that he “replayed the event in my head” after having given the statement.

The trial is due to continue on November 23 this year.

A.J.