Kos et al: Witness confrontation

On proposal from the Defence of the second defendant Stanko Kojic, witnesses Petar Cvjetinovic and protected witness Z1, who both testified about the events at the Branjevo Military Academy in July 1995, were confronted before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Witness Cvjetinovic said that in July 1995, together with Milorad Pelemis, he came to a field near Branjevo where witness Z1, Zijad Zigic and Aleksandar Cvetkovic brought along 31 prisoners which Pelemis then shot at.

Witness Z1 said that that was not true and that witness Cvjetinovic is lying. “I did not see Cvjetinovic on July 16, 1995, at Branjevo and I don’t know about any group of people in the field that anyone tried to kill,” said Z1.

Aleksandar Cvetkovic, former member of the Tenth Commando Squad of the Army of Republika Srpska, was arrested in Israel in January 2011, and the procedure in line with the request for his extradition is still underway.

Witness Cvjetinovic and Z1 were confronted at the trial of Franc Kos, Stanko Kojic, Vlastimir Golijan and Zoran Goronja, charged by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina with genocide in Srebrenica, more precisely, participation in the murder of over 800 men and boys in July 1995 at the Branjevo Military Academy.

According to the indictment, Kos was a commander of the First Platoon of the Tenth Commando Squad with the Main Headquarters of the Army of Republika Srpska, while Kojic, Golijan and Goronja were members of the same squad and together they executed the prisoners.

Witness Cvjetinovic added that witness Z1 refused to mention Pelemis, and that Pelemis was being made into “a real saint”.

“When I refused to execute people on the meadow, Pelemis hit me with a gun and forced me go with him to Branjevo,” said Cvjetinovic.

At this hearing, witness Cvjetinovic was also confronted with witness Zijad Zigic. Zigic said that in mid-July 1995, he was in Modrica and that this could be confirmed by members of the Tenth Commando Squad.

“I met Cvjetinovic in 2005 in Bijeljina when he and another man offered me 10,000 convertible marks to say that I saw a person in Srebrenica. I told them: ‘That’s all nice and dandy, I don’t have any money, but if I say that, where was I then? ‘At the time of attack on Srebrenica, I was in Modrica’,” said Zigic.

The defendants Kojic, Golijan and Goronja said that Zigic was not at Branjevo on July 16, 1995.

“I was never on good terms with Zigic. I don’t like him, he followed me for ten years and wanted to kill me, but he was never in Branjevo,” said defendant Kojic.

The next hearing is scheduled for January 17, 2012.