Memic at al: Zulfikar detachment’s war diary

Suvad Rogo, former member of the Zulfikar detachment, at the trial of six former members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina said that indictee Alispago, also known as Zuka, in March 1993 became deputy commander of the Igman Operative Group and that he was no longer commander of the detachment.The witness explained that indictee Nihad Bojadzic then became commander of the Zulfikar detachment.”Around mid-March 1993, Zuka was appointed deputy commander. When was that put down in writing, I don’t know,” said Rogo, who was in charge of the detachment’s war diary.However, according to photocopies of the Zulfikar detachment’s war diary, parts of which prosecutor Vesna Budimir presented to the witness, it is clear that between March and August 1993, Alispago was officially the commander, and Bojadzic deputy.”To me, Zuka was my commander, and he is that to me to this very day. (…) Nihad was a permanent deputy to me,” explained the witness, commenting on the presented parts of diary.Rogo confirmed to prosecutor Budimir that he promised to Alispago’s Defence he would testify on his behalf, and that during the investigation he gave a deposition to Alispago’s former lawyer before he gave it to the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Along with Bojadzic and Alispago, the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charged Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic and Nedzad Hodzic with the murder of 18 civilians and four members of the Croatian Defence Council in the village of Trusina, on April 16, 1993.The indictment specifies that Memic, Salcin and Hodzic, former members of the Zulfikar Special Detachment with the High Command of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hakalovic, former member of the 45th Brigade Neretvica of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, participated in the attack on Trusina and in the murder of civilians and prisoners of war.According to the indictment issued by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bojadzic, former deputy of the Zulfikar detachment, ordered his subordinates on the hilltop over Trusina that no one can stay alive and he commanded the attack from there.Alispago is charged as their commander with failing to punish the soldiers who had taken part in the executions.The Trial Chamber asked witness Rogo if the change of a commander was a significant event and whether he put it down in his diary. The witness replied: “It is true that it is a significant event because your dear commander is leaving. I did not put it down, but by its significance it should have been written down in the diary.”Edina Residovic, lawyer of indictee Bojadzic, asked the witness if the indictee Alispago financially assisted him in finishing his master’s degree, to which the indictee objected, saying that was simply too much.Residovic explained this was the issue of the witness credibility. Rogo did not answer, but thanked all those who assisted him in finishing his master’s degree.Residovic showed the witness the document of the High Command of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina from April 22, 1993, which says that Bojadzic is appointed deputy head of intelligence to the command outpost at Bradina (municipality of Konjic), but he said that he did not see that document.Rogo said that he left the Zulfikar detachment in late 1993, because indictee Alispago was not the commander any more.Speaking about the crime in the village of Trusina, the witness said that he learnt only in the second half of April, 1993, that the murders of civilians and prisoners of war had been committed.The trial is set to resume on February 24.A.J.