Kuvelja: Innocent and Unashamed
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Srdjan Vukovic told the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina that he heard that indictee Kuvelja, whom he had known from before the war, was a member of some special police unit, which was based on Mount Jahorina, and that the indictee was present in the Srebrenica area in 1995.
On the basis of what Bozidar told me, I figured out hat he had no reason to be ashamed and that he had not done anything wrong. I would not be here today, if I thought that he did anything wrong, Vukovic said.
When asked by the Trial Chamber if he spoke to indictee Kuvelja about the events that happened in Srebrenica and the Kravica Agricultural Co-operative, Bratunac municipality, the witness answered negatively.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Kuvelja, former member of the Second Squad with the First Company of the Jahorina Training Centre with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, MUP of RS, with having participated in the shooting of more than 1,000 men in the Kravica Agricultural Cooperative in July 1995.
According to the charges, on July 12, 1995 Kuvelja participated in the search of Bosniak villages in Potocari area with the aim of bringing local residents to a collection centre in Potocari, and the separation of men and taking them to so-called white house, where they were detained and mistreated.
Witness Vukovic said that he knew that indictee Kuvelja was a member of reserve police forces at the beginning of the war and that he then deserted to Serbia.
Bozidar left police and went to Serbia to work there. According to what I found out, he was arrested in Serbia and transferred to some special police unit on Mount Jahorina, the witness said.
Vukovic said that the indictee knew that an investigation was conducted against him, but he did not want to flee. At some stage I proposed to him to flee, but he was convinced that he was innocent from the very beginning. He categorically said that he had no reason to be ashamed of anything that happened during the war, Vukovic said.
At the end of this hearing the Defence said that it planned to examine indictee Kuvelja at one of the future hearings.
The trial is due to continue on March 13 this year, when witness KB-117 will be examined.S.U.
