Memic et al: Shots at Women and Children
This post is also available in: Bosnian
Andjelka Sagolj said that, on that occasion a bullet hit her on her arm, adding that her son Mario, who was two and a half years old, was wounded too. The witness said that, before she heard shooting in Trusina village, she grabbed her son and ran to Smiljko Kresa’s house, where a few other women and children from the village had already been.
Sagolj said that, some time later soldiers came inside, began swearing at them and saying that they would kill them.
We heard loud shouting. It was horrible. They came inside and killed Smiljko in the hallway. They started shooting at us. I fainted when I went out. A bullet penetrated through my hand. Mario was wounded. I saw Smiljko as we were going out, the witness said.
As she said, the witness did not know the soldiers, who shot at them, and could not see their faces, as they had either stockings or caps on their heads. Sagolj said that she heard later on that Kreso’s house was set on fire. Somebody told her that the house was on fire. His daughter was shouting, saying that her dad was on fire, Sagolj recalled.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges the murder of 18 civilians and four members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO in Trusina village on April 16, 1993 upon Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic, Nedzad Hodzic, Nihad Bojadzic and Zulfikar Alispago.
According to the charges, Memic, Salcin and Hodzic, former members of Zulfikar Special Squad of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hakalovic, former member of Neretvica 45th Mountain Brigade, participated in the murder of civilians and prisoners of war.
The indictment alleges that Bojadzic, the then Deputy Commander of Zulfikar Squad, told his soldiers, while they were on a hill near Trusina, that they must not leave any survivors in the village and that he commanded the attack from that location using communication means. Alispago is charged with having failed to punish his subordinates, who participated in the murders.
Testifying before the State Court, Sagolj said that, following the shooting, she was taken, along with other women and children, to a house in Trusina, where she stayed for two days. She said that an acquaintance of hers came and took her and her son to Buturovic polje village. She was then transferred to Kostajnica.
The witness said that two women informed her about the murder of other Trusina village residents.
The trial is due to continue on March 12 with examination of a new State Prosecution witness.A.J.
