Zivkovic and Tadic: No Orders Issued by Indictee

Dragutin Dedovic, former policeman with the Public Safety Station in Cajnice, said that he did not know what happened with Colak, whom he knew, during the course of the war.

“I do not remember any details about Mirzet. Zivkovic never gave me an order to arrest him,” said Dedovic, testifying in defence of Zivkovic.

Colak, who testified for the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina in February 2011, said that Dedovic and two other policemen arrested him as per an order issued by Zivkovic. Colak said that Dedovic told him that Zivkovic gave him the order to arrest him.

Zivkovic, former Chief of the Public Safety Station in Cajnice, is charged with having issued orders for the arrest of civilians and their detention in the hunters’ house at Mostina, where they were held in bad conditions, from mid-April to the end of May 1992.

Besides Zivkovic, the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has charged Dusko Tadic and Milun Kornjaca, who is on a separate trial. According to the charges, Kornjaca was Commander of “Plavi orlovi” (blue eagles) paramilitary unit, while Tadic was member of that unit.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina alleges that, following the killing of a member of the “Plavi orlovi” unit in May 1992, the indictees participated in the murder of 11 detained civilians, who were held in the hunters’ house at Mostina, by shooting and throwing hand bombs at them.

Due to a better efficiency of the proceedings, the joint State Prosecution’s evidence was presented at the same hearings, although the case against Kornjaca was separated from the case against the two other indictees due to his health condition.
Witness Dedovic said that a checkpoint, which was guarded by policemen, and a container, where Bosniaks were detained, existed at Mostina in April or May 1992.

According to his testimony, an order was issued not to allow anybody to leave Cajnice without obtaining permission from municipal authorities.

“Those who did not have the permission were returned back from Mostina. Police did not have the authority to arrest people at the checkpoint,” the witness said, adding that police could only arrest people for disturbing the public order and peace or committing crimes.

The witness told the Court that he heard that a person named Veljo Tadic killed some people at Mostina.
Ismir Fazlagic, second witness, who testified in defence of Zivkovic, said that he personally witnessed the arrest of Hajrudin Trgo. As he said, he was arrested by armed soldiers. The witness said that he saw Selim Trgo in the vehicle with the soldiers.

Fazlagic said that his father was arrested in May 1992 and taken to the Crisis Committee. The witness said that he still did not know what had happened to his father or where he was.

According to the official schedule of trials held before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this trial is due to continue on April 2 this year. A.J.