Jukic: Killed Prisoners at Rubbish Dump

Witness Arif Pilav said that the indictee took Ibro Pilav to a classroom in the Secondary School Centre in Prozor in August 1993 and that Pilav was cut all over his body when he came back.

“Some time later Jukic came again and took Ibro away. We never saw him again,” witness Pilav said.

The witness said that, on that same date he was taken out, along with Vahid Beric, at night. He said that he was not able to see the soldiers’ faces, because it was dark.

“When we came out to the light, I saw that Zeljko Jukic was one of the soldiers and Papak was the other. They told me to go back to the classroom and they kept Vahid,” the witness said, but he did not saw what the soldier Papak’s name was.

The witness said that he found out later on that Ibro Pilav and Vahid Beric were killed and found at the rubbish dump, which was about four kilometres away from Prozor.

Zeljko Jukic is charged with having participated, in collaboration with other members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO and Croatian Army, HV, in the persecution of Bosniak civilians, murders and the forcible disappearances in Prozor from July to September 1993.

Izet Pilav, who was detained with Arif Pilac in the Secondary School Centre, testified as second Prosecution witness.

“When I came to the Secondary School Centre, the indictee came with three other soldiers. They confiscated all of our valuable possessions. Zeljko collected all of them,” the witness said.

Witness Izet Pilav explained that he had known indictee Jukic from before, explaining that he was “one of the most prominent people” in Prozor during the war and that he constantly “drove around in a Mazda”.

The witness said that, after the indictee had taken him out of the classroom, Ibro Pilav came back with cuts all over his body. The witness claims that Ibro Pilav told him that Zeljko Jukic had done that to him.

“He had cuts that looked like crosses, among other things,” the witness said.

He said that Ibro Pilav and Vahid Beric were taken out of the classroom and that they never came back.

“Juso Ramic told me that he saw their bodies at the rubbish dump in the vicinity of the town,” the witness said.

The trial is due to continue on September 13.