Dzeko: Killed Elderly Croats
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“The elderly man was hit, I think, in the chest and stomach. The woman wept and knelt near him, so I guess she was hit in the back,” said Handanovic.
Handanovic appeared as a prosecution witness, but in April this year she admitted guilt for taking part in the killings in Trusina and was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.
Dzeko’s lawyer, Vasvija Vidovic, claimed during cross examination that the killing of the elderly couple was in fact done by Handanovic.
“I am certain that you did this, and that many people saw it”, said Vidovic, but Handanovic denied the suggestion, saying that she had already admitted guilt for all of her crimes.
The indictment says Dzeko killed two elderly women and one man during the attack in Trusina.
Handanovic has admitted guilt for shooting several civilians and for imprisoning members of the Croatian Defence Forces, HVO, a crime Dzeko is also charged with taking part in.
After describing how Dzeko killed the elderly couple during the initial attack on Trusina, Handanovic said that members of the Zulfikar unit headed back to Gaj, where she saw six or seven men in civilian clothes and uniforms lined up in front of a barn.
Handanovic said that after a while, a Zulfikar unit member, Nedzad Hodzic, ordered her and others to shoot them.
Prior to this event, according to Handanovic, Hodzic asked the deputy commander of the unit, Nihad Bojadzic, what to do with civilians. The reply was, “Kill them all”.
“Nedzad said that we should line up in shooting formation and one young man tried to run. Nedzad yelled to shoot and we shot,” the witness said, adding that Dzeko was among those to fire.
Both Bojadzic and Hodzic are on trial in a separate case before the State Court in Sarajevo for the killings in Trusina, along with four other members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The trial continues on September 19.
