Mladjenovic et al: Houses that Should Be Burnt

“When I saw him from the attic, Mladjenovic was standing next to his house. He had a rifle, cap, uniform and walkie-talkie. He pointed his finger to houses that should be set on fire: my house, my brother-in-law’s house and a couple of others. The soldiers spread around and set all of them on fire. Six houses were burnt down that day. It was all over in 20 minutes,” said State Prosecution witness Secan Salkic, former neighbour of indictee Najdan Mladjenovic.

As he said, when the soldiers entered Hranca village, all village residents were outside their houses. Most of them were hidden in the woods or surrounding locations. He said that, after having left his wife and children at his relatives’ in Cerovac village, he returned home to feed his cattle.

“I first saw three tanks. They were followed by about 40 soldiers, who were coming down the hill and entering the village. I got scared. I got very scared. When I saw the large number of soldiers, I ran to my house, climbed up to the attic and hid in it. Looking between roof tiles, I could see Najdan’s house, the soldiers and Najdan himself,” Salkic explained.

As he said, the attack on Hranca continued until Mladjenovic issued an order to stop the fire and told his soldiers to go back to their positions.

Mladjenovic is on trial, along with Savo Zivkovic, for having committed crimes against humanity by unlawfully depriving the Bosniak civilian population of their liberty, physically and mentally abusing them and destructing their property within a widespread and systematic attack on Hranca and Glogova villages, Bratunac municipality on May 3 and 9, 1992.

The indictment alleges that Mladjenovic was Commander of the Territorial Defence in Bratunac, while Zivkovic was member of that unit.

Witness Salkic said that he left Hranca village in the evening on that same day and went to Cerovac village, where his family was.

He said that, six days later Cerovac and Glogova villages were attacked as well, adding that he heard that some houses were set on fire and people killed in Glogova.

“I did not know exactly what was going on in that village, because Cerovci was attacked that same day. I remember that the entire area, including Glogova village, was covered with smoke. All I could think about was how to flee and save my life,” Salkic said.

Salkic said that he had never met Mladjenovic, whom he used to see and had known his “whole life”, again after May 3, adding that he did not know indictee Savo Zivkovic at all.

The trial is due to continue on November 27.
D.E.