Milisavljevic et al: Bottle Wrapped in Banknotes

The protected State Prosecution witness, who testified under the pseudonym of M6, told the Court that indictee Ljubomir Tasic, known as Ljupko, told him, in June 1992, that he had to leave his village of Bosanska Jagodina.

“Ljupko did say: ‘Neighbour, you will have to leave’. He explained to me that we would be back soon. On the following day trucks came and drove us to Visegrad,” witness M6 said, adding that, a few hours later he was transferred to a convoy of more than 500 Bosniaks, who were travelling towards Sokolac.

Witness M6 said that the convoy guards separated men from women and children by telling women and children to leave the buses, while men had to stay in them.

Following the separation, M6 wrapped a bottle in banknotes and gave it to one of the bus guards, who had a helmet on his head. After that another guard told him to leave the bus.

“At that moment another guard came and told me: ‘You, wearing the cap on your head, run towards your folks’. He pushed me with a rifle butt and told me: ‘You must go. Run!’ (…) They did not shoot at me, so I arrived in Kolakovici village,” said witness M6, who did not see indictee Tasic while traveling with the convoy.

He said that he stayed in Kolakovici for six days and that he found out that the men, who had stayed in the bus, were killed.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Tasic, Predrag Milisavljevic and Milos Pantelic with having participated in the murders, forcible resettlement of people, detention, torture, forcible disappearances and other inhumane acts.

Milisavljevic and Pantelic are charged with having participated in the murder of several tens of Bosniaks near the Paklenik pit, Sokolac municipality.

According to the charges, Milisavljevic and Pantelic, former members of the reserve police forces in Visegrad, and Tasic, former member of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, committed those crimes in the period from April to June 1992.

The trial is due to continue on February 19.