Killed Neighbours on the Road

Witness Ljubica Sedic told the Court that, while she was at home in Sijekovac on March 26, 1992, she heard gunshots and a voice inviting Serb families, over megaphone, to hand over their weapons.
She said that she thought that it was Zemir Kovacevic’s voice, but she could not be sure about that.

The witness said that she hid in their garden with her husband and that they then ran away to her brother’s house about two kilometres away.

“I came back with my brother the following day and saw the dead bodies. No living soul was present in the village… I saw Milan Zecevic and his brother Vaso. Their third brother was lying dead on the road… He was a bit mentally disabled, but peaceful. I saw Luka Milosevic too,” Sedic said, adding that her house was burnt.

During the cross-examination the Defence presented the witness with three statements she gave during the investigation. She did not mention the indictee’s name in any of those statements. When asked why she failed to mention Kovacevic earlier, the witness said that she did not remember.

Kovacevic, former member of the Interventions Squad with the First Bosanski Brod Brigade of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, is charged with having committed crimes in Sijekovac village in collaboration with unidentified members of the Croatian Defence Forces, HOS, and Croatian Army, HV.

According to the charges, Kovacevic participated in an attack on Sijekovac village, where, acting in collaboration with others, he took 15 adults and four children, some of whom were killed later on, from their houses into a courtyard.

Vojislav Ceric testified for the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina at this hearing. He told the Court that, while he was at his home in Sijekovac in the afternoon on March 26, 1992, he heard “detonations followed by infantry attacks”.
Ceric said that he saw two armed young men in front of this mother’s house earlier that day.

“They asked her about me but my mother said that I was not present,” Ceric said.

He said that he knew indictee Kovacevic, but he did not know whether he participated in the attack on Sijekovac in March 1992.

The trial of Kovacevic is due to continue on March 13.