Witnesses Did not See Indictee Near Captives

Witness Fejsal Grabcanovic, who was a member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, during the war, said that six captured members of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, were brought to him personally, adding that the captives were treated in line with military rules and laws.

“When the soldiers were brought, their hands were tied. I ordered the commander to search them and untie them immediately. After that, dinner was brought to them. They got the same food as our soldiers,” Grabcanovic said.

He confirmed that, while talking to the captured soldiers, he found out that none of them was beaten up or wounded.

According to the charges, following the occupation of a VRS-held position on April 21, 1993 Trle, a former member of the 3rd Battalion with the Third Tuzla Brigade, singled out the wounded Drago Stevanovic from a group of captives and killed him by firing a burst of bullets on his chest from close distance.

Witness Enver Pjanic, former member of the 205th Kalesija Brihade, confirmed that he did not see Trle in the presence of prisoners of war on Banj Brdo, Tuzla municipality. During his testimony, he recalled what happened on April 21, when he was wounded on the frontline.

“We were ordered to evacuate a tank, which had been hit, from the frontline. At that moment the VRS began a counter-attack in which I was wounded. Three soldiers from Tuzla were with us. As far as I can remember, one of them was Hajrudin Trle. When I arrived on Banj Brdo, the VRS captives had already been there. Trle was not in their vicinity,” Pjanic said.

The trial is due to continue on May 16.