Shooting a Woman

Testifying about a crime in Trusina, near Konjic, a former member of the “Zulfikar” Squad with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, says that his comrade Edin Dzeko shot a woman in her genitals.

The Defence denied the credibility of the witness, pointing to numerous differences between his previous statements.
 
Protected witness X, who was invited to testify by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that about 25 members of the Unit went from Mount Igman to the Konjic area in order to participate in an operation. As he said, the soldiers travelled by truck and SUVs, adding that Nihad Bojadzic, Nedzad Hodzic and Dzeko drove in them, among others.
 
The witness said that the soldiers arrived in the school building in Parsovici, near Trusina and that the SUVs arrived a little later.
 
According to the witness’ testimony, Bojadzic, former Deputy Commander of the “Zulfikar” Squad, informed the soldiers that they would attack Trusina. They were then assigned members of a local ABiH brigade as guides.

Speaking about the attack on the village, the witness said that he spent most of the time with his comrade Albin Hurtic.

“I saw Dzeko Edin shooting a woman in her genitals. The woman was lying on the ground. I saw the shooting from a distance of 20 metres,” he said, adding that he was with Hurtic at that moment.

The protected witness said that at some time later two Squad members – “Koka and Samir Semsovic”, who soon died, were wounded.

He said that a car arrived and drove the wounded away, adding that he thought that Dzeko drove the car. After that the soldiers withdrew from there. As he said, he saw captured members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, in front of houses.

“At that place I saw Nedzad, organising a shooting squad,” he said, adding that he “probably did it in revolt and a wish for revenge, because Semsovic was a good friend of his”.
 
Protected witness X told the Court that he did not see the shooting itself, but he heard burst fire that lasted a few seconds.

Dzeko, a former member of the “Zulfikar” Squad, is charged with murders committed in Trusina village on April 16, 1993. Besides that, he is on trial for crimes in Jablanica committed in the second half of 1993.

Bojadzic and Hodzic are on a separate trial, along with four other members of ABiH, for crimes committed in Trusina.

Dzeko’s Defence attorney Edina Residovic said that the witness had previously given different statements, but X was not able to explain that, saying that he could not remember.
 
She said that the witness offered several descriptions of the murder, adding that they differed in the way the crime was executed, the location and Dzeko’s possible actions. According to one of his statements, which she read in the courtroom, the witness saw Dzeko shooting the woman in her chest and then also in her genitals. After that the woman fell on the ground.

The witness disagreed with the Defence attorney’s allegations that he said different things, adding that “this is the same version. I am just losing the trivialities.”

Residovic then pointed to the differences between his descriptions of the shooting, adding that, while testifying at another trial for crimes in Trusina, he said that he saw dead bodies, most of whom were in uniform.

The Defence attorney said that the witness previously described the arrival of SUVs in Parsovici in a different way, saying that they arrived earlier and that they were met by Bojadzic, and also that Semsovic and Hodzic lined up the soldiers in the school courtyard and informed them about the operation.

Residovic also mentioned that, in one of his statements the witness said that he was not sure where Bojadzic was.

In the end she asked the witness whether it was true that he was not present in Trusina, but he stayed on Mount Igman, and that he adjusted his statements according to the needs of each trial. The witness responded by saying that it was not true.

The trial is due to continue on May 28.