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Nijaz Smajic, who testified as State Prosecution’s expert witness, confirmed that corrosion marks were found on most of the capsules, adding that it was therefore not possible to determine the exact number of fire arms.
“We can say with certainty that capsules fired from an automatic rifle or machine gun were found in Paklenik pit. Also, we know that different types of fire arms were used, but we cannot precisely determine the exact number of types,” Smajic explained.
Ekrem Suljevic, who worked as Chief of the Pyrotechnic Section with MUP of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2000, presented his findings and opinion about the type of explosive materials found during the exhumation from Paklenik pit.
“We can say with 99% certainty that all metal balls found during the exhumation originated from M-75 hand bombs used by the Yugoslav National Army, JNA. Those bombs consist of three thousand small balls, whose shooting range is 12 metres from the site of impact. We were not able to determine whether there was one or there were several hand bombs,” Suljevic said.
Predrag Milisavljevic, Milos Pantelic and Ljubomir Tasic are charged with having participated in the murder, forcible resettlement of population, detention, torture, forced disappearances and other inhumane acts.
According to the State Prosecution’s charges, Milisavljevic and Pantelic participated in the murder of several tens Bosniak civilians near the Paklenik pit. It is alleged that Milisavljevic was the first one who began shooting the captives.
Milisavljevic and Pantelic were allegedly former members of reserve police forces in Visegrad and Tasic was member of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS. The committed the crimes in the period from April to June 1992.
Sead Besic, Crime Technician with MUP of Sarajevo Canton, who appeared as a Prosecution witness, confirmed that his task was to make photo documentation and a sketch of the terrain during the exhumation from Paklenik pit.
As he said, the remains of 75 persons were found in the pit. Most of the bodies, which had parts of civil suits on them, were in a state of decay.
“The first body we found in the pit was about 18 metres away from other bodies. We assume that the person was still alive and perhaps tried to save himself,” Besic explained.
The next hearing is due to be held on June 11, when the Prosecution will invite two new witnesses.
