Witnesses of Murders and Burning of Sijekovac Houses

The witnesses said that Sijekovac village was attacked in March 1992 and that the attack was followed by the killing of Serb civilians, setting their houses on fire, pillaging, taking men to other locations in order to dig trenches, mistreating and threatening them.

Marica Radanovic said that she witnessed the murder of civilians, who found shelter in the basement of Zecevic family’s house.  

“They intruded into the basement. Son Mirko told one of them: ‘Sarac, do not set my house on fire’. They took us out and beat us. They forced us to lie in the mud. They killed two people. They separated my son Mirko from the others and fired an entire charger on his head,” Radanovic said in her statement given to Doboj police in 2006.

She said that several other civilians were killed after that.

“I saw that Zemir wanted to slaughter one person, but a chieftain stopped him. He told him that he would kill him if he killed that child. He asked who told them to kill people, adding that they would pay for that,” Radanovic said.

Kovacevic’s Defence attorney Bajro Avdic said that he would have asked the witness who the perpetrators of the murders in front of Zecevic’s house were, considering the fact that she did not mention the indictee.

The indictment charges Kovacevc, former member of the Interventions Squad with the First Bosanski Brod Brigade of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, with having participated in an attack on and murder of Serb civilians in Sijekovac in March 1992.

In their statements witnesses Zorka Trifunovic and Milan Ceric spoke about Milka Bacic, who, as they heard, was killed in September 1992.

“We heard rumours that Milka, who was raped, was killed by Nijaz Causevic, Zemir and others,” Ceric said.

Defence attorney Avdic said that the Defence would not have posed any questions to this witness, because, just like “most of the other witnesses in this case, he just conveyed what he had heard from others.”  

Milica Trifunovic said that, following the attack by “neighbours and soldiers, who came from other places”, her husband and son were taken away for an alleged examination, but they were actually taken to a detention camp. Vaso Prodanovic said that, “after the massacre” the civilians were ordered to go to the house of Niko Tomas.

Petar Arivukovic said that Serb houses were set on fire during the attack conducted by the Interventions Squad and Croatian Defence Forces, HOS. As he said, Kovacevic and others searched his house.

Esad Pinjagic mentioned that the Interventions Squad, which was “led by Nijaz Causevic and Zemir Kovacevic”, was present in the school building in Sijekovac and that members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, were at the stadium.
At this hearing Prosecutor Dika Omerovic requested the Court to extend the custody for the indictee. Kovacevic did not object to the request.

“I propose to the Court to extend my custody for another five years. We shall not complain. I have big reasons for that,” Kovacevic said, adding that he could not complain about the conditions in the prison.

The trial is due to continue on July 3 this year.