Bosnian Croat Fighters ‘Burned Homes, Killed Villagers’

Prosecution witness Alojzije Pesa, now 85 years old, testified at the former fighters’ trial on Thursday that he was staying at his son’s summer house in Busovaca in 1993 when the attack on the village took.

“There were deaths, when my neighbours were set on fire and executed,” Pesa told the court.

He said he thought it was April 26, 1993 he was woken by noise in the night.

He looked through the window and saw a light in front of the house of a villager who has also testified as a protected witness in the trial, codenamed B-1, which he said was unusual for the time of night.

“I went outside the summer house. I looked there, it was quiet. A man jumped out in front of me and told me: ‘Please, go there and see that they do not kill my wife and children,’” recalled Pesa, adding that B-1 then rushed away and he went looking for help.

Because he did not find his policeman neighbour and everything was quiet, he returned to the summer house and went back to sleep.

“In the morning I learned that the houses were set on fire and that they were killed,” said Pesa.

Responding to questions from the prosecutor, the witness said that he heard a man named Zoran, nicknamed ‘Svabo’ (‘Kraut’), did it.

The prosecution claimed in the indictment that one of the defendants, Zoran Marinic, is nicknamed ‘Svabo’.

Marinic and Zoran Milic, former fighters with the Croatian Defence Council, are on trial for allegedly participating in the murders of four Bosniak civilians – all members of the Topalovic family – during an attack in Busovaca on April 26, 1993.

They are also accused of inflicting bodily harm and the illegal destruction of property.

The trial is scheduled to resume on October 3.