Stories about Murders of Srebrenica Residents

Savo Ivanovic said that he was in Petkovci, where he attended a cousin’s funeral, which, as indicated on a death notification presented in the courtroom, took place on July 13, 1995. As he said, he did not notice anything unusual happening in the village on that day.

The witness said that, after the funeral he went back to nearby Boskovici village, where the Battalion to which he belonged was based. He said that some time later he heard about the murder of Srebrenica residents who had been brought to Petkovci.

“I heard stories that Srebrenica residents were brought to Petkovci… and killed. They were brought by buses and trucks to the new school building… they were transported to the dam,” Ivanovic said.

He testified at the trial of Ostoja Stanisic and Marko Milosevic, who are charged with having participated in the crimes committed on a dam in Petkovci, near Djulici village, Zvornik municipality, where about 1,000 captives from Srebrenica were shot. 

The indictment alleges that Stanisic was Commander of the Sixth Battalion of Zvornik Brigade with the Republika Srpska Army, whose Command was situated in Petkovci, while Milosevic was his Deputy. 

Ivanovic said that he heard stories about the exhumation and transfer of the killed people, but he did not know who did it. He said that his neighbour, whose son was killed in 1992, was one of the doorkeepers who worked on the dam during the war.

Responding to Defence’s questions, the witness said that he had not heard that Stanisic or members of the Sixth Battalion had anything to do with the captives.

Following Ivanovic’s testimony, Prosecutor Predrag Tomic read a statement by Stevan Bujic, who died last year. He did not share any concrete discoveries related to the indictment. 

New Prosecution witnesses are due to be examined at the next hearing scheduled for November 20.