Bragged about Killing her Husband

Witness Zeljka Rajic said that she was captured in neighbour Stipe Kegelj’s house and that a person, who had a planner, appeared and called men’s names out. The witness said that those men did not come back, adding that the person told her that he had killed her husband.
 
“He introduced himself, saying that his nickname was Geler, but he gave me a false name and last name – Serif Patkovic. He bragged about having killed my husband and fired a full bullet charger on his head. He described my husband’s clothes to me,” she said.
 
Rajic told the Court that the man then told her that he had lost an eye at a battlefield in Croatia and that he had a glass eye.
 
The witness explained that, during her testimony at The Hague she was presented with a photograph of a Serif Patkovic and that, on that occasion she said that this was not the person to whom she had spoken. She said that she found out, later on, that the person nicknamed Geler was Vehid Subotic.
 
The indictment charges Vehid Subotic, known as Geler, former member of the Second Battalion with the Seventh Muslim Brigade of ABiH, who was allegedly accompanied by other Battalion members, with having intruded Dusina village and ordered the capture of about 40 civilians and several disarmed members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO.
 
He is charged with having separated eight Croat civilians, escorted them to a house and ordered members of his Company to kill one civilian each.
 
Speaking about the events that preceded the murder of her husband, witness Rajic said that, in June 1993 the local residents decided to flee, because they heard that the village would be attacked. However, due to bad weather conditions, about 30 of them hid in her neighbour Jure Kegelj’s house. Her husband, who was member of HVO, stayed in the village.
 
The witness said that the attack began at around 5 a.m. on June 20, 1993.  
 
“There was shooting. I heard them shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’,” Rajic said.
 
According to the witness’ testimony, members of the Seventh Muslim Brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, came, took them out of the house and divided them into two groups. One group of people was used as human shield, while the other group was taken to Stipe Kegelj’s house.
 
“I was used as human shield on the hill. I called my husband, who was up there, by his name and told him not to shoot towards them, because they would kill us. So, it was decided that my husband and other HVO members would attend negotiations with ABiH members in Zenica,” the witness said.
 
She said that she heard a voice, calling men’s names out.
 
“They were taken away one by one. We kept quiet and tried to hear what was going on. We heard gunshots. Those men did not come back any more,” Rajic said.
 
The witness said that the person, who called the men’s names out and introduced himself to her as Geler, entered the house and looked for Stipe Kegelj.
 
“Stipe was hiding because he saw that the men, who had been taken away, did not come back. The person, who called the men’s names out, said that he would kill all of us if Stipe did not come out. Stipe came out and never came back,” the witness said.
 
The trial is due to continue on January 22, when the Defence will examine its first witnesses.