Praise for Nihad Bojadzic

Ramiz Drekovic, who was appointed Commander of the Fourth Corps with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, in January 1994, was invited to testify about Bojadzic’s behaviour as Commander and his personality.

According to the witness’ testimony, Bojadzic brought the Special Purposes Squad of ABiH to the Fourth Corps and was soon appointed Commander, because its previous Commander Zulfikar Alispago had left Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“In military and army professional terms, he received good marks,” Drekovic said.

The witness said that, some time later the Special Purposes Squad was renamed into the Fourth Reconnaissance Battalion.

The Defence of Bojadzic presented a few praises given to him by the Fourth Corps. One of the praises, which was presented in the courtroom, was given to him for appropriate and responsible conduct on April 15, 1994.

Drekovic said that he could not accept the allegation that the indictee was a nationalist without concrete evidence.

Bojadzic is on trial, along with Zulfikar Alispago, Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic and Nedzad Hodzic, for having conducted an attack on Trusina on April 16, 1993, when Croat civilians and soldiers were killed.

Responding to questions by Prosecutor Vesna Budimir, the witness said that he did not know where Bojadzic was during 1993.

According to the charges, Bojadzic, the then Deputy Commander of the Special Purposes Squad, gave an order, saying that nobody should stay alive in Trusina, and commanded the attack via communication tools from a nearby hill.

The indictment alleges that 18 members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, and four civilians were killed in the village.

The trial is due to continue on January 27.