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Due to the defendant’s illness, the Trial Chamber separated the case against Zulfikar Alispago from the case against other five persons charged with crimes committed in Trusina, the municipality of Konjic.
“Alispago’s treatment would take time, because it is not a harmless illness. There is a possibility of his treatment commencing abroad. That is why it is necessary to separate the cases,” said the lawyer, Ragib Hadzic.
At the resumption of the trial, the court heard testimony from defendant Nihad Bojadzic, charged together with Mensur Memic, Senad Hakalovic, Dzevad Salcin and Nedzad Hodic with murder of 18 civilians and four members of the Croatian Defence Council committed on April 16, 1993, in Trusina.
Bojadzic said he was a member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina since April 1992.
“I was a member of the squad of the First Defence Forces of Sandzak and Kosovo. Zuka, who was the squad leader, came from Germany, together with a group of volunteers, picking up along the way some refugees from Croatia and Krajina,” said Bojadzic.
He added that the Eighth Mountain Brigade was formed in November 1992. He was its first commander and in December that duty was taken over by Zulfikar Alispago, while Bojadzic was appointed his deputy.
The squad’s headquarters, he said, were in the Mraziste hotel on Mount Igman.
Bojadzic said that after the incident between his unit and Black Swans and Juka’s Unit on January 6, 1993, the Eighth Mountain Brigade was transformed into the special purposes detachment Zulfikar answering to the headquarters of the Supreme Commander of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Alispago was the chief commander and I was the detachment’s deputy. Alispago gave orders and the headquarters were in the Mraziste hotel until August 1993, when we moved to Jablanica,” said defendant Bojadzic.
He said that around 1,400 people from 39 municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina went through this unit.
Bojadzic will resume his testimony on April 7.
