Hadrovic Accuses Witnesses of False Statements
As the trial for crimes in Kakanj continues before the Cantonal Court in Zenica, indictee Vahid Hadrovic says that statements by witnesses, who are accusing him of having killed a Serb civilian, are false.
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“The Prosecution initially invited me as a witness, and, later on, as a suspect. I was surprised by that, because I am not guilty and I know that nobody can associate me with that murder,” the indictee said.
Hadrovic, former policeman, and Fadil Dajic, former member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ARBiH, are charged with having killed civilian Sekula Poletan in Plandiste village on June 10,
1993 during a weapons confiscation operation.
“Twenty-five policemen were lined up in front of the Police Station in Kakanj on June 9, 1993. We were deployed to the Plandiste region in order to search the area and find members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, and weapons. We neither found soldiers nor weapons,” Hadrovic said.
As he said, they heard shooting from fire arms from a direction, where, as they assumed, HVO forces were located. Later on they were deployed alongside the defence line.
“From that place we could watch the moving of the Croat population towards Kraljeva Sutjeska. After that we heard brief burst fire, two or three bullets, behind our backs. We were surprised, so we headed towards that place. I came close to Sekula Poletan’s house. When I got there, I saw a few colleagues and two military staff, including Fadil Dajic, known as Dedo, standing in a semi-circle,” Hadrovic said.
He specified that Dajic was closest to Poletan, whose body was in a squatting position, leaning to one side.
“He had blood on his chest area. I could not say whether he was still alive. Dedo said: ‘The Chetnik shot’. I said: ‘Mother of God, he is not a Chetnik’… Dedo shot at Sekula again. He fired two or three bullets. Sekula fell down on his back. I shouted: ‘Why have you killed the man?’,” Hadrovic said.
He said that all of them were caught by surprise, adding that he thought that not even Dajic expected the things to happen in that way.
As he said, his relations with two of his colleagues, who accused him of having participated in that murder when testifying at the trial, had been bad from before.
“Jasmin Mehinagic is revenging me for having been member of a disciplinary commission, which found him guilty. This led to him losing his job. Seval Alickovic envied me for having been appointed Assistant Station Commander after the war instead of him,” Hadrovic said.
He said that Sreto Poletan, the killed man’s brother, believed those stories, adding that he was accusing him now because of that.
The Trial Chamber told Sreto Poletan, who was among the audience, to come and face the indictee.
Poletan stuck to his previous statement, repeating: “Vahid, you killed my brother. You should be ashamed.” Hadrovic responded by saying that he should be ashamed.
“Sreto should say that he visited my Defence attorney before in order to file a report against Dajic and Alickovic for having killed his brother. I just want to defend my honour,” the indictee said.
During the confrontation of the two of them, Hadrovic’s son, who was among the audience, uttered abusive words, asking Sreto Poletan who had killed his wife. The Chamber then removed him from the courtroom.
The trial is due to continue on May 27.
