Taking over the Authority in Kotor-Varos

Muhamed Sadikovic said that, on June 11, 1992 he “was on my way to visit guards”, when he noticed a convoy of armed soldiers or policemen.

“I entered the mosque and told the people, who were inside it, that Eid would not be celebrated that year, because somebody was taking over the authority in Kotor-Varos. I took my personal arms and decided to leave the town,” the witness said.

As he said, he went to Ravne village, where he met other people, who had fled from the town as well. He said that some of them went back later on, but he did not do it. He went farther away from that village instead.

“We stayed at those locations until mid-October…When we heard that Croats were leaving the area and knowing that winter was approaching, we agreed to leave the area. We handed over our guns. We were transferred to the territory of Travnik municipality,” he said, adding that the Krajina Autonomous Region took over the authority in the town.

Sadikovic testified at the trial of Savo Tepic, Dragoslav Bojic, Dusko Vujicic, Dusko Maksimovic, Radojko Keverovic, Rade Skoric and Ilija Kurusic, who are charged with having participated in a widespread and systematic attack, forcing Bosniaks and Croats to leave their houses, detention, torture and other inhumane acts in the period from May to the end of 1992.

The indictment alleges that Tepic was Chief of the Public Safety Station and a member of the Crisis Committee in that municipality, Bojic was Commander of the Police Station, Vujicic was an active policeman, Maksimovic, Skoric and Keverovic were reserve policemen, while Kurusic was member of the Republika Srpska Army.

Witness Sadikovic said that, following amulti-party elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Police Station in Kotor-Varos and that he continued performing the function until June 11, 1992. As he said, Savo Tepic was Chief of the Police Station.

He told the Court that the war happenings in Croatia could be felt in his municipality as well, adding that some incidents had happened even before he left the town.

“Checkpoints were set up by the Army and police throughout Kotor-Varos. People, who had different marks on uniforms, were at those check-points. Confiscation of vehicles and harassing of people happened. This was no longer a professional police, like it was before,” the witness said.

Also, he said that rumours said that weapons were distributed to Serb residents. When asked by the Defence whether weapons were distributed to Bosniaks and Croats as well, he said that they bought weapons individually.

The continuation of the trial is set for August 18 due to the upcoming summer vacation period.