Rackovic Gave Orders to Soldiers
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In her statement given in 2012 witness Dervisa Alicehic, who was not able to appear before the Court of BiH due to bad health, said that Serb soldiers, who were “given orders by Vito Rackovic”, came to Kabenik village in 1992.
“On the second day of Eid a yellow truck arrived near our houses, bringing Serb soldiers. A part of them stayed there, while the others proceeded towards Cancari village,” the statement read by Prosecutor Dzevad Muratbegovic said.
The witness said that the truck came back from Cancari half an hour later and that some of her neighbours were on the truck.
“When the truck returned, I heard that Vito, who was on the truck, told my brother Hamed to climb on the truck. My second brother Rasid managed to flee behind the house. When they were taken away, we hid in the woods,” Alicehic said.
The witness mentioned that, after having been hiding in the woods, she managed to leave the Visegrad area, but she had never found out what happened to her brother, nephew and other neighbours, who were taken away on that day.
Rackovic, former member of the Republika Srpska Army, is on trial for having participated in attacks on Bosniak villages, detention, torture, forced disappearances of persons from the Visegrad area and rape in the period from May to the end of August 1992.
According to the charges, some of the unlawfully arrested persons have never been found. Bodies of some of the civilians were exhumed at “Slap” in Zepa in 2000.
Witnesses Nusret Cero and Safija Spiritovic, who were due to testify at this hearing, failed to appear in court. Trial Chamber Chairman Zoran Bozic said that the witnesses said that their mental and physical condition was bad and asked the Court not to invite them to testify any more.
The Court previously ordered an expert medical examination of these witnesses. Following the examination, in was determined that they were capable of testifying before the Court of BiH, provided that breaks were taken during their testimonies.
Prosecutor Muratbegovic said that he would not give up the examination of these witnesses and proposed that they be invited again.
“Considering their health condition, I cannot order their apprehension. However, we shall request the court expert to interview them and amend his findings regarding their health condition,” judge Bozic said.
The trial is due to continue on August 20.
