Vehid Subotic: Killings in Dusina

The trial of Subotic, whose alias is Geler – formerly a member of the Seventh Muslim Brigade of the Bosnian Army, is charged with entering the village and capturing 40 civilians and several disarmed Croatian Defence Council soldiers. He is also charged with afterwards taking eight Croatian civilians to a house, where he ordered brigade members to kill them. The trial started in September last year.

Presenting her closing arguments prosecutor Slavica Terzic said that it had been proved that Subotic took part in the murders in the village of Dusina near Zenica in January 1993.

The Prosecution said that the civilian victims were elderly and that the captured Croatian Defence Council soldiers had surrendered their weapons.

“Witnesses confirmed that they were out of combat positions… Subotic knew they had laid down their arms,” Terzic said.

The Defence however insisted that the allegations had not been proved, insisting that Subotic had not been in Dusina at the time and should be acquitted.

“The defendant was seriously wounded before this incident. He didn’t know members of the unit, and didn’t participate in the action. He didn’t go to Dusina village. He was 19-years-old then and he had no motive or reason to commit this crime,” said defence lawyer Vukica Marjanovic-Suljic.

The defendant meanwhile made his own personal plea to the court.

“I’m truly sorry for all the victims, not just these, but all victims from all sides. I want to say that, on all counts of the indictment, I don’t feel guilty,” Subotic said.

The indictment against Subotic, who is defending himself while at liberty was raised in June last year.

Claims of Murder

One of the key pieces of evidence of the State Prosecution, was a statement by Ivica Kegelj from 2004, in which he said the murders were done by a man with the nickname Geler.

Ivica Kegelj said on Juanuary 26, 1993 he was captured with fellow Bosnian Croat members Mladen Rajic, Mladen Kegelj and August Rados and were then taken to be live shields in Brdo village.

“We were there until the Bosnian Croat members didn’t surrender. Afterwards, we came back to the house of Stipe Kegelj, where all the civilains came. There were 40 of us. I don’t know what happened to those from Brdo,” said Kegelj.

He added he was taken from the house twice and asked about weapons. The third time, he was ordered back to his house, when a man with a nickname Geler stopped them and showed them his glass eye.

“Augustin was taken and they shot him. He fell near me. Geler ordered another solider to kill him. Geler told us: ‘If you don’t tell us about the weapons this is what happens’,” said Kegelj.

Afterwards, Kegelj was asked by Geler about weapons and was hit twice.

“I saw a burst of fire which killed Stipe Kegelj. After him, Niko was also killed. Geler’s soldiers were joking and saying who will kill whom,” said Ivica Kegelj.

In the end, only the witness and Frano Kristo remained standing.

“Kristo said he was a civilian and Geler said that they won’t kill anymore. Then he ordered us back to the house, like nothing happened. He asked me some more about weapons and said if we told anyone about this, they would kill us.” said Kegelj.

Witness Milica Kegelj also said that in January 1993 she was hiding with her family in Dusina, when Bosnian army soldiers took them to Stipe Kegelj’s house.

During the trip, a man called Edin Hakanovic took some men to be used as a live shield. Then, soldiers came with a list of Croat men.

“I remember one with a problem in his eye. I won’t forget him. He was tall and skinny,” said Kegelj.

Judge Mira Smajlovic asked the defendant at this hearing to remove his glasses and the witness said that was the same eye problem she recalls, but could not identify the defendant as the man she saw.

In a statement given in 1996, Frane Kristo said that the Bosnian army attacked Dusina in 1993 and about 40 villagers were taken to a house.

“Vehid Subasic said each man should kill one. Some were killed,” said the statement. Kristo also said he and Ivica Kegelj had to carry the corpses.

Witness Zeljka Rajic said that she was with the villagers I the house of Stipe Kegelj. She recalls seeing a man who told her he just killed her husband.

“He said his nickname was Geler, but he gave a false name – Serif Patkovic. He said he killed my husband, he was bragging. He told me what my husband was wearing,” said Rajic and added that the man also told her he lost an eye in Croatia.

During the trial, the Prosecution also called protected witness D, who said during the investigation that he hear a man called Geler killed seven or eight men in Dusina in January 1993, but at the hearing, he just said he heard “rumours someone by that nickname had killed some people”.

Witness Enes Saric said that as a police inspector in January 1993 he went to identify bodies from Dusina in the Zenica hospital. He said that the pathologist told him the injuries that caused the death could have been made by a gun or explosive device.

Young Soldier

Testifying in his defence, indictee Vehid Subotic says that he was not in Dusina village, Zenica municipality, during an attack on the village in January 1993 but he was in Brdo hamlet.

The indictee said that he did not know that area very well and that, only after having heard Hazim Barucija’s testimony, he realised where he was at that time.

“Following his testimony, Barucija explained to me that area was called Brdo. At that time I did not know what the terms Dusina, Brdo, Visnjica meant. It turned out that we were in Brdo village,” Subotic said, saying that Barucija told him that Dusina was a kilometre or two away.

Subotic said that, one day prior to the attack, he went to the Lasva-Dusina region, but he got a high temperature, so he was transported to the military barracks at Bilmiste. However, as he said, on the following day he was told that fierce combat was underway, so they went to the Command building in Lasva, where they were given a guide and headed towards Brdo.

The indictee said that they met Serif Patkovic, former Commander of a battalion with the Seventh Muslim Brigade, who gave an order to bring captured civilians and HVO members to Lasva. As far as he could remember, they received the same order from Halil Brzina, the then “Commander of Logistics”, as well.

“We walked through the woods for an hour before arriving to the plateau. On our left-hand side we saw a corpse. It had numerous bullet wounds on it. Many bullets were inside the corpse. Local residents said that it was Rajic, Commander of HVO. Their houses were about 50 metres away from that place. We were taken to a house, in which captured civilians and HVO members were held. Some soldiers were in front of the house, guarding it,” Subotic said.

He said that a few older people and a disabled man in wheelchairs stayed in the house, while the remaining civilians and two uniformed HVO members were escorted to a school building in Lasva, where they were handed over to members of the Battalion’s military police to deal with them.

According to Subotic’s testimony, the captives, between 30 and 40 of them, were handed over to Ferid Dedic.

Subotic said that he did not separate anybody from the group of people and that he did not harm anybody.

“I could not issue any orders, I was only 19. Who would have listened to me anyway?,” Subotic said.

Witness Hazim Barucija, former deputy Commander of the Second unit of the Zenica Territorial Defence said he was not in Dusina on the day of the attack, or several days after.

“I only heard several days later that some people were killed and someone thought it was a war crime. I thought they were killed in the fighting,” said Barucija.

Several Bosnian army members testified for the defendant claiming that Subotic was not in Dusina during the attack .

One of them Nermin Grahic said that his commander told him to go to talk to Croats in Dusina.

“When we came to the house, the shooting started. Camdzic, my commander, came to the clearing and raised his hands and they started shooting and hit him. I was mad and I got shot too,” said Grahic.

Grahic said that Subotic was not in the Seventh Muslim Brigade.

Enver Sisic said that he was in Usce in January 1993 and told he was to go to Dusina.

“I came to the village Brdo and Patkovic came with six Croats”, said Grahic, who didn’t know what had happened to them.

Sulejman Barcija also testified for the Defece and said that he left Dusina two days before the attack and came only a day afterwards.

“I was in Zenica with my uncle,” said Barucija and added that he left the village because Croats shot at his house.

The Trial chamber told Barucija that Prosecution witness Kegelj said he saw him in Dusina. Asked if that is that possible, the witness replied it is not.

The verdict will be handed down on Friday.