Witness Recalls Murder of Boy from Srebrenica

Protected witness codenamed SB-1, who testified from another room with his voice distorted, said that the boy was killed at the dam near the village of Petkovci in the municipality of Zvornik, where there was a mass execution of Srebrenica men.
 
He said that he did not see the boy’s murder, because he heard one or two shots behind his back. After he turned to the direction from where he heard the shot, he saw defendant Boskovic, who he knew for several years.
 
The witness said that he then heard the conversation between Boskovic and Lazic.
 
“Jovo asked why did you kill him, and Srecko said: ‘He started running’,” witness said, adding that Jovo died after the war.
 
According to the indictment, Boskovic killed a boy, who has not yet been identified.
 
Witness said that he went to the dam in Petkovci with another protected witness codenamed SB-2 out of curiosity, because he heard the gunfire from that direction. He said that he saw between 300 and 350 corpses at the dam, an excavator which was used to throw the bodies to the pit, as well as some other people.
 
According to the witness, he noticed the boy who was skinny and tall, wearing Adidas shoes. Witness said that he offered a boy with a cigarette, but they did not talk much. The boy told him he was from Srebrenica and that he was born in 1980.
 
About 20 metres away from a place a boy was killed witness saw several men, but he did not see whether they were armed.
 
Defence attorney Petko Pavlovic asked the witness if it is possible that someone else killed the boy, since he did not see defendant shooting. The witness repeated the conversation he heard. According to his words, boy was thrown into the pit at the dam in Petkovci along with other killed men.
 
“When they carried him I saw the wound on his temple,” the protected witness said.
 
The witness said that Boskovic was not a part of any military unit, because he was studying at the Military Academy in Belgrade at the time.
 
However, the witness said that defendant was armed at the dam, but that he was not sure which kind of rifle he had  – a papovka [semi-automatic rifle] or an M48. Pavlovic said that witness said in the investigation it was an automatic rifle.
 
Before the witness started his testimony, prosecutor Predrag Tomic read out the indictment and presented his opening statement. He said that he plans to question 15 witnesses and one expert.
 
The trial continues on January 16.