Indictee Expelled them from their Houses

Mujo Perviz said that soldiers came by trucks covered with awnings and drove them to Ustrama in late August 1993.

“Zeljko Jukic drove behind us. When we arrived in Ustrama, he separated all able-bodied men from women and children … at that moment I approached Zeljko and told him that I was disabled and not capable of military service. He then cursed my mother,” Perviz said.

He said that the women and children went towards Kucani by foot, while the men stayed in Ustrama.

“Zeljko forced us to fight with each other,” said the witness, who recognised the indictee in the courtroom.

Perviz said that, sometime later, Zeljko and another soldier came in a civilian car, adding that a man, whose hands were tied, was in the trunk of that car. He found out later on that his name was Kerim.

“They went towards the lake by car … about ten minutes later I heard a burst of fire. Half an hour later Zeljko came back by the same car, but the man was no longer in it,” the witness recalled.

He said that they were transported to the Secondary School Centre in late evening.

“Muslims from all villages in the Prozor region were in the Secondary School Centre. I saw Zeljko Jukic in that building several times … there was a muster on one occasion. He called out my name. I went out to the ground floor. Zeljko then beat me on my head and back …” the witness said.

When asked by the Defence how many times he saw the indictee in the School Centre, the witness said that he used to come on several occasions and that he took detainees to other locations, where they performed forced labour.

Jukic, a former member of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, is charged with murders, abuse and robbing of civilians in Prozor in 1993. Under a first instance verdict, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but the verdict was quashed.

Prosecution witness Ibrahim Lulic said that he was deported, along with his family, from Gornji Visnjani village on August 28, 1993.

“Nidzo came with my uncle and said that we were going to Donji Visnjani … After that two HVO soldiers came to my house and asked for money. When I told them that I had no money, one of them fired a bullet to the ceiling,” Lulic said.

As he said, then they got on the trucks, which transported them to the Secondary School Centre in Prozor.

“When I climbed onto the truck, I asked Amir Konjaric who that soldier, who shot to the ceiling, was. He said that it was Zeljko Jukic,” the witness said.

When asked by attorney Irena Pehar how Konjaric knew that it was Zeljko, the witness said that he did not know and also that he did not notice at that moment that Zeljko had a scar on his face.

The Prosecution and Defence will present their closing statements on February 24, when the two last witnesses will be examined.