Serb Civilians Wounded in Convoy in Rogatica, Say Witnesses

Koviljka Savic said that she decided to leave the area of Gorazde in 1992 due to the war. She left Jabuka and headed towards Rogatica by bus along with other women, children, and elderly passengers in August 1992.

“We were approaching Sastavc, when the shooting began. They opened fire. I grabbed my children and lied down on my stomach…Later there was shooting again as we were entering Kukavice, I guess. The shooting came from all directions. They wounded the driver, shot the tires with bullets, and wounded me,” Savic said.

According to Savic, the wounded driver told the passengers to leave the bus and save themselves.

“I kept my children close to me, as I wanted someone to survive and speak about all this. Thank God, my children survived. The rest of the bus passengers were mutilated,” Savic said.

Muhamed Sisic, Emir Drakovac, Aziz Susa and Tarik Sisic are on trial for having participated in an attack on a civilian convoy on August 27, 1992. 21 Serbs were killed and several more were wounded.

The indictment alleges that Muhamed Sisic was Commander of the Commando Squad of the so-called Kukavicka Company, while the other defendants were members of that unit.

The second prosecution witness, Dragoslava Puketa, said that on August 27, 1992, she was on a truck with about 80 other people when the convoy was attacked.

“The truck swayed. I was hit. A part of my hand was burnt, as I was protecting my child. The blanket was full of bullet holes,” Puketa said, adding that her husband and two other persons were also wounded on that truck.

Puketa said that while they were passing through Kukavice, she saw the man who shot at them. She said that he was in a house by the road.

When asked what kind of cap the man was wearing, Puketa said that it was green.

In response, defense attorney Muhidin Kapo said that in a previous statement Puketa said that the cap was black.

Puketa told the court that her husband was not a soldier and that he was wounded at the beginning of the war. When asked by Kapo why she had said in her statement that her husband had to obtain a military permit to leave the area, the witness said she did not know.

The trial is scheduled to continue on February 17.