Witness Describes Sarajevo Work Squad at Papic Trial

The witness, Asim Ajanovic, told the cantonal court of Sarajevo that as a member of a work squad made up of non-Serb civilians, he was forced to do whatever the Bosnian Serb command ordered him to do. Ajanovic said a man named Radica conveyed orders to members of the work squad, while Veljko Papic and a man named Sasa issued them.

Ajanovic said he used to see Papic in the command building on Beogradska Street. “Veljko was there all the time. All the soldiers listened to his orders. He was the unit commander,” Ajanovic said. Ajanovic identified Papic in the courtroom.

The cantonal prosecution of Sarajevo has charged Papic, the former commander of a battalion with the First Sarajevska Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, with the inhumane treatment of civilians, as well as intimidation and forced labour.

The indictment alleges that this took place from 1992 to 1994. As a result of Papic’s actions, the prosecution alleges that he exposed civilians to life-threatening situations on several occasions.

“I was wounded on Ljubljanska Street in October 1993. A building burned down. We were ordered to clean the site and build a military bunker. A hand bomb was thrown in. It exploded and injured my arm,” Ajanovic said.

He said he was taken to an ambulance station and then to the Kasindo hospital.

Defense attorney Veljko Civsa asked Ajanovic whether Papic visited him in the hospital. Ajanovic said Papic hadn’t, but soldiers who were under his command did. Although Papic claimed to have visited him in the hospital, Ajanovic said he didn’t remember if he had.

Ajanovic said that apart from building bunkers, bringing firewood, cleaning the terrain and evacuating the dead, being a member of the work squad also meant pillaging abandoned apartments.

He said Veljko Papic once lined up the members of the work squad and gave them a task. He said Papic told them they wouldn’t be able to execute it. He said Papic threatened to shoot them.

“The task was to carry out furniture from all the apartments in a building on 1 Zagrebacka Street so it wouldn’t be set on fire. We walked, looking downwards, carrying our tools on our shoulders. At that moment we heard a gunshot. Three soldiers, including Veljko, who had a rifle, were coming towards us,” Ajanovic said.

The trial will continue on April 27.