Witnesses Describe Ethnic Division of Police in Trnovo

Golijanin testified at the trial of Edhem Godinjak, Medaris Saric and Mirko Bunoza, who have been charged with participating in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at killing and detaining Serbs in villages in the Trnovo area.

According to the charges, at the time Godinjak was the chief of the public safety station in Trnovo, Saric was the commander of the Territorial Defense in Trnovo, while Bunoza was a commander of units of the Croatian Defense Forces.

The indictment alleges that members of the police, Territorial Defense, Croatian Defense Forces and the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina killed more than 90 people.

Dragan Golijanin said that he was on a patrol which was attacked by a truck carrying armed people on April 21, 1992.

Golijanin said the driver of the truck ignored a police order to stop the vehicle. A police chase then overtook the truck. Golijanin said he wasn’t one of the policemen who walked towards the truck. He said they were shot at when they approached the truck.

Vinko Bjelica, the second prosecution witness, said after the ethnic division of police forces in Trnovo he moved around the municipality freely, until May 1992.

“Serb forces attacked Trnovo from the direction of Rogoj. The place was shelled. This practically meant the beginning of the war in Trnovo,” Bjelica said.

According to Bjelica, he transferred his parents to Trnovo, which Bosniak forces took over from Serb forces later on.

Bjelica left Trnovo with his wife and children, while his parents, who stayed behind, were killed.

Both witnesses confirmed that Godinjak was the chief of the public safety station in Trnovo.

The trial will continue on April 7.