Witness Recognizes Goran Mrdja as Man Who Threatened Him

Halid Mehic, the witness, said he was approached by two young men in the village of Palanka near Sanski Most after returning from a local shop in the spring of 1993. The two men said they were Muslims.

Mehic said while he was speaking to the two men, he felt threatened and fled. However, the two men soon caught up with him. One of the men pointed a gun at him and held a hard object under his throat. The man asked Mehic which of his neighbours had sheep.

“He asked if I had any money. I had 25 Deutschmarks. He swore and said he wanted 500,” Mehic said. He said the same person continued to point the pistol at his back and took him to the village of Pasici, where he was released.
 
Mehic said he didn’t recognize the two men. He said his son told him afterwards that the name of one of the men was Goran. Mehic identified Goran Mrdja in the courtroom as one of the soldiers who held him at gunpoint.

The state prosecution presented Mehic with a statement he had given during the investigation phase of the case. In that statement, Mehic said the incident took place in May 1992, not 1993.
 
Mrdja’s defense attorney asked Mehic why he had said the incident happened in 1993. Mrdja’s defense attorney asked Mehic if he had been instructed to say it happened in 1993. Mehic said he realized after having given his initial statement that the year of the incident was in fact 1993.

At the beginning of the hearing, the state prosecution read its indictment. The indictment charges Goran Mrdja, Milorad Mrdja, Ranko Mrdja and Mile Kokot, former members of the Sana Infantry Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, with war crimes in Sanski Most in 1993 and 1994.
 
During its opening remarks, the state prosecution said the defendants’ crimes were committed against civilians. Goran Mrdja’s defense attorneys said their client was innocent. The rest of the defense teams didn’t present opening remarks.
 
The date of the next hearing will be set at a later date.