Witnesses Describe Attack of Civilian Convoy at Trial of Former Bosnian Army Soldiers

The defendants, Muhamed Sisic, Emir Drakovac, Aziz Susa and Tarik Sisic have been charged with participating in an attack on a civilian convoy in which at least 21 Serbs were killed and several more were wounded.

Dragoslav Djurdjevic he was travelling with his parents, brothers, and other civilians by bus from Jabuka, in the municipality of Gorazde, to Rogatica in August 1992.

“We were travelling normally until Kukavice. At the entrance of Kukavice, firing started from all sides. I was sprayed with [pieces of] glass. One could hear crying and yelling,” Djurdjevic said. He said he saw his mother sitting behind him, shot in the chest.

He said the wounded driver then dragged them to the entrance of Rogatica. There, Djurdjevic said he saw his brother was killed as well.

“He was shot in the head, with one bullet in the occiput [back of the head],” Djurdjevic said.

Witness Ruzica Lazovic said she was also on the bus which was attacked in Kukavice on August 27, 1992. She was with her two young daughters.

“I cannot describe it to you. I saw several soldiers in black uniforms, a thousand bullets, it was thundering. I put my younger daughter under the seat and the older one was close to me – when an elderly man was hit he fell down on top of her. She was covered in blood,” Lazovic said.

She said her hand was wounded while covering her daughter’s head.
She said a “bloody boy” fell on her during the attack on the bus.

Witness Zelimir Rakanovic said he was with his parents and uncle in a car travelling in the convoy. He said their car spun out of control due to the gunfire and stones placed on the road.

“I saw five, six soldiers in black uniforms with stripes on their heads approaching from the right side. They fired with automatic weapons…There were five, six of them on the left side. They were pushing stones to stop the traffic. The stone hit the car and we dropped out of the car,” Rakanovic said.

Rakanovic said he was wounded, along with his father and uncle. His father had a broken bone from the crash. Rakanovic said he saw other wounded and dead persons after the attack.

Witness Mladen Todorovic also testified at this hearing. He said that he heard that his parents and uncle died in a column in Kukavice, and that they were subsequently taken out of the column and buried.

The trial is scheduled to continue on May 12, when new prosecution witnesses will be questioned.