Witnesses Describe Attack on Civilians in Busovca at Relota Trial

Testifying before the cantonal court in Novi Travnik, Cazim Sabanovic said during the war he evacuated his family to Kacuni. Upon his return to Busovca, he said a policeman named Ivica Vidovic asked the Bosniaks in the town to stay at Ismet Kulic’s house. Sabanovic said he did so.

“A car came one night [at Ivica Vidovic’s house]. We heard a burst of gunfire and a detonation. Then the car left. This happened just before dark. I could not see anything, because I put my head down. A truck came the following day and collected the bodies. I thought that all four men who were in the house were killed, but I met B1 later on. I was shocked to see that he was still alive,” Sabanovic said.

During cross-examination, Relota’s defense attorney Branka Praljak said that in the investigation phase of the case, Sabanovic had given a different answer when asked whether he knew brothers Zoran and Josip Relota.

Josip Relota, a former member of the Nikola Subic Zrinjski Brigade with the Croatian Defense Council, has been charged with participating in the murder of three civilians in Busovca on the night of January 26 or 27, 1993. He allegedly acted in collaboration with two other soldiers. After having left the house in which the civilians were killed, they threw a bomb into the house, the indictment alleges.

Ismet Kulic, who was inside the house with Cazim Sabanovic, testified as a prosecution witness at this hearing.

“I heard shooting and an explosion. I peeked through the window and saw men in military uniforms running out of the house,” Kulic said.

Defense attorney Praljak presented Kulic with a statement he had given in 2007, in which he had said the soldiers wore balaclavas. Kulic said they were wearing caps and military uniforms, but nothing was covering their faces.

Witness Ankica Kokic said she also heard a burst of gunfire and a detonation at the house. She said the bodies of the victims were taken away with a Red Cross truck the following day. She said she did not see Josip and Zoran Relota.

When asked by defense attorney Praljak whether she showed anyone the location of witness B1’s house, Kokic said she did not remember anyone inquiring about the house.

Witness Salih Hadzic said that, after having been released from a detention camp in Kaonik, he met witness B1, who was wounded, next to his barn.

The trial will continue on May 15.