Witness Describes Murder of Family in Zecovi by Serb Forces

The first witness at the trial of fifteen former members of Bosnian Serb forces, said he found out that defendant Ilija Zoric was standing in front of his house on the day of his family’s murder.

Ilija Zoric, Dusan Milunic, Radomir Stojnic, Radovan Cetic, Dusko Zoric, Zoran Stojnic, Zeljko Grbic, Zoran Milunic, Bosko Grujicic, Ljubisa Cetic, Rade Grujcic, Uros Grujcic, Zdravko Antonic and Rajko Gnjatovic have been charged with war crimes committed in Zecovi in 1992.
 
The indictment alleges that 29 women and children were killed in the village of Gradina. The bodies of the victims were then removed to a mass grave, and their bodies have still not been found.

Witness Fikret Bacic said that during his stay in Germany in 1992, he’d heard that his wife, two children, and other family members had been killed. He said he went to Rijeka in search of information about the killings. In Rijeka he found out from Zijad Bacic that several soldiers came to his house in Gradina on July 25, 1992. He was told that the soldiers ordered Bacic’s family to exit the house.
 
“My mother told them no one was there except women and children. The soldier swore at them and ordered them to come out. They took the children with them and went out. Zijad was the last one to leave the house. While he was putting his shoes on, he heard shooting and bodies falling. He hid next to a wall. He saw a soldier checking to make sure they were dead,” Bacic said.
 
He said Zijad told him he had seen Ilija Zoric among the soldiers. Bacic identified Zoric in the courtroom.
 
“Zijad said he saw Ilija Zoric in front of the house, in the courtyard. He had a rifle. He didn’t tell me that Ilija was shooting,” Bacic said. Bacic said he knew Zoric from before the war, but didn’t socialize with him as much as he did with some of the other defendants.
 
Bacic said Zijad told him he hid inside the house until the soldiers left, and managed to run away. On the following day he met a group of soldiers, including Bosko Grujicic, whom he recognized. Some time later he managed to leave the Prijedor area and go to Croatia.
 
Bacic said he visited Zecovi in 1998 and tried to contact people who could give him information on the possible location of the bodies of the victims. He said he’d heard that the bodies were transported in the direction of Tomasica.
 
The trial will continue with examination of a new prosecution witness on May 8.