Witness Describes Shooting of War Prisoners at Icanovic Trial

Emin Kapic, a former member of the National Defense with the Western Bosnia Autonomous Region, said Huso Kujundzic, his former squad commander, was killed in the vicinity of Latica Glavica in the municipality of Velika Kladusa in December 1994.

“After we handed our weapons over, a soldier came and yelled and cursed at us, saying that we’d killed his godfather. I heard a gunshot and I saw Huso fall down. I looked at the man for a few seconds. He was of mid-height and weight. His hair was kind of blonde. Then another soldier approached him and asked him what he was doing. He repeated that we’d killed his godfather. He took out the butt of his rifle and started beating us. I got the worst injuries and I fainted,” Kapic said. He said he didn’t witness the murder of another soldier named Fikret Kovacevic.

Kapic, who identified Icanovic in photographs shown to him during the investigation as the man who shot Kujundzic, was unable to confirm in the courtroom that the defendant was that soldier.

“He matches the description I gave, but I only saw that person for 10 to 15 seconds, because we were in fear and kept our heads down,” Kapic explained.

During cross-examination defense attorney Ibrahim Kadic asked Kapic whether he noticed stuttering or other speech problems in the person who killed Kujundzic. Kapic said he didn’t.

Also testifying at this hearing, Huse Pajazetovic said he was one of the soldiers captured in December 1994.

“One of the soldiers who captured us asked who the commander was. Huse [Huso Kujundzic] said he was. When Huse told him how many members the squad had, the soldier told him he was lying and aimed the barrel of the rifle on his temporal bone. We heard a gunshot. Huse fell down. From the corner of my eye I saw him lying helplessly and blood pouring out of his head. I don’t know and I didn’t see who shot Huso. A short time later another gunshot was heard a bit further away from us, but I didn’t know what was going on there and who killed who,” Pajazetovic said.

Suljo Kostic and Ramo Behric also testified at this hearing. They said they were also captured on December 25, 1994, but didn’t know who killed Huso Kujundzic.

Icanovic has been charged with killing two prisoners of war, who were members of the National Defense of the Western Bosnia Autonomous Region, at Latica Glavica in late 1994. He has also been charged with beating other prisoners with a rifle butt.

According to the indictment, at the time Icanovic was the commander of the 505th Brigade of the Fifth Corps with the Bosnian Army.

The state prosecution filed the indictment against Icanovic in mid-September 2014. The case was forwarded to judicial bodies in Bihac later on.

The trial will continue on May 25.