Witnesses Say Maric Wasn’t in Kiseljak During Alleged Crimes

Josip Maric, a former police commander and the deputy commander of the Security and Information Service of the Croatian Defense Council in Kiseljak, has been charged with war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war in the municipality of Kiseljak in 1993.

Miroslav Skoro, a former member of the Croatian Defense Council, told the Cantonal Court in Novi Travnik that he knew of Maric from Kiseljak, but met him in Kresevo in June and July 1993.

“I met Maric a couple of times after I had been appointed company commander. I went to the police station in Kresevo. That’s where I met him,” Skoro said.

Josip Tavra, a resident of the village of Gromiljak, near Kiseljak, said he attended a search operation conducted by Croatian Defense Council members and police in the presence of the Commission for Refugees. He said he didn’t see Maric there.

Marko and Ilija Majic said members of the Bosnian Army deported them from Fojnica. They said they found accommodation in Gromiljak, near Kiseljak, and didn’t know Maric.

Stipo Milicevic, a former member of the Croatian Defense Council, said he knew Maric and met him a few times during the war. Milicevic said Maric wasn’t among the soldiers and policemen who searched houses in Gromiljak.

“I once saw houses being searched. They were dressed in camouflage uniforms. I didn’t know them. There’s no way Maric could have been among them,” Milicevic said.

Rafael Musa, a member of the Commission for Refugees, testified at this hearing as well. The Commission for Refugees accommodated refugees in houses abandoned by Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs in Kiseljak in 1993.

Musa said refugees were primarily accommodated in empty houses, and didn’t receive assistance from the police, the army or Maric.

The trial will continue on June 15.