Witness Describes Burial and Documentation of Bodies in Trnovo

Godinjak, Saric and Bunoza are on trial for participating in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at killing and detaining Serbs in villages in the Trnovo area.

The indictment alleges that at the time Godinjak was the chief of the public safety station in Trnovo, Saric was the commander of the Territorial Defense Headquarters, while Bunoza was a commander of Croatian Defense Forces units.

Sretko Hadziabdic, the prewar manager of a veterinary station in Trnovo, testified at today’s hearing. Hadziabdic said he was in the village of Sabici in August 1992 when he was told that he needed to go to Trnovo to perform veterinary tasks and sweep the terrain.

“I made a report each time a body was found. I noted down the name and burial site for each person whose name I knew. I kept one copy and gave another to the municipality,” Hadziabdic said.

He said no one asked him to report the burial sites, but he decided to do so anyway.

When asked by the defense whether he submitted the reports to police and the army, Hadziabdic said he hadn’t.

Hadziabdic said detainees who were detained in buildings in Trnovo were also involved in the cleaning up of the area.

“I went out into the field with those people. They were digging. Whenever I went with them, guards always accompanied us,” Hadziabdic said. He added that he never saw any of the police officers who guarded them mistreating the prisoners.

Hadziabdic said he used to meet Edo Godinjak in 1992, but didn’t know what his function was. Hadziabdic said he spoke to Godinjak in a police station when he found out that Izet Godinjak, a member of the Territorial Defense, had taken his car.

“I said to him, ‘Edo, give that car back to me.’ He said, ‘It’s not up to me to decide. The car is being used. Then we parted,” Hadziabdic said.

Hadziabdic said he once saw a person whose name was Medaris Saric, the commander of the Territorial Defense.

“I had never seen him or heard about him until the second half of June 1992,” Hadziabdic said. He said he didn’t know about Saric’s position until late August that year.

Hadziabdic said that during his stay in Sabici he used to see Croatian Defense Council members.

The trial will continue on June 30.