Defense Witnesses at Stanisic and Milosevic Trial Unaware of Petkovci Killings

Defense witnesses testifying at the trial of Ostoja Stanisic and Marko Milosevic said they didn’t know whether Stanisic ordered the murder of civilians on a dam in Petkovci in July 1995.

Ostoja Stanisic and Marko Milosevic are on trial for the mass killing of approximately 1000 Srebrenica civilians on a dam near Petkovci in mid-July 1995. According to the indictment, the prisoners were held in a new school building in Petkovci prior to being taken to the dam.

The indictment alleges that at the time Stanisic was the commander of the Sixth Battalion of the Zvornicka Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, which was based in Petkovci, while Milosevic was his deputy.

Nikola Stevic, a former member of the Sixth Battalion of the Zvornicka Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, testified at this hearing. Stevic said he noticed some unknown soldiers in a school building in Petkovci in July 1995, but didn’t have any findings indicating that members of the Sixth Battalion were involved in the murders on the Petkovci dam.

Stevic said that on July 10, 1995, he was informed that his son, who was also a member of the Zvornicka Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, was killed on the frontline. He said he could only vaguely remember the events that occurred after that date.

“The funeral took place on July 13, 1995. I was in a bad condition. The only thing I remember is that members of the Sixth Battalion came to express their condolences, but I can’t remember who was there and who attended the funeral,” Stevic said.

Stevic said he heard about the murder of Srebrenica civilians on the dam near Petkovci later on, and knew that all of the village residents were resentful because of the killings.

Dragan Marjanovic, another member of the Sixth Battalion of the Zvornicka Brigade with the Bosnian Serb Army, also testified at this hearing.

Marjanovic said he went to Srebrenica between July 15 and 18, 1995, in order to find his deceased brother. He said he had no information about the captives in the school building in Petkovci or the murders on the dam.

“Following my brother’s funeral on July 20, 1995, I heard about some prisoners detained in the school building. I don’t know what date it was, because I wasn’t there. I only heard rumours and that’s all,” Marjanovic explained.

The next hearing will be held on July 1.