Defense Witnesses Claim They Had No Information on Petkovci Captives

Stanisic and Milosevic are on trial for the murder of approximately 1000 captives from Srebrenica on a dam near Petkovci in mid-July 1995. According to the charges, the captives were detained in Petkovci prior to being taken to the dam.

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.

Drago Lukic, a former member of the background unit of the Sixth Battalion of the Zvornicka Brigade, testified at today’s hearing in Milosevic’s defense.

Lukic said he was tasked with cutting logs which were used for building trenches on the frontline for several days in mid-July 1995. He said the defendants visited soldiers in the area at around that time.

He said he received no information concerning any happenings involving captives in Petkovci at that time. He said he heard rumours that captives from Srebrenica had been brought to a new school building in Petkovci and had been allegedly exchanged.

“Later on I heard rumours that they were killed at the dam,” Lukic said.

In response to questions by prosecutor Predrag Tomic, Lukic said he wasn’t the commander of his squad. Tomic then presented Lukic with documentation that indicated he served as squad commander. Lukic claimed he’d never seen an order appointing him squad commander.

Vinko Radevic, a former member of the Mixed Artillery Division of the Zvornicka Brigade, was the second witness to testify in Milosevic’s defense. Radevic said he was deployed to the Trnovo area in June 1995, and remained there for more than a month.

He told the court he briefly visited Petkovci in mid-July 1995 to attend a soldier’s funeral. When asked whether anyone spoke of captives having been brought to the village, Radevic answered negatively. He said the soldiers in the area discussed how they were doing on the Trnovo battlefield.

Both Lukic and Radevic said they didn’t know if members of the Sixth Battalion were assigned any tasks in regards to the Petkovci captives.

The trial will continue on September 2.