State Prosecution Witness Describes Standing Guard During Borje Killings

The state prosecution has charged Dragan Marjanovic, Sasa Gavranovic, Vitomir Devic, Zoran Sljuk, Dragomir Kezunovic and Dario Slavuljica with participating in an attack against the Bosniak and Croat population and detaining them at the Teslic police station, on Territorial Defense premises and in a military prison from June 1992 to 30 June 1993.

The defendants have been accused of taking 28 detained civilians from a Teslic police station and the nearby Pribinic prison to Mount Borje on the night of June 17 and 18, 1992. There, the defendants allegedly killed them.

According to the indictment, at the time Marjanovic was the commander of the First Squad of the military police of the Teslicka Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army. The other defendants were members of that squad and also members of the Mice paramilitary formation.

Former Bosnian Serb fighter Zoran Jorgic testified at today’s hearing. He said during the war he was recruited in Djulici, near Teslic, and that his commanding officer was defendant Dragan Marjanovic. In June 1992, Jorgic said members of the Mice paramilitary formation came to Djulici with their commander, Ranko Sljuka.

“Our unit was divided in two – the military police and reconnaissance. I was in the military police. Then a different kind of discipline was expected…there were slaps,” Jorgic said.

Jorgic said when the Mice paramilitaries came, non-Serb civilians in the area began to disappear and their houses were robbed. He said he wasn’t previously acquainted with any members of the Mice formation, and believed there were eight of them.

“They were better trained then we were. They had a sign that said Mice on it,” Jorgic said. He said there were no combat activities in the area prior to their arrival.

Jorgic said Sljuka ordered the military police to disarm the villages of Studenci-Slatina, Stenjak and Rankovici. He said he saw members of the Mice formation abusing men in Stenjci and civilians from Rankovici detained in a prison in Pribinic.

“The Mice [formation] did that. Those people are here in the courtroom. I remember [Vitomir] Devic,” Jorgic said.

Jorgic said Zoran Sljuka and Sasa Gavranovic were members of the Mice paramilitary unit, but he didn’t know Darija Slavuljuica. He claimed to have heard about Dragomir Kezunovic.

He said he learned the names of the Mice paramilitaries when they were arrested. He said he wasn’t certain if they all took part in the attacks on non-Serb villages.

With regards to the Borje killings, Jorgic said one night he was standing guard in front of the Teslic police station, upon Ranko Sljuka’s orders. He said he saw a truck carrying defendant Dragan Marjanovic and other Mice paramilitaries enter the premises.

“I heard commotion, people being rounded up. I saw no one. After an hour we travelled by car behind the truck,” said Jorgic. He said the cars and the truck travelled towards Pribinic and Borje. He said he was ordered to stand guard near an intersection, while the other cars and the truck continued their journey.

“I heard, ‘Get out,’ then gunfire. I stayed there until morning and the other cars didn’t move,” Jorgic said. He said he assumed people had been killed.

Jorgic said a Jeta vehicle approached with a man inside, but he couldn’t remember it the Jeta approached before or after he heard the gunfire. He then claimed that the Jeta approached before the gunfire. Jorgic said the Jeta then returned to Borje and also added that he saw Dragan Marjanovic and Goran Dolic in the area. The prosecution objected to Jorgic’s differing statements. The trial chamber said it would make a final decision regarding his testimony.

Jorgic said he heard about the Borje killings the next day, and said his unit was told not to discuss the killings with anyone.

State prosecution witness Zumreta Botic also testified at today’s hearing. She said her husband was abducted from Gomjenica in 1992. She said she didn’t know whether military and civilian police forces took him away. She said her husband’s body was found in 1999.

State prosecution witness Rahima Rasic said her son was abducted from Bardaci. She said his body was found in 1999.

The trial continues on September 10.