Witness Describes Krug Operation in Gorazde, Testimony Interrupted

Defendants Muhamed Sisic, Tarik Sisic, Emir Drakovac and Aziz Susa have been charged with participating in an attack on a civilian convoy in Kukavice in Rogatica on August 27, 1992. At least 20 Serbs were killed and several more were wounded as a result of the attack. Muhamed Sisic was the commander of the Commando Squad of the Kukavicka Company of the Bosnian Army, while the other defendants were members of that unit.

At today’s hearing, trial chamber chair Davorin Jukic decided to interrupt Abduselam Sijercic’s examination for the second time during the trial. Jukic said Sijercic would be assigned a legal representative in order not to incriminate himself.

Sijercic, the former commander of the 31st Drinska Brigade of the Bosnian Army, began testifying on August 25, 2015. His testimony was interrupted at a previous hearing because the trial chamber couldn’t follow him – the Bosnian state prosecution explained that it hadn’t provided Sijercic with maps which were the topic of the hearing’s examination.

At today’s hearing, Sijercic showed locations in the vicinity of Gorazde on a map which indicated where Bosnian Serb Army and the Bosnian Army forces were situated. He said Gorazde was under siege in the summer of 1992, and that Bosnian Army units began an offensive operation nicknamed Krug, which aimed to remove enemy units from the area.

Sijercic said he and Zaim Imamovic, the former commander of Bosnian Army forces in Gorazce, gave out orders on the direction of the offensive. When Sijercic began answering prosecutor Mirza Hukeljic’s questions on the tasks assigned to the Sixth Battalion of the 31st Brigade during the Krug operation, the defense objected, saying the trial chamber should appoint a legal representative to assist the witness.

Defense attorney Fahrija Karkin said Sijercic didn’t have the legal knowledge to answer such a question, and said he hadn’t answered questions related to the Krug operation during the course of the investigation.

“He is certainly not aware of the importance of his answers,” Karkin said, adding that Sijercic had a legal representative with him while giving his statement during the investigation as well.

The trial chamber accepted the defense attorney’s objection and interrupted Sijercic’s examination. Judge Jukic told the prosecutor he should have said that the witness had previously testified with a legal representative.

Rusmir Pavica, a former squad commander with the Sixth Battalion of the 31st Brigade of the Bosnian Army, also testified at today’s hearing. Pavica said his soldiers were in Gornje Brcigovo in August 1992. According to Pavica, the Kukavicki Squad was situated in the nearby village of Donje Brcigovo.

He said members of his unit and the Kukavicki Squad were deployed to the road near Jabuka village on August 15, 1992, at the beginning of the Krug operation. He said no combat took place on that day.

When asked whether he knew what happened in the village of Kukavice on August 27, 1992, Pavica said he heard media reports on the attack. He said his unit and the Kukavicki Squad couldn’t have participated in the attack, because combat operations were being conducted in other locations at the time.

The trial will continue on September 15, when Sijercic will be invited to testify for the third time.