Defendants Were on Frontlines During Petkovci Killings

Stanisic, the former commander of the Sixth Battalion of the Zvornicka Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, and Milosevic, his deputy, have been charged with the mass killing of approximately 1000 Srebrenica civilians on a dam near Petkovci in mid-July 1995. According to the charges, the prisoners were held in a new school building in Petkovci prior to being taken to the dam.

Djordjo Savic, a former member of the Sixth Battalion, testified at today’s hearing. He said following the fall of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995, the Battalion Command issued an order calling all soldiers to the frontline.

“I was at Parog the whole time. We were in trenches, all of us,” Savic said.

Savic said he was on the frontline from July 12-16, 1995. He said he saw the defendants there everyday during that period.

“They used to come every day. They would come in order to visit the frontline. They came at night as well,” Savic said. He said the defendants told them be wary of Bosnian Army attacks.

He said he heard on the frontline that captives from Srebrenica had been brought to Petkovci. He said the Battalion Command didn’t issue any orders regarding the Petkovci captives.

Branko Avramovic, a former member of the Third Battalion of the Zvornicka Brigade, testified in Milosevic’s defense. He said he went to Petkovci in mid-July 1995 to attend the funeral of an acquaintance’s son.

“I asked my commander to let me go for two or three hours in order to attend the funeral. He approved my request,” Avramovic said. He said he knew the defendants, but didn’t see them on that day.

He told the court that the Sixth Battalion’s cook told him Stanisic and Milosevic had expressed their condolences to the family and then returned to the frontline.

The trial will continue on September 16.