Witness Describe Abduction of Injured Party by Kajdic and Rokvic

Kajdic and Rokvic, former members of the Bosnian Serb Army, have been charged with abducting a civilian named Safet Besirovic from the village of Gornja Puharska and taking him to the Crna Dolina mine on August 17, 1992, where they killed him. The victim’s body was never found.

Mirsad Besirovic, the son of the injured party, testified at today’s hearing. He said Muhamed Zengic told him that two soldiers took his father towards Crna Dolina. He said the soldiers took shovels from their neighbours. He said the soldiers returned without his father between 30-45 minutes later.

Besirovic said Zengic told him that the defendants were the soldiers who took his father away. Besirovic said he has known Muhamed Zengic since childhood.

Witness Alija Krupic said Besirovic came to his home in Puharska in 1992 and looked after a cow in a field that day. Krupic said while he was in the field, some soldiers came and escorted him in front of the house. Other soldiers, including Rokvic, were present.

“They took him to the school building where soldiers were stationed. Later on they came to pick me and my uncle Ibrahim up. I was examined by Nenad Vujasinovic. He questioned me about Besirovic. Then he let me go home,” Krupic said.

When he came home, Krupic said he went to nearby field to mow the grass. He said he saw the defendants taking the injured party towards Crna Dolina.

Krupic couldn’t identify Sabahudin Kajdic with certainty in the courtroom. He said he had long hair and a beard when he saw him last.

“They gestured at me to go home, so I left. I didn’t see Safet afterwards. My neighbours said the soldiers came back soon after and washed their bloody hands at our neighbour’s house,” Krupic said.

Witness Ibrahim Krupic said Safet Besirovic stayed at his house for a few days. He said when he was taken to the detention camp, his wife told him to go to his cousin’s house, because she thought he would be safer there.

According to Krupic, he heard they took Besirovic away while he was shepherding cows.

Witness Muharem Zengic said his house was on the way to Crna Dolina. He said he knew that a man stayed at Alija Krupic’s house and looked after his cattle, but found out later that the man was Safet Besirovic.

“I was in the garden that day. I was digging, when I saw soldiers taking away a man. I did not see who the soldiers were,” Zengic said.

When asked by the prosecutor whether his mother and neighbour Emina Zengic saw Sasa and Rokvic, Zengic said they had. He said he knew Rokvic and would have recognized him if he had seen him.

The trial will continue on September 16.