Witnesses Describe Ambush and Murder of Civilians in Trnovo

Bunoza, Godinjak and Saric have been charged with participating in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at killing and detaining Serb civilians in the Trnovo area. The indictment alleges that Bunoza was the commander of Croatian Defense Forces units in the area, Godinjak was the chief of police in Trnovo and Saric was the commander of the Territorial Defense in Trnovo.

State prosecution witness Borka Vlaski said she lived in the village Trebecaj with her mother. She said soldiers came to the village and ordered her to leave. She said one of the soldiers ordered her to show them Serb houses in the village.  

“We then fled to the woods. We slept there as well,” Vlaski said. She said she and her mother went to the village of Ledici. She said when they got there, the residents of Ledici were planning on leaving the area. She said she and her mother walked with Ledici civilians through the woods towards Kalinovik.

“We arrived to a hill. I don’t know its name. Then the shooting began. We came across an ambush,” Vlaski said.

She said she managed to get to Kalinovik with her mother. When asked what happened to the rest of the group, she said they were killed. Vlaski said civilians who stayed behind in Trebecaj and Ledici were also killed.  She said her aunt was one of the victims killed in Trebecaj. She said her body was found decapitated.

State prosecution witness Vojko Kenjic also left Ledici with a group of civilians and travelled towards Trnovo. Kenjic said they came across an ambush during their trip, which left civilians dead.

He said he and his wife decided to briefly return to Ledici after the ambush. They then travelled towards Vojkovici, near Sarajevo, which was under the control of Bosnian Serb Army at the time. Kenjic said he heard that women who stayed behind in Ledici had been killed.

The trial will continue on September 22.