Serb Residents of Brezje Were Armed Prior to Arrests, Defense Witnesses Say
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Ekrem Ibracevic is the former chief of military security with the municipal headquarters of the Territorial Defense in Srebrenik, while the other defendants in the case, Faruk Smajlovic and Sejdalija Covic, are former military police officers. They are currently standing trial for their alleged abuse and torture of Serb civilians in Rapatnica in 1992.
Radenko Mihajlovic, who was previously examined by the prosecution in April 2015, testified at today’s hearing in Ibracevic’s defense. He said he and other Serb residents of Brezje received semi-automatic rifles from the Yugoslav National Army through a list issued by the village’s crisis committee. He specified that they didn’t have any heavy weapons.
“Several meetings were held in order to explain the defense of the village to the local people…There was some sort of a squad, consisting of 36 or 40 of us. It was led by Pero Djukic,” Mihajlovic said.
Mihajlovic said the local residents kept watch at night until an attack on the village on June 19, 1992. He said he and others fled towards the woods but were eventually captured.
Responding to questions by prosecutor Zorica Djurdjevic, Mihajlovic said the local residents did not respond to the attack. He said they were dressed in civil suits when they were arrested and had left their guns in the woods.
Mihajlovic said he and others were transferred to Rapatnica, near Srebrenik, and then to Tuzla.
Defense witness Mico Blagojevic also testified in Ibracevic’s defense. He said the Serb residents of Brezje were given weapons and kept watch over the village at night.
He said he kept watch in the vicinity of his house in Brezje, carrying a rifle his father had given him. Blagojevic said no units were present in the village and they didn’t receive orders from anyone.
“I was in the village until June 19, when the shelling began. The situation became chaotic. People were running away,” Blagojevic said. He said he was eventually captured and taken to Tuzla.
He said he was wearing a civil suit and had no weapons when captured.
Both Mihajlovic and Blagojevic said they were sentenced to three and a half years in prison in Tuzla for having joined an enemy army.
The trial will continue on December 22.
