Witness Statements on Civilian Convoy Attack in Rogatica Presented at Trial of Former Bosnian Army Soldiers

Muhamed Sisic, Aziz Susa, Emir Drakovac and Tarik Sisic have been charged with participating in an attack on a civilian convoy in the village of Kukavice on August 27, 1992, when at least 20 Serbs were killed and several more were wounded.

According to the charges, Muhamed Sisic was the commander of the so-called Kukavicka Company of the Bosnian Army, while the other defendants were members of that unit.

At today’s hearing, the prosecution presented a statement given by witness Bozana Mirkovic to the Eastern Sarajevo police before her death. In her statement she said August 27, 1992 was a difficult day for Serb civilians fleeing Jabuka, near Gorazde, in a convoy headed towards Rogatica.

She said that she was on a bus filled with Serb civilians fleeing the area as part of the convoy. She said shots were fired at the bus and the passengers panicked. She said she was injured in three different parts of her body.

The prosecution also read a statement given by deceased witness Blagoje Jaksic, who said two people died and one woman was injured on a bus he and other civilians got on in Kukavice. The defense objected to this statement, and said it was unclear from Jaksic’s statement when the event he described took place.

Prosecutor Mirza Hukeljic then read a statement given by deceased witness Milka Pljevaljcic, who said that she was on a bus headed towards Rogatica with her daughter in law, two grandchildren and other civilians. She said that during their journey their bus was attacked, and she was injured. She said her grandchildren screamed and described the shooting as “terrible.”

A statement given by deceased witness Radosav Bojic was the last one to be presented at today’s hearing. In his statement, Bojic, a former employee at the Rogatica hospital, said he saw dead bodies from the Kukavice attack. He said he and others went to the site of the attack in Kukavice.

“We found the bones of killed civilians, mostly burned. Two burnt cars were flipped over and we saw two skulls separated from the bodies,” Bojic said.

He said the bodies were buried together and that identification was impossible.

The trial continues on January 12, 2016.