Bosnian Serb Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ to Visegrad Killings
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The indictment, read out by prosecutor Seid Marusic, alleges that on June 16, 1992, or around that date Radomir Susnjar, along with Milan and Sredoje Lukic, armed with automatic rifles, arrived in a house in Pionirska Street in Visegrad to which Bosniak civilians had been previously brought from the village of Koritnik.
The prosecutor said that Milan and Sredoje Lukic, threatening to kill the civilians, seized their money, golden items and other valuables, after which Susnjar searched the civilians to make sure they did not keep any items with them and then they forced them into another house.
“He pushed the last civilians and locked the door. After that Milan Lukic threw in the room an incendiary explosive device, which caused a fire in the house. Susnjar threw in a hand grenade, and they all fired around the house to prevent the civilians from fleeing,” the prosecutor said.
He also said the remains of the killed persons had never been found; several people survived the massacre, however.
The International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, ICTY, previously sentenced Milan Lukic to life imprisonment for crimes committed in Visegrad, including the murders in Pionirska Street, among others. Sredoje Lukic was sentenced to 27 years.
Susnjar is suspected of being a part of Milan Lukic’s group.
When asked by the Court whether he understood the indictment, Susnjar said: “Yes, I understand it, but I am not the one.”
The defence did not present its introductory statement.
During a status conference held just before the trial started, it was said that the prosecution planned to examine 17 witnesses and expert witnesses, including, as prosecutor Marusic explained, eyewitnesses to the murders.
The indictment against him was confirmed in October last year. Susnjar was extradited from France in June.
The trial will continue on September 6 with an examination of the first prosecution witness.
