Jail Urged for Bosnian Serb Soldiers Accused of Killing Civilians

5. February 2020.17:23
The prosecution called for maximum sentences to be imposed on four former Bosnian Serb soldiers accused of the murders of 28 Bosniak and Croat civilians in the village of Oborci in central Bosnia in 1995. The Bosnian prosecution on Wednesday called on the state court to convict ex-soldiers Branko Cigoja, Zeljko Todic, Sasa Boskic and Milorad Glamocak of the murders of 28 Bosniak and Croat civilians in Oborci, near the town of Donji Vakuf, on September 13, 1995.

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“There is not a single piece of defence evidence that would call into question the fact that these defendants committed the crimes described in the indictment,” prosecutor Ivan Matesic said in his closing statement in the trial.

According to the charges, Glamocak was the commander of the Reconnaissance Squad of the Mrkonjicka Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, while the other defendants were members of the squad.

Matesic said that Cigoja, Todic and Boskic committed the murders with direct premeditation, while Glamocak, as their commander, failed to prevent them from committing the crime.

The prosecutor explained that, in the presence of Glamocak, Todic conveyed an order to kill the civilians and asked for volunteers to commit the crime, after which Cigoja and Boskic left with him.

He said that they pointed out five men who were then taken behind a school building and shot in the back.

Two more groups of five civilians were taken out and shot, and then the remaining civilians were killed, the prosecutor continued

“Mehmed Heremic gave a detailed description of a soldier who took the groups of five civilians out, after which they heard shooting. He said his brother Adem was taken out in the first group,” Matesic said, adding that Heremic managed to survive the shooting by hiding in the school basement behind a sewage pipe.

He said that Heremic’s testimony was confirmed by two members of the Mrkonjicka Brigade’s Reconnaissance Squad in statements that they gave during the investigation.

Cigoja’s defence will present its closing statement on February 19.

 

Albina Sorguč


This post is also available in: Bosnian