Kujundzic: Borislav Paravac testimony

Examining the three witnesses, one of whom is the former member of the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Defence for Predrag Kujundzic started their arguments.

Predrag Kujundzic is accused of crimes in theDoboj area at the beginning of 1992, when he was according to the Prosecution, a memberof a group called “Predo’s wolves”.

Borislav Paravac, who was the Serb member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency from 2003 to 2006, said that he was at the beginning of the war in May 1992 in Doboj, the president of the crisis committee in the town.

As he explained,the Crisis Committee was in charge of organising civilian life. Following a question by the Prosecution on whether the Committee knew of civilian casualties, Paravac answered no. He was also asked about the knowledge of concentration camps.

“I did hear something. But we did not interfere with the military and police business,” he responded.
He also stated that in May 1992 tensions in Doboj led to the ethnic division of the town with borders persisting until the present day and confirmed by the Dayton agreement.

Paravac said that he personally knew the accused Kujundzic and has very good opinion of him.

During the cross examination, the Prosecutor asked Paravac if he is familiar with the content of a decree of organising Serb people during a crisis and about a decision regarding the strategic goals of the Serb people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Paravac responded that he has no recollection of these decisions and he is not familiar with their content but he assumed that they were respected because when the Crisis Committee was formed, that was one of the recommendations.

Witnesses Dragan Boskovic and Cvjetin Saric talked about the drafting and issuing of summons for work obligation to civilians.

Saric, who was an officer for general affairs with the Yugoslav National Army battalion on Preslica, near Doboj, said how Kujundzic was drafted on October 8 1991, and placed to lead a military police unit.

During cross-examination he said that formal name of that unit was not ‘Predo’s wolves’ but is possible that some people had that nickname for them.

Further witnesses, nine of them in total, will be heard on November 3 and 4.