Bundalo et al: Unforgettable farewell

In order to be able to share her memories of their last meeting, the witness asked for permission to have her aunt accompany her in the courtroom. The Court approved her request, after having determined that the witness was very upset.

“My father came home, carrying a letter, which stated that he had to sign in for civil duty. He was glad, because he thought that he would start working again. Then he went to Kalinovik to sign, but he never came back,” Surkovic said.

Surkovic was testifying at the trial of Ratko Bundalo, Nedjo Zeljaja and Djordjislav Askraba, who are charged with a number of crimes committed in Kalinovik in the course of 1992 and 1993.

Her father was first detained in “Miladin Radojevic” school building and then transferred to “Barutni magacin” (“Gunpowder Depot”), where she last saw him.

“I shall never forget my last meeting with my father. We asked and begged Askraba to let us kids see our fathers. Eventually he allowed us to do that. I can still see my father coming to us, quietly, and hugging me and my sister. Askraba was standing near us and, for one moment, I thought I saw some sadness in his eyes. I asked him why he would not let my father go. He responded by saying that it was safer for him to stay there,” said Surkovic.

As indicated by Surkovic, in late July or early August 1992, other Bosniak men, including her brother Salko, were taken away from Vihovici village.

“Some policemen named Predrag Terzic, Sasa Cerovina, Spasoje Doder and some Simic and Vuletic came there and took the men away. My mother asked Terzic to let Salko go, but he did not want to. On that day they were taken to ‘Barutni magacin’,” Surkovic said, adding that they were no longer there the following day.

“In 1999 I found my brother’s remains at Mehka brda. Some people told me that my father had been burnt in a barn,” Surkovic said.

This witness was among the other Vihovici residents who tried to reach territory held by the BiH government on August 5, 1992 but they were captured near the village and transported back to Kalinovik “by trucks”. After having been returned to the town, it was decided that the prisoners should be released the same day. Then they walked for a long time before reaching the territory controlled by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During the course of the examination the witness said that, following her father’s capture, her neighbour Ibro Suljic told her that Bundalo “had brought some paramilitary formations and ordered them to detain all men for security reasons”.

Drazen Zubak, Bundalo’s Defence attorney, said that, in her statement given to the State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, in 2007, this witness did not mention the first indictee at all, adding that he thought that somebody was pressuring the witnesses.

Bundalo addressed the Trial Chamber and told the witness that he had fought for his and her people, adding that it was not true that he participated in bringing paramilitary formations to Kalinovik.

The trial is due to continue on Monday, December 1.