Koricanske stijene: People Standing by the Road

I saw people standing on the side. They told us to overtake them, so we continued towards the Vlasic plateau,” said Rajko Maksic, a former “Autotransport” company driver, who drove a truck transporting civilians to an exchange on August 21, 1992.

Maksic said he did not see Dusan Jankovic, former Commander of the Public Safety Station in Prijedor, escorting the civilians on that day. Jankovic and Zoran Babic, Milorad Radakovic, Milorad Skrbic and Zeljko Stojnic, former members of the First Interventions Squad with the Public Safety Station in Prijedor, are charged with participation in the shooting of about 200 men on Mount Vlasic on August 21, 1992.

The Prosecution contends that the civilians had previously been separated from the convoy of more than 1,200 Bosniaks and Croats who were traveling from Prijedor to Travnik.

The witness said that a person named Bulic, a policeman from Prijedor, whose name he did not know at the time, escorted his truck from Prijedor to the place where they saw the group of civilians. He said that Bulic stayed at this location.

“He got off the truck and we continued to the plateau. As soon as we unloaded the passengers, we went back to Prijedor. Bulic got on the truck near the place where we had left him. He then traveled back to Prijedor with us,” Maksic said, adding that “an officer” stopped them nearby and told them “to tell our people not to do it”.

Branko Topic, another former driver with “Autotransport”, who testified for Jankovic’s Defence, was in the convoy on August 21, 1992. He said he did not remember the convoy having been stopped on the bridge over the Ugar river.

“There were between ten and fifteen buses and trucks in the convoy. A white police vehicle, a VW Golf, was driving in front of the convoy. K2, Paras and Sobot were in that vehicle. I saw them at the place where we stopped. I did not see any other policemen, because I was busy giving the passengers drinking water,” Topic said.

Miroslav Paras, who has since died, was Commander of the Interventions Squad at the time.

The second witness confirmed that he knew the fourth indictee, adding that he did not see him escorting the convoy on that day.

The trial is due to continue on March 23.