Memic et al: Differences in Statements

At a hearing held on November 9 this year, Bosiljka Kreso said that members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, shot her husband, who was a soldier, on April 16, 1993, after having taken her, her children and other civilians from Trusina village, in Konjic municipality, to Gaj hamlet. The witness said that, prior to the mentioned event, some soldiers, inlcuding Senad Hakalovic, had come to her house.
 
Hakalovic, former member of the 45th Mountain Brigade of ABiH, Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Nedzad Hodzic, Nihad Bojadzic and Zulfikar Alispago are charged with having participated in the attack on Trusina village on April 16, 1993, when 18 civilians and four members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, were killed.
 
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina considers that Alispago, former Commander of “Zulfikar” Special Purposes Squad with the ABiH’s Main Command Headquarters, failed to punish his subordinates who participated in the murders in Trusina, while Nihad Bojadzic, his Deputy, is charged with having commanded the attack.
 
The Prosecution alleges that Memic, Salcin and Hodzic are former members of the “Zulfikar” Special Purposes Squad, who participated in the attack on the village.
 
During the course of cross-examination the Defence said that in her statement given in November 1994, Kreso said that Seid Hakalovic had come to her house and, in another statement, she said it was Cedo Hakalovic. The Defence asked the witness if her memory was fresher at that time than this year, when she recognised indictee Senad Hakalovic in a photo-album presented by the State Prosecution. She answered affirmatively, but she said she was “absent-minded” at the time.
 
“I do not even know how many statements I gave, as everyone was asking me something and I signed the statements. I was absent-minded. I do not know Cedo Hakalovic. I do not know who he is. I never read the statements I signed in those previous years,” the witness said.
 
The Defence teams said that in her previous statements, the witness said that a person named Mejra Sabic, known as Lola, had shot her husband and other HVO members, but in her statements given to the Prosecution she said that three more soldiers had been there as well.
 
In her earlier statements the witness said that Hakalovic was dressed in black uniform, while in her testimony at the last hearing she said he wore camouflage uniform.
 
“I may have been confused at the time, but I am sure he was dressed in camouflage uniform,” Kreso said.
 
The witness said that before Hakalovic and a person known as Mrav came to her house, she had seen through her window a group of ABiH soldiers, shouting “Allahu Akbar”. The Defence teams disputed her statement, claiming that her window was closed and the soldiers were between 100 and 150 meters away.
 
The next hearing is due to take place on November 15, when the Prosecution will examine a new witness.

    A.S.