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Desimir Djeric, former policeman with the Public Safety Station in Cajnice, said that the news about the murders came as “a lightning from a clear sky”.
“I know, from reliable sources, that policemen guarded the hunters’ house where the evil thing happened. People said that about 30 men had been killed. I am about 90 per cent sure that the late Veljo Tadic participated in it,” witness Djeric recalled, adding that he heard that some people were beaten in Mostina as well.
The witness explained that he met Mehmed Trgo in 2007, adding that Trgo told him that he had been beaten up during his detention in Mostina and his son had been killed.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Milun Kornjaca, Milorad Zivkovic, known as Zika, and Dusko Tadic, known as Rus, with the persecution of Bosniaks from the Cajnice area and the murder of 11 civilians in Mostina on May 19, 1992.
The indictment alleges that Kornjaca was Commander of the Plavi Orlovi (Blue Eagles) paramilitary unit, Zivkovic was Chief of the Public Safety Station in Cajnice and Tadic was a member of the Plavi Orlovi.
Zivkovic and Tadic, and Kornjaca are facing separate trials before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, in order to improve efficiency, joint witnesses are examined at the same hearings.
The witness said that the Plavi Orlovi Unit was part of the Cajnice Brigade, adding that indictee Milun Kornjaca formed the unit.
Witness Djeric told the Court that Dusko Kornjaca, former President of the Crisis Committee in Cajnice, and indictee Zivkovic helped him and his Bosniak friends to leave the town.
At this hearing, the Trial Chamber announced that Slobodan Peric would be indictee Kornjaca’s ex-officio attorney in the future, while Zlatko Knezevic would serve as an additional Defence attorney.
“The Court appointed the attorney, whom Kornjaca selected from a list of ex-officio attorneys,” Trial Chamber Chairman Darko Samardzic said.
At the last hearing the indictee said that he no longer wished to be represented by Vesna Tupajic-Skiljevic because he was “dissatisfied with certain things”.
The trial is due to continue on April 18 this year.
A.J.
