Memic at al: No Reports About War Crimes

Nusret Sahic, former commander of the military police battalion with the Fourth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina were being arrested for violating order and discipline, adding that there were also thefts and reports for “wild partying”, but that they did not deal with war crimes.

The witness said that he heard about the deaths of Croatian citizens in Trusina only after the war, in 2009. “If I had been told about Trusina, I would have informed the head of the Army Intelligence and he would have ordered us to investigate,” said Sahic.

Charged by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the murder of 18 civilians and four members of the Croatian Defence Council in the village of Trusina on April 16, 1993, are Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic, Nedzad Hodzic, Nihad Bojadzic and Zulfikar “Zuka” Alispago.

The indictment specifies that Memic, Salcin and Hodzic, as members of the Zulfikar Special Purposes Detachment, and Hakalovic, a former member of the 45th Mountain Brigade Neretvica, took part in the attack on Trusina and the murders of civilians and prisoners of war.

The attack, specifies the indictment, was led by Bojadzic, the then deputy commander of the Zulfikar Special Purposes Detachment. Defendant Alispago, former commander of the same squad, is charged with failure to punish soldiers who took part in the execution.

Witness Sahic said that military policemen under his command did not have authority over members of the Zulfikar squad, and that problems created he usually discussed with the squad’s command.

Sahic added that Zulfikar detachment was a manoeuvring unit with the Headquarters of High Command of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that their commander was “Zuka”, while his deputy was Bojadzic.

The continuation of the trial was scheduled forJanuary 6, 2012, when the cross-examination of witness Sahic will resume.