Memic et al: Witness Saw Indictees in Trusina

Former member of the Special Purposes Detachment with the High Command of Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who testified under code-name C, said that the aim of the attack was to liberate the village of Trusina.

According to the protected witness, beside members of the squad in which he was, guides also set off towards Trusina, as well as soldiers for which he thought came from the army barracks in Parsovici.

The protected witness said that in Trusina he saw indictees Dzevad Salcin and Nedzad Hodzic, who, the witness thought, was carrying a Motorola. Witness C added that in Trusina he saw captured members of the Croatian Defence Council, beside whom, among others, stood indictee Salcin.

“I came by when the captured soldiers were there. I found Samko, Dzevad Salcin… I did not stay long,” witness C explained.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic, Nedzad Hodzic, Nihad Bojadzic and Zulfikar Alispago, also known as Zuka, with the murder of 18 civilians and four members of Croatian Defence Council in the village of Trusina on April 16, 1993.

The indictment specifies that Memic, Salcin and Hodzic, former members of the Zulfikar Special Detachment with the Headquarters of the High Command of Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hakalovic, former member of the 45th Brigade Neretvica of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, participated in the attack on Trusina and in the murder of civilians and prisoners of war.

The attack, according to the indictment, was led by Bojadzic, the then deputy commander of the Zulfikar detachment. Indictee Alispago, a former commander of the same unit, is charged with failing to punish the soldiers who had taken part in the executions.

In the course of the resumed trial, protected witness C said he was present when the two members of his detachment were hit.

“We were supposed to extract them but they were under fire. I think it was Nedzad who said that we respond. We turned around to open fire and we extracted Samko and Ahmed,” said the witness, adding that soon afterwards Samko died.

The public was excluded from the part of this witness’s testimony in order to protect his identity.

The Defence will examine the protected witness C on Monday, February 13, this year, when the trial is set to resume.A.J.