Jevic et al: Threats by SIPA Investigator

Protected witness S-127 testified for the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina that in March 2010, Bajro Kulovac, the then head of the SIPA investigation team, threatened her husband at their home.

‘’Kulovac talked to my husband and told him he was a good witness. My husband replied he was not a good witness because he had no information. Then Kulovac said that he knows two men who can link my husband to the events from July 1995 which are criminal in nature,” said witness S-127.

Witness’s husband, protected witness S-101, testified in March 14, 2011, that during the investigation he had offered some incorrect details under duress after being blackmailed by Bajro Kulovac. Kulovac denied that claim.

Protected witness S-127 testified at the trial of former Bosnian Serb soldiers Dusko Jevic, Mendeljev Djuric, Goran Markovic and Nedjo Ikonic, charged with participating in the forced expulsion of Bosniak population from the territory of Srebrenica, and the murder of around 1,000 men.

Witness S-127 said that Bajro Kulovac had told her husband that he could “charge him with resisting the arrest”.

After Kulovac’s visit, the witness said her husband started travelling to Serbia in order to find the other men who had been present in Srebrenica in July 1995.

‘’I know that my husband went to Serbia on several occasions telling me he was looking for witnesses in Sombor and Vojvodina. I started suspecting he was unfaithful to me. He was taking leave of absence, spending our joint assets on these travels. It lasted for three-four months,” said witness S-127.

The witness added that she knew her husband had several contacts with Kulovac and that, in February 2011, a man has visited her and told her that her husband better watch out what he was saying during his testimony.

‘’Only when my husband’s statements started appearing in media, after his testimony, I’ve realised what he had been going through. He was afraid for his family because of the threats and he often thought of taking his own life,” said witness S-127.

Asked by Mira Smajlovic, chairwoman of the Trial Chamber, why her husband did not report the threats, the witness said that he was afraid.

The next hearing is scheduled for March 5, 2012.