Soldiers With Rifles Told to Go to Petkovci

At the trial for the genocide in Srebrenica, the witness for the Prosecution said that while he was at the front line at the time when prisoners were brought in to Petkovci village near Zvornik, he heard that “whoever has an automatic rifle” should go to the village.

Milos Ivanovic, former soldier of the Sixth Battalion of the Zvornik Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska, said that a soldier from the nearby front line went to the village, but returned soon afterwards.

“I heard Mirko returned, he was sent back because did not have an automatic rifle. He said he saw people down there,” said the witness, who was at the line between July 12 and 18 1995, with short trips home.

He explained that prisoners were held near the Culture House, which was across the road from the Sixth Battalion’s headquarters.

The witness added that only a few of the soldiers at the line had automatic rifles, others had semi-automatic ones. He emphasised that it was not a specific order that those who had an automatic rifle go to the village.

Ivanovic testified at the trial of Ostoja Stanisic and Marko Milosevic, charged with participating in crimes committed at the Petkovci dam near Zvornik, where around 1,000 imprisoned people from Srebrenica were executed in mid-July 1995.
According to the indictment, Stanisic was a commander of the Sixth Battalion of the Zvornik Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska, and Milosevic his deputy.

Responding to questions from the Defence, the witness said that, while he was at the line, he did not hear that “whoever has an automatic rifle should go to Petkovci” come from the company commander. He added that he was not aware of commander Stanisic giving out any orders to soldiers regarding prisoners.

The trial will resume on July 17.