‘Burning Bosniak Civilians Alive’ Charge Falters

The prosecution said on Tuesday that it might drop the count in the indictment which accuses Krsmanovic of helping to burn alive around 70 civilians at a house in the Bikavac neighbourhood of Visegrad in June 1992.

“There is a possibility we would give up the count related to the Bikavac crime. We would do so if the witnesses for the defence convince us that Krsmanovic was not present at the location,” said prosecutor Mirko Lecic.

Krsmanovic is accused of being part of a notorious militia led by convicted war criminal Milan Lukic, who has already been jailed for life by the Hague Tribunal over the Bikavac killings and other war crimes.

Krsmanovic’s defence filed a motion at the court in Sarajevo on Tuesday proposing to examine around 25 witnesses, 16 of whom were questioned at Lukic’s trial.

Some of these witnesses, his defence said, testified before the Hague court about the incineration of civilians at Bikavac and never mentioned Krsmanovic.

According to the indictment, Krsmanovic, as a member of the Second Podrinje Light Infantry Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, participated in and aided the murders, rapes and forced disappearances of Bosniaks in Visegrad.

His trial is scheduled to resume on August 20.