Recollecting Events with Trouble

“When the shooting began, the situation became chaotic. I carried Fejzic, who was wounded, with the help of other prisoners. We carried him to the kitchen, where food was served for us, the prisoners. I cannot remember the details. I only heard a soldier, who was among a large group of soldiers, saying: ‘Here comes his brother. He will kill everybody now’,” Halilovic said.

He said that he did not see who the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, soldier was.

The witness said that he stuck to his statement given during the investigation and that he did not feel well, asking the Court not to have him recall those events. Visibly shaken, he kept saying: “Please don’t ask me any more questions.”

The Prosecutor then read a part of Halilovic’s statement, in which he said that others told him that the soldier, who had come by, was the brother of Ivan Pravdic, who was killed.

As he said, the Fejzic brothers stayed in front of the kitchen. The other prisoners were sent towards a house.

“A soldier ran by us. Others told me that he was the brother of Ivan Pravdic, who was killed. Anto Budim stood in front of the people and shouted: ‘Kill me before them’. He protected us by doing that. He loaded us onto a truck. Later on we went back in order to bury the killed brothers. While I was in the detention camp later on, I heard that the soldier’s name was Franjo Pravdic,” Halilovic said during the investigation.

The witness said that he stuck to that statement.

The indictment charges Pravdic with having killed prisoners of war Edin and Edib Fejzic in Orahovac village in August 1993.

The trial is due to continue on September 11.