Indictee Tasic Was “a Small Fish in a Big Pond”

Slavisa Tasic, a distant relative of Ljubomir Tasic, told the Court that the situation in his village of Bosanska Jagodina calmed down with the arrival of the Uzice Corps at the beginning of April 1992. “When the Uzice Corps withdrew, the situation became chaotic. Various formations intruded intp villages, causing problems for everybody,” witness Tasic said.He said that he drove Bosniak civilians from his village and other villages to a square in Visegrad in June 1992, when one of the convoys was organised. He said that he drove them with his truck, which was mobilised as per a warrant by the Military Section. According to the witness’ testimony, nobody joined the convoy against their will. He said that some people even bid farewell to each other in a friendly manner. As he said, he saw Ljubomir Tasic at the square from a distance, adding that he was his Commander in the Second Company. “I did not notice that he issued any orders,” Tasic said, adding that he found out what happened to the convoy of people about twenty days later. Ljubomir Tasic is on trial, along with Predrag Milisavljevic and Milos Pantelic for having participated in the murders, forced resettlement of the population, detention, torture, disappearances and other inhumane acts committed in Visegrad.According to the charges, Milisavljevic and Pantelic participated in the murder of several tens of Bosniak civilians near the Paklenik pit, where Milisavljevic allegedly initiated the shooting of prisoners. The indictment alleges that Pantelic and Milisavljevic were members of reserve police forces in Visegrad, while Tasic was member of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS.Second Defence witness Milan Andric said that the Red Cross organised the convoys and that Ljubomir Tasic did not make decisions about them. “Ljubomir Tasic was a small fish in a big pond at that time,” Andric said.Snjezana Bugarin, who used to work with the Red Cross in the period from May to June 1992, testified as a Defence witness at this hearing. She said that both Serbs and Bosniaks came to the Red Cross voluntarily for safety reasons and that they filled out some form, containing a statement, but she could not remember its content. The trial is due to continue on October 22.