Witness Hid in Grove With Defendant

The witness, Radovan Mladjenovic, said that in April 1992 relations between Serbs and Muslims were tense, and that it was an unpleasant time for everyone.

He recalled May 3, 1992, when the army in carriers went through the village of Donji Magasici, where he lived, and stopped there. He said he heard bursts of fire and individual shots.

“I crossed over to the house of Najdan Mladjenovic. There were five or six of us there. We agreed to climb the hill behind the house,” said the witness.

He said that soldiers in civilian vehicles also showed up in the village.

“They got outside and went towards the village of Ljuta Strana, where Serbs lived, and Ramici, where Muslims lived,” said Radovan Mladjenovic.

He added that they – together with the defendant – were together in the grove all the time, and that around 17.00 hours they all went home. The witness said that from their position they did not see the houses in Ramici on fire, nor did they know what happened there.

Mladjenovic is charged with Savo Zivkovic that on May 3 and 9, 1992, as a part of the broad and systematic attack on villages of Hranca and Glogova, they carried out illegal arrest, physical and mental abuse and destruction of property of the Bosniak civilian population and committed crimes against humanity.

The indictment specifies that Mladjenovic was commander of the Territorial Defence in Bratunac, while Zivkovic was a member of this unit.

Another witness who testified was Tatjana Popovic, who said that on May 3 she was in the house of defendant Najdan Mladjenovic with her husband, because they were stopped on the road between Kravica and Bratunac.

“My husband suggested that we go to Najdan, whose uncle was our family friend, until the situation calmed down. We spent approximately 16 hours in his home,” said the witness.  She added that after that Najdan stopped a car in front of his house and they proceeded to Bratunac.

The witness claimed that some other people were in the house of Najdan Mladjenovic and that they were frightened. From the car going to Bratunac, she said, she saw smoke coming from the houses on fire.

The trial will resume October 22.