Dzeko Stopped at a Checkpoint

A Defence witness says that indictee Edin Dzeko, former member of “Zulfikar” Unit of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, drove a comrade, who, as said by other witnesses, was wounded in Trusina, near Konjic, on April 16, 1993.

Elvedin Ibrahimovic, who too was a member of “Zulfikar” Unit, recalled having seen Dzeko in Bradina, near Konjic, while he was there with Nihad Bojadzic, Deputy Commander of “Zulfikar” Unit, whose driver he was.

According to previous testimonies by witnesses, the shooting of several Croats in Trusina, which is charged upon Dzeko, happened after the wounding of two members of the “Zulfikar” Unit.

The witness explained that he and Bojadzic, who is on separate trial for crimes in Trusina, went from the Hadzici area to Bradina, where the Command of one of ABiH units was situated, on April 16.

He said that an unknown soldier approached him and told him that some members of his unit had been wounded, so he went to a nearby checkpoint, where the vehicles, transporting the wounded, were stopped.

According to his testimony, Dzeko came out of an ambulance, where his wounded comrade Samko was. Samko died soon after that. The vehicle in which the second wounded soldier was moved towards Suhodol wartime hospital, near Hadzici. The witness said that he and Bojadzic joined them.

Suvad Rogo, former member of “Zulfikar” Unit, testified at this hearing as well. He said that he kept the Unit’s wartime diary during 1993, confirming that the part covering the period from the beginning of September to October 7, 1993 was handwritten by him. The Unit’s base was situated in Rogica houses in Donja Jablanica in that period of time.

Rogo wrote daily activities by the Unit, engagement at battlefields and data about the wounded and killed members in the diary. He said that, had the Unit’s Base or its surroundings been shelled, he would have certainly written it down in the diary. 

According to the charges, Dzeko and Bojadzic ordered Croat captives to stand in a line next to the road, while grenades fired from Croatian Defence Council, HVO, positions were falling around them, near Prenj restaurant in Donja Jablanica in the second half of 1993. He allegedly shouted: “If you move, we shall kill you. If you do not move, let the HVO kill you”.

The trial is due to continue on Tuesday, November 12.