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Protected witness A-1 said that he was in his house in Sijekovac village on March 26, 1992, when he heard that members of the Croatian Defence Forces, HOS, gave an ultimatum to the local Serb population to hand over all weapons.
“They did not hand their weapons over. About ten HOS members, who were dressed in black uniforms and had phantom caps, came to my house later during that same day. They began shooting from all sides. Both Serbs and HOS members opened fire. My cow was killed in the cross-fire,” witness A-1 said.
As he said, about an hour-and-a-half later the shooting stopped. He was told that all local residents had to go to Niko Tomas’ house, where he saw indictee Zemir Kovacevic.
Witness A-1 said that, on his way to that house, he found out that some members of the Zecevic and Milosevic families had been killed.
“Zemir had a jacket and an automatic gun… I spoke to him. He asked me what happened. I told him that Serbs and HOS members were engaged in conflict and that some people were killed. He just said: ‘Those fools. What have they done!’ About fifteen minutes later, he went towards the centre of Sijekovac,” A-1 said, adding that Kovacevic did not mistreat anyone in front of Niko Tomas’s house.
Zemir Kovacevic, former member of the Interventions Squad with the First Bosanski Brod Brigade of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, is charged with having committed crimes against Serb civilians in Sijekovac in March 1992.
The indictment alleges that Kovacevic participated in the attack on Sijekovac village and that, acting in collaboration with others, he took 15 adults and four Serb children, some of whom were killed, out of their houses into a yard.
The trial of Kovacevic is due to continue on November 27, when a Defence’s expert witness will present his findings.
