Saw Captives – Heard about Shooting

Arsen Jovicic was member of a battalion with the Zvornik Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, which was commanded by indictee Ostoja Stanisic. He said that he saw captives near the Cultural Centre, which was located across the street from the Command.

This witness was not able to specify the date, but, according to the charges, the captives were held in the Cultural Centre in mid-July 1995. He said that some unknown soldiers stood next to the captives and that he did not see any members of the Command or Battalion at that place.

Stanisic and Marko Milosevic are charged with having participated in crimes committed on the dam near Petkovci, where about 1,000 captives from Srebrenica were shot.

The indictment alleges that Stanisic was Commander of the Sixth Battalion, whose command was located in Petkovci, while Milosevic was his Deputy.

When the witness said that he did not know whether the captives’ hands were tied, Prosecutor Predrag Tomic presented him with a statement given during the investigation, in which he said the opposite thing.
The witness explained that he saw that their hands were put together, so he thought that they were probably tied.

Jovicic saw this while passing through Petkovci on his way to frontlines. He stayed in front of the Cultural Centre for about ten minutes.

As he said, he heard, later on, that the captives were shot on the nearby dam, but he did not find out who participated in it. The witness said that he did not hear that Stanisic and Milosevic had anything to do with the killing.

Second State Prosecution witness Stevo Kostic said that he used to work as a registry clerk with military police of the Zvornik Brigade and that none of the military policemen was present in Petkovci from July 11 to July 28, 1995.

The trial is due to continue on December 11.