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During their presentation of evidence, which lasted about seven months, the Defence presented evidence which deny Dzeko’s guilt and thus challenged the witness testimonies of the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina who were accusing Dzeko.
Dzeko’s trial began in summer 2012, eight months after he was extradited from the United States.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina opened their presentation of evidence with testimonies of his fellow-soldiers and villagers of Trusina who survived the crime committed on April 16, 1993, in which 18 civilians and four members of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) were murdered.
According to the testimonies of survivors, the attack of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ABiH) on Trusina, where Croats and Bosniaks lived together, was marked by the abuse of women and children and the murder of men and several women.
Dzeko in Trusina
Dzeko, former soldier of the “Zulfikar” squad of the ABiH did not deny his involvement in the attack on Trusina, but he denied the crimes.
“This is pure misinformation. I’ve never shot at civilians and prisoners of war,” said Dzeko while he was testifying in his favour.
At the trial, several of his comrades said that Dzeko participated in the murder of an elderly couple, and an old woman, and that he also participated in the shooting of six Croats after the end of attack. The Defence challenged the credibility of their testimonies, pointing out, among other things, to significant differences in their statements.
“I saw Edin Dzeko as he was shooting at the genitals of one woman. She was lying on the ground. I saw the moment of shooting from a distance of 20 metres,”said former member of the ”Zulfikar” squad, who testified under the pseudonym X.
The Defence has indicated that the witness X spoke differently in his previous statements. According to the Defence, he gave several versions of the murder of women which differs regarding the way of the execution, locality and Dzeko’s eventual actions.
Accoring to the testimony of Rasema Handanovic, alias Zolja, former member of the “Zulfikar” squad, Dzeko killed an elderly couple, Ilija and Andja Ivankovic. Vasvija Vidovic, the Defence counsel of the indictee, responded that with the claim that Handanovic did that in the presence of several persons.
Handanovic did not accept such claim, saying that she was guilty of murders for which she admitted guilt – the participation in the shooting of six Croats, for which she was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.
Vidovic also asked questions that refer to criminal liability for other murders and abuse, which Handanovic denied.
The witness U-4 testified as a witness for the Defence, saying that inhabitants of Trusina were saying that Zolja murdered the Ivankovic couple. He said that he saw a woman-soldier in the group which fired at the Ivankovic couple but that he did not see who was shooting.
The protected witness E also claimed that Dzeko killed the Ivankovic couple: “The spouse of Ilija came out and started screaming: ‘My Ilija, my Ilija’, and Dzeko told her: ‘Shut up, shut up!’ and then shot her in the head.”
This witness claims that Dzeko was in a group of soldiers who were shooting Croats after the attack, while the Defence called upon two of his earlier statements, saying that he then spoke differently in relation to the execution of prisoners, and that he did not mention Dzeko.
Edina Residovic, another Defence attorney of the indictee Dzeko, said that in one statement that he gave, the witness E did not mention the indictee, while in the second he stated that only one soldier fired burst shots to the lined up men because of retaliation, since his comrade Samir Semsovic, called Samko, was previously wounded. The witness said that he always mentioned the indictee.
Handanovic also testified regarding Dzeko’s participation in the shooting, saying that in addition to the two of them, the other soldiers of the“Zulfikar” squad participated in shooting.
The Defence argued that Dzeko left Trusina before the shooting. According to testimonies of witnesses, the shooting occurred after two members of the “Zulfikar” squad were wounded. In his testimony, Dzeko claimed that he drove out his two comrades, along with another member of the “Zulfikar” squad from Trusina to the nearby village of Gostovici.
Muharem Hakalovic, the witness of the Defence, said that he saw the moment they had a car accident in Gostovici, and that he came to provide assistance. As he said, he heard a wounded soldier, who was the driver, saying: “Dzeko, help”! And that he responded: “Do not be afraid, Samko, I will not leave you.”
He said that after the assistance was provided, they continued to carry the wounded to a nearby village, where they were placed in another vehicle, and that it was Dzeko who continued to drive. Two witnesses of the Defence testified that they saw the indictee when he brought the wounded to the war hospital in Suhodol (municipality of Hadzici).
Eventsat the “Zulfikar” squad Base
After the crime in Trusina, part of the “Zulfikar” squad went to Jablanica from Mount Igman, where they were based. According to the indictment, Dzeko committed new crimes in Jablanica, which he denied during his testimony.
Miroslav Soko recalled how the indictee with two other soldiers came to his door on September 8, 1993.
“Dzeko screamed and cursed my mother. Then he punched me in the face twice,” said Soko, adding that after wards he was detained in the complex ofthe “Rogica kuce” in Donja Jablanica, where the “Zulfikar” squad was based.
Headin the Cask
“If such a thing happened to Miroslav Soko, then he replaced me with someone else,” said Dzeko, adding that after the war he stayed with his sister and son-in-law in Jablanica.
