On the Frontline with the Commander

Vlado Josic, former courier with the Sixth Battalion’s Command of the Zvornik Brigade with the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, said that he went to the frontline, or in fact the forward command post, when “the combat readiness increased”.

“I spent those couple of days on the frontline. The Commander too was on the frontline. I know that we spent the nights there,” Josic said, adding that he did not know what was happening in Petkovci during those days.

As he said, he left the frontline when Commander Stanisic issued him an order to go to Srebrenica by truck. The witness said that he took a small truck that belonged to the Battalion in Petkovci, where he did not notice anything unusual, and headed towards Srebrenica.

“I neither remember the day nor date,” Josic said.

He said that his task was to collect some soldiers, who were not members of his Battalion. He added that a few soldiers were waiting for him and that he then drove them to Kozluk. He arrived in Petkovci on the following day.

As he said, when he arrived in Petkovci, he saw Deputy Commander indictee Marko Milosevic and informed him about the executed task, adding that Milosevic gave him a day off.

Stanisic and Milosevic are on trial for having participated in murders committed on a dam near Petkovci, where about 1,000 Srebrenica captives were shot in mid-July 1995.

Witness Josic said that he did not know what was happening in Petkovci during his absence. As he said, later on he heard about the murders on the dam.

“I heard that some Muslims had been brought and killed. They mentioned the dam,” the witness said.

Prosecutor Predrag Tomic presented the witness with a travel authorization for the small truck for the route Petkovci – the dam – Petkovci for July 15, 1995. The witness denied that it was his handwriting.

The Prosecutor said that the travel authorization issued on July 15 also contained the route Petkovci – Srebrenica. He asked the witness whether he could have been in Srebrenica on that day, but Josic responded: “I am telling you. I do not know which day it was”.

The Defence determined that, on the basis of the travel authorization, one could conclude that the small truck was at the two locations at the same time.

“It is not clear to me either. That is why I said that it was not my handwriting,” the witness said, adding that he had a separate travel authorization, when he travelled to Srebrenica.

The trial is due to continue on May 21.