Petkovci Residents Weren’t Asked to Hurt Srebrenica Captives, Witness Says

Stanisic and Milosevic, both former members of the Bosnian Serb Army, are on trial for the murder of approximately 1000 Bosniaks from Srebrenica in a dam near Petkovci in July 1995. According to the charges, Milosevic was Stanisic’s deputy. The first defense witness, Vajo Radovic, was a former soldier with the Sixth Battalion of the Zvornicka Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, which was based in Petkovci. Radovic testified as per an invitation by Stanisic’s defense.Radovic said he had heard rumours about male captives being brought to the Petkovci school building while he was in combat position.“According to rumours, certain soldiers brought some captives to the new school building,” said Radovic.Radovic said that nobody had ordered the soldiers, who were ordered to be prepared for combat, to guard the Srebrenica captives that had been brought to the school. When asked what happened to the captives, Radovic said he didn’t immediately know they had been killed. “I heard later on that they were killed. I heard about it a couple of months later,” he said.Radovic said he hadn’t heard that Stanisic harbored any animosity towards members of other ethnic groups.New defense witnesses will be examined on March 11.