Witness Describes Killing of Bosniak Civilians at Goran Saric Trial

Saric has been charged with commanding police forces which participated in the search, disarmament and forcible resettlement of women, children and the elderly, as well as with the detention of men and boys who were later executed in the Srebrenica area.

According to the charges, Saric ordered members of the police to guard the road between Bratunac and Konjevic Polje, and to capture men who were trying to leave the Srebrenica protected zone through the woods.

At today’s hearing, SG-7 said he had fled to Serbia because he didn’t want to participate in the war. However, he was arrested and deported to Jahorina in 1995.

In Jahorina, SG-7 said he was placed in a police unit mainly composed of deserters, and was trained at that location. He said members of that unit had to sign a document which claimed they joined the police force voluntarily.

SG-7 said prior to their departure to Srebrenica, members of the Jahorina Unit were lined up and their leaders gave speeches.

“There was an officer I didn’t know. He had brown hair and was rather short. He was saying that we were embarking on a dangerous task and that there were many Muslims who hadn’t seen Serbs that often,” SG-7 said.

He said he heard about Goran Saric after his return from Srebrenica, but didn’t know him personally.

SG-7 said on his unit’s first day in Srebrenica they observed a throng of people in Potocari. He did not specify what his unit’s task was, but said he did not see anything questionable take place. His unit participated in a terrain sweep operation the following day.

“On the third day, we were ordered to go to a road where a group of 100,000 armed Muslims would pass and we were told we should protect the Serb villages. On our way to Konjevic Polje we stopped briefly. From inside the bus I saw soldiers in black uniforms with bandannas [on their faces] shoot about 30 Muslims next to the road. It all happened so quickly, I could not believe it,” SG-7 said.

He said they were stationed in the vicinity of that location, and said he saw a line of Muslims walking towards Kladanj.

According to SG-7, he saw a group of wounded Bosniak civilians lying in a field. He said they couldn’t walk.

“I gave a cigarette to one of them. They were wailing. And then…they were killed by Dragan Crnogorac for no reason. I got scared and ran away,” SG-7 said. He added that Crnogorac had threatened him from prison.

Dragan Crnogorac, a former member of the Training Center on Mount Jahorina, plead guilty to the murder murder of ten wounded Bosniak men in Sandici on July 13, 1995. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

SG-7 said when the unit returned to their base on the evening of July 13, 1995, he heard soldiers talking about a hangar. He heard that members of other units had shot male captives in the hangar, and overheard a soldier say that a bomb had also been thrown into the hangar.

SG-7 said he was wounded on the same evening.

The trial will continue on April 6.