Witness Describes Clearing Bodies from Kukavice Convoy Attack

Mutlak testified at the trial of former Bosnian Army soldiers Muhamed Sisic, Emir Drakovac, Aziz Susa and Tarik Sisic. They are on trial for having participated in an attack on a civilian convoy in which at least 21 Serbs were killed and several more were wounded.

Miljan Mutlak, a former member of the Gorazdanska Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, said a meeting between the command staff and local residents was held at Jabucko Sedlo, in the municipality of Gorazde, in August 1992. He said at that meeting it was decided that civilians should be evacuated to Rogatica.

He said about 1000 civilians gathered in Jabuka on August 27, 1992. They were supposed to travel in a convoy to Rogatica through Varosiste, because the main road of Kukavice in the municipality of Rogatica was under the control of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mutlak said the village of Kukavice was liberated one month after the departure of the convoy. He said was ordered to go there with a few others and clear the area of bodies.

The prosecution presented Mutlak with reproduced photographs taken at the crime scene. Mutlak identified a few bodies, as well as vehicles whose owners he knew. The defense teams objected to the relevance and lawfulness of the prosecution’s evidence, because they were not original photos.

Witness Jela Pljevaljcic was in the convoy on August 27, 1992. She said Miljan Mutlak, known as Batko, told her about the planned departure of women and children to Rogatica. She said she was in a bus that was hit by the first bullet just before they arrived to the village of Mesici.

She told the court that the convoy was attacked in Kukavice and that several civilians, including her sister-in-law Dragana Spasojevic, lost their lives in that attack.

“I saw three men standing next to the Vila 102 hotel. I did not see guns,” Pljevaljcic said.

When asked by the defense whether it was true that she’d said in a previous statement that the three men were armed and had shot directly at the bus, Pljevaljcic said she didn’t remember.

Witness Mladenka Tanovic confirmed that she was wounded in the convoy.

“I saw Dragan Spasojevic’s wife get killed. Her children stayed on her lap…I saw cars turned upside down,” Tanovic said.

The trial will continue on April 14.