Witness Describes Seeing Body of Victim in Pocitelj

Djonko, a witness for the Mostar cantonal prosecution, said he was a member of the Territorial Defense and was assigned his weapons and uniform in Medjugorje. He said he knew the defendant, but Turajlic was not a member of his unit when they crossed to the left river bank of the Neretva.

“The unit I belonged to didn’t conduct combat activities. Our task was to guard the road between Domanovici and Capljina. When we crossed to the left side of the Neretva, we headed towards an elementary school in Pocitelj. Fire was opened at us. We managed to reach the road which leads to Domanovici and passed by the houses of the Veledar family. Ekrem Veledar was the commander of our squad. We returned in the afternoon on the following day. At that moment, I saw three corpses, including that of Mico [Mitar] Zelenika, on the side of the road in front of the school,” Djonko said.

He said that all three corpses were lying next to each other. He noticed Zelenika’s trousers were torn and he had a bandage on his thigh. He also saw blood on the two other bodies.

“All three of them were lying on their backs. I noticed that Mico’s trousers were torn and that he had a wound that had been dressed. I did not notice any other injuries. I heard later on, as soldiers gossiped about it, that a soldier gave Mico a rifle barrel to help him. Then somebody ran towards them and shot him,” Djonko said.

Ibro Turajlic has been charged with killing prisoner of war Mitar Zelenika in the area of Pocitelj in 1992. Zelenika had been wounded and offered medical assistance prior to his murder.

The trial will continue on May 13.