Witness Recalls Abduction from Family Home at Fundup Trial

Radoman Fundup, a former member of the Focanska Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, has been charged with the murder and abuse of civilians in the Foca area.

The indictment alleges that he participated in the murder of two children and five persons and the wounding of one woman in Cohodar Mahala, in collaboration with two other persons.

Fundup has also been charged with the abuse of three civilians, including two children. According to the indictment, he also intimidated and threatened civilians in the village of Gornje Polje. He ordered civilians in Gornje Polje to form a line, and accompanied by another person, cocked his rifle in order to simulate their execution.

State prosecution witness Selvedin Bico testified at today’s hearing. He said two men abducted him, his brother and Ferid Hodzic in May or June 1992. He said they were taken to the Drina River and told to head down to the water.

“There were two men. Radoman Fundup and a man I didn’t know. Radoman checked his rifle and I recall hearing Ferid and my brother crying,” Bico said. He said he learned Fundup’s name from Raza Hodzic.

Bico, who was 16 at the time, said one of the men had something wrapped around his head and the other had a darker complexion.

Asked if he believed that the man with something wrapped around his head was Fundup, Bico said he did, “because he was in charge and older.”

The second witness, Edin Bico, said two armed men, one of whom had a bandana wrapped around his head, abducted his brother, mother and Ferid Hodzic from his home and took them to the Drina River. Bico said the man with the bandana told him, his brother and Hodzic to go down to the water.

He said he remembered that the man with the bandana checked his rifle, and heard a voice saying, “Radoman, what are you doing? Leave those children alone.”

Bico said Fundup then lowered his rifle and released them.

Sadika Bico, Edin and Selvedin’s mother, also testified at this hearing. She said two men abducted her and the others from her home and took them to the Drina River. She said one of the men had something wrapped around his head, and that her neighbor Anica Mitric told her that man was Radoman Fundup.

The trial continues on September 4.