Witness Describes Bosnian Serb Attack on Village of Zecovi

Defendants Dusan Milunic, Radomir Stojnic, Radovan Cetic, Dusko Zoric, Zoran Stojnic, Zeljko Grbic, Ilija Zoric, Zoran Milunic, Bosko Grujicic, Ljubisa Cetic, Rade Grujcic, Uros Grujcic, Zdravko Antonic and Rajko Gnjatovic have been charged with committing acts of murder, torture, sexual violence, as well as destructing and confiscating property from the local residents of Zecovi, a village near Prijedor.

Milunic was the commander of the Rasavacka Company of the Sixth Battalion of the 43rd Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army. Stojnic was the commander of the reserve police station in Rasavci. Radovan Cetic was the president of the Serbian Democratic Party and crisis committee in the village of Rasavci. The other defendants were members of the Bosnian Serb military, police and other formations.

A protected witness known as Z-15 testified at today’s hearing. He described seeing the body of an acquaintance named Braco Mehanovic, who had died from torture inflicted on him during the attack in the village of Zecovi.

“I saw Braco Mehanovic stuck on a metal rod in front of Zika’s cafe. His hands were tied behind his back. His face was turned towards the street, so we were able to recognize him. His legs were crossed and tied with wire. It was a spit like the kind used for grilling lamb. The rod was stuck through his body,” Z-15 said.

Z-15 said he had seen a few soldiers in front of his house in Zecovi on the morning of the attack.

“Grom and Crnogorac, Milan Bajic’s son-in-law, were there. One of the soldiers told my father to hide his money and jewelry,” Z-15 said. He said a soldier told him that all the adult men in the village had to gather in front of Saban’s butcher shop in Carakovo.

Z-15 said he, his father and other neighbours walked towards the butcher shop. On the way they saw that the local mosque of Zecovi had been set on fire. Z-15 said he saw the bodies of three people his father knew next to a neighbour’s house.

Z-15 said he and his neighbours were then lined up and ordered to put their hands behind their necks near the village’s bridge.

“They beat Asim Hodzic there…I saw Ljubisa Cetic, whom I hadn’t known before. He kicked Zarif Bacic. Zarif fell down. He then took Refik Bacic behind the bank. A couple minutes later we heard a burst of gunfire, about ten bullets,” Z-15 said. He said Refik Bacic didn’t come to the Trnopolje detention camp with them later on.

Z-15 said that one day before the attack on Zecovi, he was sitting and drinking brandy with defendants Ilija Zoric and Zeljko Grbic. They were at his house and then went to defendant Grbic’s house.

He said on the night of July 22 or 23, 1992, defendant Radovan Grbic approached him and told him about the impending attack on the village. Z-15 said Grbic offered to have him stay at his house, but he refused.

He also told the court that in June 1992 in front of Elvedin Tatarevic’s home, he saw Ilija Zoric and Zeljko Grbic. The witness claimed he did not hear, but believes he saw that Ilija and Tatarevic had an argument, and that Ilija took his bicicle.

“Dusko Zoric came later. After that Dusko [Zoric], Ilija [Zoric] and Zeljko [Grbic] headed towards my house with me…Dusko began cursing my mother. He pulled his pistol out. He fired a bullet above my head. I asked him what was wrong with him and if he wanted to kill me,” Z-15 said.

Z-15 said defendant Ilija Zoric took a wristwatch and a ring that belonged to a neighbour named Mesud Horozovic. Responding to a question by the defense teams, he said nobody else was in the Horozovic household when the theft took place.

Z-15 said he heard defendant Zeljko Grbic set fire to buildings and killed people in the village, but he didn’t personally witness it.

The trial will continue on September 18.