Witness Describes Assault on Civilians by Bosnian Serb Soldiers in Gorce

The state prosecution has charged Goran Mrdja, Milorad Mrdja, Ranko Mrdja and Mile Kokot, all former members of the Sixth Sanska Infantry Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, with participating in crimes against Bosniaks in the Sanski Most area. The alleged crimes include acts of murder, rape, assault, theft, as well as other kinds of mental and physical abuse.

State prosecution witness Semira Brakic said she heard banging on the door of her house in the village of Gorce in the municipality of Sanski Most on the night of the attack.

“My father-in-law Mehmed opened the door. They hit him right away,” Brakic said.

Brakic said her father-in-law and husband told her on the following morning that the intruders were Goran and Ranko Mrdja. She said she’d never met them before.

According to Brakic, Goran Mrdja hit her father-in-law and threatened him with a knife and pistol.

“He told us to give him money. We had around 70 Marks, because my father-in-law had sold corn. My father-in-law gave him the money,” Brakic said. She said they cursed her mother and also hit her husband.

Brakic said when the defendants left, they demanded that they be wished a good night three times.

Brakic said after they left their house, she heard gunfire in the village later that night. She said she heard someone call out for their mother, and found out later on that a neighbour named Hasib had been killed.

Brakic said she and her family left the village of Skucani Vakuf in the municipality of Sanski Most in 1993, due to war related shootings, home invasions, and murders in the village.

The trial will continue on September 21.