Former Comrades Claim Igor Milosevic in Serbia During Alleged Crimes, Not Seen Until After War

The district court of Eastern Sarajevo has charged Milosevic, a former member of the Bosnian Serb Army, with killing a civilian who’d been brought to the frontline on Mount Treskavica in the municipality of Trnovo to perform forced labour on February 8, 1995.

Strajko Dzilit, a former member of the Trnovska Company, was the first witness to testify at today’s hearing. Dzilit confirmed that the defendant was a member of the Trnovska Company, but said he left his post and went to Serbia during the war.

“I no longer saw him as of mid-1994,” Dzilit said. He said he saw the defendant again after the war, in 1996 or 1997.

Responding to questions by prosecutor Tarik Crnkic, Dzilit named three people who told him Milosevic had gone to Serbia in 1994.

Miso Vlaski, also a former member of the Trnovska unit, was the second witness to testify at today’s hearing.

“I’ve known him since childhood. He used to live with his mother…He appeared in the summer of 1994, stayed with us for two months and disappeared again. He went to Serbia. There was no other place he could go,” Vlaski said. He said he saw Milosevic again in 1996 or 1997.

Responding to questions from prosecutor Tarik Crnkic, Vlaski said other soldiers told him Milosevic was in Serbia. Crnkic then asked Vlaski if military procedures related to deserters were tightened in 1995.

“People somehow found a way to do it. People who wanted to leave could do it easily in 1992 and 1995,” Vlaski said.

The trial will continue on February 3.