Neighbourly Relations in Jaruge Soured After Arrest of Defendants, Witness Says
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Defendants Rade Vlasenko, Mitar Vlasenko and Drago Koncar, all former members of the Bosnian Serb Army, have been charged with killing eight civilians who were hiding in the ruins of a house in Kozarac. The murder was committed in June 1992 and the youngest victim was 17 years old.
Testifying in Mitar Vlasenko’s defense, a protected witness known as S4 said he was called up by the Territorial Defense a couple of days before the first attack on May 24, 1992 and the outbreak of conflict in Prijedor. He said he was asked to keep watch in the village of Jaruge.
“Sometimes we checked the pool so the water wouldn’t be poisoned…It’s above Drago Koncar’s house,” S4 said.
He said he knew Mitar Vlasenko well and didn’t remember seeing him during this time.
S4 said there was commotion in villages in the area in 1992 and that Bosniaks guarded the villages of Kozarusa and Kozarac.
“After the war there were relatively good relations but things got worse when these three men were charged,” S4 said. He said relations in the town soured because Mitar Vlasenko’s neighbors turned away from him.
During cross examination, S4 said he could see smoke coming from Bosniak houses in Kozarac and Kozarusa after May 24, 1992. He also said that the inhabitants were taken to Trnopolje for questioning.
Responding to questions from Drago Koncar’s defense attorney, S4 said Koncar sometimes guarded the pool above his house.
“Before the war he stood up for me and my family, so he acted humanely,” S4 said, adding that Koncar also helped him financially.
Drago Uzelac, the first witness to testify in Rade Vlasenko’s defense, also testified at today’s hearing. Uzelac said he was on holiday in 1992, when guards and Bosniak checkpoints in the vicinity of Jaruge starting appearing.
He said he showed a tank driver how to reach the village of Vlasenko during the summer of 1992.
“When I arrived there was more military there. I only recognized Rade Vlasenko,” Uzelac said. He said after he gave the driver directions, the military forces in the area accompanied the tank.
“I think Rade stayed,” he added.
The trial resumes on February 2.
