Witness Describes Arrest and Death of Son in Capljina Area

Ivica Cutura, Nikola Zovko, Petar Krndelj and Kreso Rajic have been charged with committing crimes against civilians in the municipality of Capljina in 1993.According to the charges, Zovko was the commander of the police station in Capljina, Krndelj was the assistant commander, Rajic was the commander of the military police squad, and Cutura was an police officer.

They have been charged with participating in acts of murder, the inhumane treatment of Bosniak civilians, including their torture and physical abuse, from July 19 to 28, 1993.

Witness Vejsil Veledar said he used to live in the village of Celjevo with his family. On July 1, 1993, he said members of the Croatian Defense Council took him and his family to Dretelj. He said a month after his arrival a woman named Mila told him that his son Amel had been killed. He heard the details after returning home in late December 1993.

“Until that moment I had only known that Amel wanted to go to Zagreb. I objected to it, because I worried about his safety,” Veledar said.

He said his son’s body has never been found, but only partial remains which are assumed to belong to him.

“I don’t need each and every bone. I only need what’s been found. God will take care of the rest,” Veledar said.

Prosecution witness Munevera Veledar was the second witness to testify at today’s hearing. Veledar said she used to live in Metkovici with her family, but because they felt unsafe, they decided to go to Austria via Zagreb. Her husband Nerman Nerma Veledar, brother Edin Veledar, Alaudin Veledar and Amel Veledar left on July 17, 1993, while the witness and her children departed later on.

Veledar said Ivo Ivankovic, her husband’s friend, informed her that her husband had been killed at Celjevska Ada. She said she heard they caught Amel Veledar at Celjevska Ada and tortured him so he would reveal the whereabouts of the three other men, with whom he was trying to leave the country.

Munevera Veledar said the only survivor, Alaudin Veledar, told her Amel revealed their whereabouts to his captors. She said Alaudin told her they ordered her husband to approach, killing him and Edin Veledar.

“I heard they called him via a megaphone in the morning on July 28, 1993 and told him, ‘Nerma, come out. We won’t harm you,’” Veledar said.

During cross-examination, Veledar said her husband was a member of the crisis committee for 12 months. She said he stopped his military engagement after having been wounded in 1992, but remained registered as a soldier after his death.

Responding to a question by Irena Pehar, Zovko’s defense attorney, Veledar said she knew the defendant but hadn’t heard of him committing any wrongdoing.

The trial will continue on February 3.