1 September 2009
News
Tomic and Josic: Bodies Cut to Pieces by Bullets
BIRN BiHThe first Prosecution witness at the trial for crimes committed in Kozluk says she was told that the two men who are charged before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina were responsible for the death of her husband.
Nizama Nuhanovic, who appeared as the first Prosecution witness at the trial for crimes committed in Kozluk, in Zvornik Municipality, said that people "told her" that her husband was killed by Ljubo Tomic and Krsto or Kosta, but she was not sure what his full name was, in a forest.
The witness claims to have heard this from Nurija Nuhanovic, who was there with her husband, but he survived the shooting in the woods.
"I heard that my husband's body was cut to pieces by bullets. We found his body in the woods in 2003 or 2004. I do not know whether he was transferred from the place where he had been killed," Nuhanovic said.
The indictment alleges that on June 26, 1992 Tomic and Josic "shot at three Bosniak civilians, using firearms, and deprived them of their lives". The two indictees are former members of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS.
The witness said that on June 1, 1992 her husband stayed home while she took her two minor children and joined other neighbours who went to Klis village, because they had been informed that "the Serb Army wanted them to come there".
"My husband stayed home, just like a few other neighbours. They said they would hide in the woods. They were scared, because there had already been some shooting before," the witness said.
The witness told the Court that when they arrived in Klis village "men and children who were less than 13 years old were separated from women and the others". She heard shooting, but she claims she did not see anything else. She was loaded into a truck, covered by an awning, which drove her, her children and the others from Klis to Dubrave village.
"After having arrived in Dubrave, I contacted my husband. This was the last time I spoke to him. He said he was staying at a cousin's in Kozluk," the witness recalled.
During cross-examination the witness said she did not know why she had not mentioned the indictees' names in the statement she gave to the Cantonal Prosecution in Tuzla during the investigation.
The trial is due to continue on September 24.
The witness claims to have heard this from Nurija Nuhanovic, who was there with her husband, but he survived the shooting in the woods.
"I heard that my husband's body was cut to pieces by bullets. We found his body in the woods in 2003 or 2004. I do not know whether he was transferred from the place where he had been killed," Nuhanovic said.
The indictment alleges that on June 26, 1992 Tomic and Josic "shot at three Bosniak civilians, using firearms, and deprived them of their lives". The two indictees are former members of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS.
The witness said that on June 1, 1992 her husband stayed home while she took her two minor children and joined other neighbours who went to Klis village, because they had been informed that "the Serb Army wanted them to come there".
"My husband stayed home, just like a few other neighbours. They said they would hide in the woods. They were scared, because there had already been some shooting before," the witness said.
The witness told the Court that when they arrived in Klis village "men and children who were less than 13 years old were separated from women and the others". She heard shooting, but she claims she did not see anything else. She was loaded into a truck, covered by an awning, which drove her, her children and the others from Klis to Dubrave village.
"After having arrived in Dubrave, I contacted my husband. This was the last time I spoke to him. He said he was staying at a cousin's in Kozluk," the witness recalled.
During cross-examination the witness said she did not know why she had not mentioned the indictees' names in the statement she gave to the Cantonal Prosecution in Tuzla during the investigation.
The trial is due to continue on September 24.
In this article