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Ivanovic: Strong Unpleasant Smell

Zeljko Ivanovic

24 December 2009  A former driver with the Civil Protection Unit in Zvornik, testifying for the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the trial of Zeljko Ivanovic, says he transported the bodies of killed civilians from Kravica to Glogova, where they were buried, in July 1995.

"As we were approaching the hangar in Kravica, we felt this horrible and strong unpleasant smell. Pairs of people, wearing masks, carried the bodies out and loaded them on a truck. My truck was parked at the Cooperative gate. I saw all these things as I was walking to the fountain to wash my hands..." witness Ostoja Stanojevic said.

The Prosecution's indictment alleges that, on July 13, 1995 Zeljko Ivanovic, known as Arkan, a former member of the Second Special Police Squad from Sekovici, participated in the murder of more than 1,000 men in the Agricultural Cooperative hangars in Kravica, Bratunac Municipality.

Stanojevic said he went to Srebrenica, as a member of the Civil Protection Unit, to "remove the garbage" in July 1995. On his way to the town, he was told by the Zvornik Command that he was supposed to go to Kravica, where he would get a new order.  

"A loader machine loaded the bodies onto my truck. They said that they should not load too many corpses onto one truck so nobody could see that the truck was transporting corpses. I drove the truck to Glogova, where a grave had already been dug. Some bodies had already been put in it, but I cannot say how many, as I could not watch that..." the witness said.

Stanojevic told the Court that he went back to Kravica one more time, loaded his truck and drove it back to Glogova.

During cross-examination the witness said he did not know the indictee, adding that he never saw him in Kravica.

The second Prosecution witness, Mirko Sceric, said he guarded the road, as a member of the First Unit with the Second Special Police Squad from Sekovici, between Bratunac and Konjevic polje in July 1995. He said he did not see any captured civilians that day. He said he did not even know that anything was happening in the hangar in Kravica.

"I stayed by the road for half of that day. I did not see anything unusual during that time. To me, the most important thing was to make sure the traffic was not interrupted. I heard about the murders committed in Kravica later," Sceric explained.

When asked by the Defence if he knew indictee Ivanovic, Sceric said he did not remember him at all, adding that some other person named Zeljko Ivanovic had joined the Second Squad with the Zvornik Brigade in 1996.

The next hearing is due to take place in January 2010, when two more Prosecution witnesses will be examined.