Koricanske stijene: Escorted by Neighbours
02 September 2010
Protected Prosecution witness K8 testified at the trial for crimes committed at Koricanske stijene and said his neighbours Zoran Babic and Dado Mrdja escorted the convoy of civilians on August 21, 1992.
Testifying from another room, protected witness K8 recalled the convoy of civilians with which he and his family left Prijedor in August 1992. Prior to their departure from Prijedor, he saw a few people whom he knew at the stadium in Tukovi.
“There were more than a thousand people at the stadium. I was there with my family, waiting for the buses to arrive. At that moment, I saw my neighbours Zoran Babic and Dado Mrdja, whom I had known my whole life, among the members of the Interventions Unit which guarded the convoy of people,” K8 said.
Protected witness K8 testified at the trial of Sasa Zecevic, Radoslav Knezevic, Petar Civcic, Branko Topola and Marinko Ljepoja, who are charged with participation in the murder of about 200 men committed at Koricanske stijene on August 21, 1992.
The indictment alleges that Zecevic, Knezevic, Civcic and Ljepoja were members of the Interventions Squad with the Public Safety Station in Prijedor and Topola was a guard in Trnopolje detention camp at that time.
The trial of Zoran Babic, Milorad Radakovic, Milorad Skrbic, Dusan Jankovic and Zeljko Stojnic, former members of the Public Safety Station in Prijedor, who are also charged with participation in this crime, is underway before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, pronounced a second instance verdict in 2004 sentencing Darko (Dado) Mrdja to 17 years in prison for participation in the crime.
As stated by witness K8, after the trucks and buses had arrived at the stadium in Tukovi, the convoy departed towards Travnik, but it stopped several times.
“We were robbed every time the convoy stopped. They took away our money, watches and other valuables they found. Before they started collecting those things, they would say they would kill one passenger if we did not give them the money,” the witness said.
During the course of cross-examination witness K8 said that Branko Topola was the only indictee he knew, adding that he did not see him in Tukovi or with the convoy heading towards Vlasic on August 21, 1992.
The trial is due to continue on September 21, 2010.
D.E.
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