STATEMENTS OF WITNESSES (Continued...)
STATEMENT. GIVEN BY RADE STJEPANOVIC ON THE ATTACK ON THE VILLAGE
OF JEZESTICA ON AUGUST 8, 1992
Jezestica is one of the largest Serb villages in the commune of
Bratunac; along its entire length from the east to the southwest
it borders on the Moslem villages of the commune of Srebrenica and
with Mt. Buljim, and in the plains with the asphalt road
Bratunac-Kravica.
Due to such a position, Jezestica is an important strategic place
which was attacked also in WW II. Then too, fifty years ago, the
Turks, those loyal neighbours, burned the village to the ground
and in one single day killed and massacred 182 innocent people,
mostly children. It is positively known that the main leader and
butcher was Bekto Kamenica.
And now again, on August 8, fifty years later, but now Bekto's
sons and grandsons, Munib, Ramiz and Dzemal, and their relatives
Enver and Hamdija Alispahic, Mustafa and Juso Djukic and their
sons and other Ustashi butchers committed an unheard-of crime.
They killed Savka Mladjenovic and her two sons Dragan, born in
1962 and Andjelko born in 1966, on their doorstep, and while
Andjelko was lying wounded the Turks cut off his head, just
because he was a Serb and had a nice black beard. His mother and
brother helplessly looked on, themselves severely wounded by
Turkish knives. The other innocent victims are Vojin Bogicevic,
who courageously and resolutely fought on despite profuse bleeding
and who succumbed to the wounds in spite of timely aid, Milosav
and Savka Stjepanovic, Milan and Sreten Rankovic; Drago Djuric got
minor wounds and two, seriously wounded combatants Srbo Djuric and
Radomir Djokic, are in hospital in Belgrade.
In addition to such a horrendous crime the Turks set fire to 54
houses and all the auxiliary buildings, took away large quantities
of food, some 15 cows, several horses and several flocks of sheep.
The attack on the village of Jezestica started at 12 noon by a
lightning-quick and minutely planned action of the Ustashi, who
from the nearby hill dividing the village into two parts, showered
us with shells and fire from machine guns. They covered their men
entering the village well by shooting on our positions. The
fighting was fierce, chest to chest. They were many in numbers and
advanced as madmen and wild beasts, disregarding their losses and
only pursuing their aim to destroy the village and loot it. When
we saw that an encirclement of a large number of Ustashi was
tightening around us we had to retreat to another hill behind us
where we waited for help which, regrettably, came only after
ninety minutes. Only then we launched a major charge and quickly
pushed the Ustashi back, and they ran away leaving both their loot
and victims behind. Only then could we get to our wounded and
dead. Then we found the horrendous picture of the two dead
brothers Dragan and Andjelko and their mother Savka Andjelkovic.
The Ustashi had cut Andjelko's head off only because he had a
beard. Then we found the dead bodies of Milosav and [woman] Savka
Stjepanovic, Vojin Bogicevic, Milan and Sreten Rankovic, and Srbo
Djuric and Radomir Djokic who were severely wounded and Drago
Djuric who had minor wounds.
Bratunac, August 30,1992
([Witness] Rade Stjepanovic)
S T A T E M E N T
by Rajko Jovanovic from Jezestica on the attack on his
village by Moslem armed forces on August 8, 1992
My name is Rajko Jovanovic, my father' s name is Milovan and
I was born in 1932 in the purely Serb village of Jezestica
I lived from birth up to August 8, 1992 when the vilage was
burnt down by Ustashi units. Until that day or rather until
about April of that year, all the villagers had quite good
relations with the population of the neighbouring villages
of Srebrenica commune,
i.e. the villages of Jaglici, Brezova Njiva, Susnjari and
Babuljice. JeZestica belongs to Bratunac commune. Until April we
were good neighbours as we had managed to rebuild our mutual
relations after World War II when my village had also been burnt
down by the Ustashis from the neighbouring Moslem villages I have
already mentioned.
In the last war, the worst criminals, the
killers and arsonists were members of the Kamenica family led by
Bekto Kamenica and members of the Alispahic family. A
particularly interesting case is that of the Zukic family because
in the last war Muharem Zukic was one of the commanders in
Jezestica who fled to Bijeljina and changed his name to Nukic.
After some time he returned to the village of Brezova Njiva and
became Zukic again. Howevet, on August 8, 1992 it was as if
history has repeating itself because the members of the same
families again led the bloodthirsty Ustashi unit of some 200 men
who attacked Jezestica around noon. There were about 150
civilians in the village at the time and about a dozen men under
arms to defend the village. The Ustashis launched their attack from
behind, that is from the direction of Kravica going downstream
where we had not expected them and they started their fierce
attack by throwing a hand grenade at the house of Dragan
Mladjenovic wounding him and killing his brother Andjelko. They
also wounded their mother Savka Mladjenovic. The group
responsible for this attack included the nephews of Bekto
Kamenica, Munib, Ramiz and Dzemail, the sons of Idriz Kamenica
from Jaglici. Then there was his son Avdo and the sons of Omer
Alispahic from Jaglib as well as the twins of Hamdija Alispahic
also from Jaglic, I saw them and I know them well, only I am not
sure of their names but I know whose children they are.
All of
them together tortured Dragan Mladjenovic hitting him with the
handle of an ax, finally breaking his skull until he passed away,
they fired another shot at [woman] Savka and they cut off Andjelko's
head and took it with them screaming and yelling in perverse
satisfaction. I watched all this from my hiding place in the
woods about 40 meters away so that I saw it all, I also recognized
their voices when they called us by name to come out of hiding so
they could kill us all.
I know that another four people from
Jezestica were killed that same day, i.e. Srecko and Milan
Rankovis, Milosav and Savka Stjepanovis, Vojin Bogicivic and some
were wounded like Srbo Djuric who passed away on the way to the
hospital. After that first attack and massacre the plunder
started, first of food and everything else of value, the livestock
and then they set fire to everything around them, I think some 55
houses in all. This went on until help came after an hour or two
when they withdrew and we had to go to Bratunac to look for
shelter as our houses had been burnt down, our property
plundered so that we were left with nothing. I am still a
refugee.
I am making this statement of my own free will as testimony
of the crimes committed against the inhabitants of Jezestica and
I am prepared to repeat this before any body or organization in
this country or abroad.
Bratunac, August 16, 1992
Signed: Rajko Jovanovic
S T A T E M E N T
by "Drago" Zikic from Fakovici
On October 5, 1992 I was in the vicinity of army positions
with my wife and her sister. Somewhere around 12 o'clock an
attack started from all sides. We ran through the corn fields
until we reached an old house near the road leading to
Skelani. Nearby, was the guardpost where I used to keep watch but
they had all been killed.
I tried to pluck up courage and dash for the house but fire
was heavy around us and I couldn't so I went on down the road
under cover of the corn to another house. We waited there for
15-20 minutes to collect our strength and take a rest. There was
shelling from all sides. They were all over the surrounding
slopes some seven to eight kilometers away. The village of
Fakovici lies in a depression surrounded by hills on all sides
with the Drina river flowing below.
We waited for about half an hour and then I told the women,
my wife and my sister-in-law, that we should crawl about ten
meters to the river bank. My sister-in-law went first, them my
wife then myself. I told them to go dawnstrew to the boat and to
hide there as there was no other way out, and I decided to stay
and see what would happen. As they went down, the fire subsided.
When the shooting stopped I crept behind the arms depot and I
got to about 30 meters away from them. They were trying to break
into the warehouse which had an iron gate. When the gate began
to give way I ran for the detonator because I knew that the
warehouse was mined. I wanted all of them to get in before
blowing it up. However, when I got to about 10 meters from the
detonator, about one hundred of them sprang out of hiding where
they were guarding the warehouse. They grabbed me, beat me and
dragged me to my house which was on fire. They knew who I was
and they said: "...now watch us manager, burn down your house."
They tied my hands with rope behind my back and ordered me to
guide them along Mlecvanska river. I had no choice. They were
afraid that the fields might be mined. I went forward but they
did not trust me. They thought I might be ready to kill myself
and take them with me. Behind me went the Turk, or call him
what you will, an Ustashi, Zulfo by name. I don't known where he
came from, he was a tall, older man, dark, with a moustache and a
rather long nose, I heard them call him by his surname
Tursunovic. He rode a white horse. They asked me: "Do you know
who this is?". I said I didn't. " Yes you do, you Chetnik
mother f... I, they said. They beat me from behind, they tightened
the rope round my hands, they beat me with whatever was handy.
Some with a rifle butt, others with a boot. The older man said:
"Don't beatthe old man, catch someone younger."
We crossed some 7-8 kilometers. When we came across a
village they told children to throw stones at me. We came across
people everywhere who knew me. They asked one of them Do you
know this man?". "Of course I do, it's our postman Drago". "What
kind of a man is he?" "He's as good as gold". Hearing that, one
of them slapped him so hard that he fell. I can't remember
everything. I know we went on and at some point came across a
woman. They asked her too whether she knew me. "It's our Drago,
the postman", she said, of course I know him' "What's he like?"
"When I go to the post office he takes care of everything." "Let
him f.... your Surfa or Zurfa," something like that he said. And so
we went on until we reached a tap. They asked me if I was thirsty
and one of them held me, because my hands were tied, wanting to
let me drink but another one said: "I won't drink from the same
bottle as a Serb", but they let me drink all the same. Then we
went up a hill and I saw a dozen tractors there. They were big
tractors all of them facing Fakovici.
They put me in a truck and I was brought to Srebrenica.
Which building - I don't know. They shut me up with four other
people. It was dark and no-one beat me that night. The next day
I made a statement in the presence of Mirzat, the manager. He
told me it was best for me to tell them everything. "We know
everything anyway so you might as well admit.". He tortured and
beat me. They took me back to the cell and the others asked
whether they had beat me and I said yes. The next day I was
interrogated by' another man - a civilian working for the
army. Whatever I said he said I was lying. He insisted I admit I
had been using an "84". Then they would start beating ua one by
one. There were 7 or 8 of them. One of them would hit you hard
but before you fell another would hit you on the other side. That
man Mirzet, he was so strong that he must have been a karate
wrestler. He ordered me to raise my arms and then he would kick
me in the ribs. I fared no worse than the others, some of them
passed out from pain. The worst part was in the evening when
they returned from the field. They would come drunk, take the
keys from the guards, come in and start hitting at us. I talked
to one of the guards whom I knew, he was from Bratunac, and I
said that I could understand them interrogating us because they
were following orders from their command, but to beat us like
that wasn't normal. He said he didn't know what was happening and
that he would see. There was a man called Beli, he would come in
with a pole in his hand and hit me on the head. Once he grabbed
me by the hair and hit me from close up. There was nothing we
could do but shut up. Every day when he entered the corridor he
would tell his men and particularly two of them from
Podravanja, "..beat the wits out of the old Chetnik". It wasn't
easy for them, I begged them to beat me because otherwise they.
would get beaten themselves.
That last evening they took the young man from Smederevo out
twice, and they took me out four times so that I fainted in my
room. They came asking whether I was still alive. I don't know
how many times they hit me on the head, but you know the old
saying about the cat with nine lives. Since then however, I
think it is even more difficult to kill a human being. During
the time I spent there I think a received more blows in the jaw
than an average boxer. I would fall but I would get up again.
Three days before the exchange, to our misfortune, a grenade fell
right in front of the prison and injured one of the guards. We
heard them cry out "Sasa". After that they barged in furious,
trampling, and kicking us. The night before our release they
called in the boy from Smederevo. I think they beat him for more
than an hour. When they brought him back they yelled "Next!". I
stood up and said it was my turn. But the guard pulled out his
keys and said: "I know you, you are the manager and you will not
get out of here for as long as I am here. You don't know me, nor
will you ever find out, and it doesn't matter anyway." Be locked
the door and left. All this happened because about twenty of
their men had been killed, Akif among them.
This Akif had talked to me saying that we had something in
common, that, the Serbs and Moslems were of the same blood' but
that he had been the one to set my house on fire. "I saw that
your people had not burnt their neighbours' homes and your
neighbours would not have done that to you either so I did it
because I am not a local, I was sorry but those were my orders."
In the morning, around 9 or 10 o'clock they barged in and
seeing that we had blood all over they ordered us to wash and get
ourselves cleaned up because otherwise our people would not agree
to the exchange. When we were ready a truck came for us. Then
somebody walked up to the truck and said "The postman will get
off." When I climbed down they took me to an office and
interrogated me all over again. They asked me whether I knew so
and so and I said "Yes" because I knew they had a list. This went
on for about fifteen minutes and then they said I was free. Then
somebody called the young man from Smederevo. They kept him for
about five minutes, when he got back on the truck they called him
down again and this time they kept him for about one minute. He
was covered in blood. His tongue was hanging out. They threw
him onto the truck. One of them kicked me and said: "Can't you
see that one of our men is dying so we won't be able to carry out
the exchange. "We thought he was already dead. As we passed
peasants along the road yelled at us : "I The Turks f...d your
women who gave birth to you and that is why you are so bad
because you are half-breeds. You don't belong anywhere."
The road was blocked. The truck went through the fields. We
reached the place where we were to be exchanged. I never
expected to live to see the day.
In one of our conversations Akif told me that he had been in
command for the attacks on Poravanje and Fakovici.
[Woman] STOJA PETROVIC, father's name, Stanomir
born in Loznifka Rijeka-Bratunac
on June 3, 1948
S T A T E M E N T
on the Moslem attack on Loznicka Rijeka and Bjelovac
on December 4, 1992
I come from Loznicka Rijeka, Bratunac commune, where I lived
all my life up to December 14, 1992 when the village was attacked
and burnt down by the Moslem Ustashi army.
In the surroundings of Loznicka Rijeka are many villages
with mixed populations as well as mostly Moslem villages but I
knew all the adults in those villages, be they Moslem or Serb
because we had quite good neighbourly relations before the war
and we used to exchange visits. When the hostilities broke
out, our village became the frequent target of attack by the
Ustashis but our villagers, defending the village, managed to
repulse those attacks. However, on December 14 a very strong
Ustashi force attacked the village creeping up under cover of
the night and surrounding us from all sides and then about 6.30
in the morning the shooting started. I woke up my husband who
was one of the village defenders, who grabbed his gun and started
shooting back from the house. I crept outside and saw that large
numbers of Ustashis were approaching from the Drina river , I ran
for cover into the house of Mika DamjanoviC and climbed into his
loft from where I watched. An hour or two later, in the
daylight I recognized that the attackers were mostly our
neighbours from the surrounding villages, among them Rifeta
Daubasic, born in Brezovice who later settled in Bjelovac, Hasan
Daubasic, Rifeta's son also from Bjelovac, Alija Ibric, known as
"Kurta" from Piric, brothers Mirsad and Medo Malagic, the sons of
Muja Malagic from Loznicka Rijeka and their uncle Hajrudin
Malagic, Hajrudin Begzadic, Hakija's son from Piric, the brothers
Muriz and Resid Sinanovic, the sons of Rahman , Sead Sinanovic,
son of Safet, Nedsad Sinanovic, the son of Safet and Dzevad
Sinanovic, the son of Safet, all from Bjelovac or Sikiric, the
sons of Edhem Hasanovic from Piric, Bahrudin known as "Bjelac".
Saban and another two brothers nicknamed "Kokan" and "Kiko". In
addition to these people there were some women, Moslem women who
also fired at us among whom I recognized two, Esma Kiveric, a
teacher from Bjelovac and Senada Sinanovic, the wife of Resid
Sinanovic who machinegunned the people side by side with her
husband, and there was a third young woman. I heard later that
she was the daughter of a certain Ibrahim from Podloznik and that
she got killed.
The orders were given by Bajro, known as "Mis" from
Voljevica, I don't know his surname. The attack lasted until 6
in the afternoon and many of the village defenders were killed, a
large number wounded, several women and children killed, among
them sisters Snezana and Gordana Matic, my son Mirko, two women,
Zlata Jovanovic and Radenka Jovanovic, Slobodan Petrovic, Milenko '.
Vucetic, Slobodan Nedeljkovic, Slavomir Damjanovic and many
others. When at dusk those of us who had survived had fled, the
Ustashis set fire to the village after stealing all they could.
Particularly prominent during the attack was Hajrudin
Hasanovic, nicknamed "Bjelac" from Piric who was the unit
ccmander and who yelled threats that he would catch us all and
slit our throats, calling us Chetniks.
There is nothing else that I can say except that about 80
villagers in all, mostly old people, women and children and
several village defenders had been killed during the attack on
Loznicka Rijeka.
I am making this statement of my 3wn free will, it is the
truth and I am ready to repeat it under oath before any body of
court of law in our country or in the world because I want the
truth to be known about the misdeeds of the Ustashis against the
Serb people.
Signed [Witness] Stoja Petrovic
SLAVOLJUB RANKIC, son of Nedeljko,
born 1951, village of Bjelovac,
Bratunac commune
S T A T E M E N T
On December 14, 1992 I was in my hause in the village of
Bjelovac. It must have been about 6.a.m. when the sound of
shooting woke me up. I jumped up and I was ready in no time as I
slept half dressed fearing that the enemy, that is the Moslems,
might catch us in our sleep and kill us as they had done in a
number of nearby villages of Bratunac commune. When I got out of
the house I thought that my village was being attacked from the
direction of the Moslem village of Pirici. In fact the attack
was coming from both Pirici and the left bank of the Drina river
which flows nearby. As far as I could see, and I could see quite
well because they were near, the Moslem formations were showering
my village with fire from infantry weapons killing two people on
the spot who were confused not knowing where the fire was coming
from, that is God' s truth. My next door neighbours they were,
Stevo Filipovic and Bozo Todorovic, who were killed on their
doorstep. Steva' s wife Darinka ran up to him and was hit in the
leg and she was the one who told us that the Moslems were
shooting from the river bank, a spot known as the gravel mine.
We heard the Moslems call out "Darinka, come over here we have
your husband with us". They wanted to trick her and catch her
alive. But Darinka ran for my house crying out that Moslems were
attacking the village from the Drina [river].
I headed in the direction
of the fire to help the wounded and drag them out of range. I
gave them first aid and then went for help to get them to
hospital.
In the meantime, more and more Moslems were
approaching our village, they were wearing camouflage uniforms
and some were in plain clothes. They had large back-packs,
black caps with orange head bands. I did not recognize any of
the attackers. We tried to organize ourselves in defence. We
were outnumbered by far. They charged into one house after
another setting them on fire. The first to start burning was the
house of Stevo Filipovic whom they had already killed as I said.
Then they set fire to Dragoljub Filipovic' s house and they
destroyed 'his entire family except one of his sons who had run
off to the village to look for help and to try and save his wife
and two children. This Slavoljub Filipovic had a wife and two
children, a boy of 7 months and a girl of 3. His father's name
was Dragoljub and his mother's Dostana. His father Dragoljub
and his brother Dragan were killed but his wife Mira, his two
children and his mother Dostana are missing. Their bodies have
not been found to this day. Some people say they drowned in the
Drina [river] or perhaps they were captured by the Moslems and kept as
hostages.
On this same occasion Radovan Vucetic and his sons
Milenko and Brano were also killed. Brano was 10 years old and
his body has still not been found. The Moslems also broke into
the house of Radivoje Matic killing him and his two daughters
Snezana and Gordana, who were in the house at the time. They cut
off Gordana' s breasts. They simply massacred them and I think
that the TV shot this.
The Moslems also threw a bomb into
Radivoje's house. Bogdana IliC was inside, she was wounded but
she survived.
After burning several houses, the Moslems spent
some time in the house of our neighbour Milos and from there they
went off into the night. It all stopped then and we collected
our dead and wounded under cover of the night.
Signed: Slavoljub Rankic
[Woman] MIRA FILIPOVIC, born May 1, 1968,
village of Bjelovac, Bratunac commune.
0ccupation: formerly cook in Sase mine in
Srebrenica. Nationality: Serb
S T A T E M E N T
I have decided to put on paper how I was captured in my
village of Bjelovac, Bratunac commune. I lived in that village
until December 14, 1992 when I was captured by my Moslem
neighbours, one might say. For previously, both my family and
myself got on well with the Moslems until the first half of 1992
when they started attacking our, i.e. Serb villages, killing
civilians, plundering and burning our houses.
On December 14, 1992 early in the morning, (about 6.a.m.) I
was in my house with my mother-in-law Dostana, an old woman, my
two children, Oliver aged 4 and a baby boy of 5 months called
Nemanja. My husband Slavoljub was with us. We suddenly heard
the sound of shooting coming from the direction of the Drina
river (our house was located between the river and the road). I
knew immediately that our village had come under Moslem attack. I
jumped up. called my husband and the others. My husband rushed
out and I hid in the attic and saw about 20 armed and unarmed
Moslems entering our yard on the river side. Just before they
appeared and immediately after the shooting started, a young boy
of 10 called Brano Vuretic, the son of Radovan our neighbour ran
into the house so he was with us when all this happened. Seeing
the Moslems entering our yard and shooting, we locked ourselves
up in the attic. I heard them squabbling outside the locked door
"..you go in, I darn' t , you go, there's no-one there.... "I
defused a bomb and threw it out of the window to save my family
(my young children and mother-in-law) but the bomb got caught in
the balcony fence and injured me slightly. I later heard that
the bomb had also injured a Moslem called Mithat Otanovic known
as "Mijac" from Srebrenica but at the time they were not aware
that it was my bomb that had hit him.
The Moslems broke down our door, barged in and up the steps
yelling that I should give myself up. They also broke down the
door of the attic and pointed a gun with a bayonet at us. I
recognized Mirza Hasanovic from Sase because he had worked in the
same mine as I. He recognized me too and said "Miro why didn't
you say it was you." I also recognized Haris Uhmetovic, known as
"Hari", a former soccer player of the Suber team in Srebrenica,
then there was Senahid known as "Pobrin" from.Biljace, Bratunac
commune. He was the one who guarded us all day in my house. At
one point one of their fighters, a young man from Suceska,
Srebrenica commune, walked in grinding his teeth and demanding to
kill us all, but Pobrin prevented him.
Later on I heard from the
Moslems that the whole operation in Bjelovac was led by Bajro
known as "Mis" from Voljavica, Bratunac commune. I heard that he
had also participated in the attack on the lake at Skelani. I
learnt all this in captivity. He was wounded there. So he was
in charge of the operation on the lake one day and then Naser
took over. Mis was their deputy commander of the batallion. I
heard this while I was held captive in Srebrenica.
Most of the
attackers on Bjelovac came from the villages of Voljavice,
Zaluzje, Biljace, I know most of them by sight but; lot by
name. Also in the group was Mido and his younger brother, their
father' s name is Edo. Edo was a porter in the Sase mine.
At 2 p.m. they took us to a holiday [vacation] home of a man from Sarajevo in
BjelOvac not far from my house and at 5 p.m. we were taken to the
Moslem village of Podloznik where they held us in a private house
for 5 days. Before they took us to Podloznik I saw that they had
started to plunder our homes taking shoes, food and other things.
In Podloznik they held us in the house of Ramit, the mine layer
who had also worked in the Sase mine.
Then Mis and Hazim from
Voljavice drove us to Srebrenica in a Mercedes. They shut up my
mother-in-law in Srebrenica, a building near the town hall even
though she is an old woman and has nothing to do with the war.
They took me, my children and little Brana to the village of
Solocusa, Srebrenica commune after which I was interrogated.
While I was in Podloznik I recognized Zulfo Tursum and Kemo
Mehmedovic from Pala, Srebrenica. Kemal wore a dagger tied to
his knee. They offered their services to their army in Bjelovac.
The commander of the attack on Bjelovac was Mis and Hazim from
Voljavice. Before the attack they came to the village as an
advance party, at least that is what I heard in detention where
we were held for two months.
During my stay in Solocusa, Srebrenica commune, I saw that
all the Serb houses had been plundered, the window panes, doors
and windows, the tiles everything had been stolen, there was
nothing left inside either for a normal life.
They released us 6-7 days ago.
Bratunac, February 18, 1992 [Typo. Should be: 1993]
Signed: Mira Filipovic
Milosava Nikolic, wife of Milorad
from the village of Opravdici,
commune of Bratunac,
Serb by nationality
S T A T E M E N T
After the Moslems attacked Kravica on [Serbian Christmas]
January 7, 1992 I fled to
Zelinje. I returned to my village on January 8, 1993, before my
patron saint day, St. Steven's day, to celebrate it. I arrived at
the village about 8:00 a.m. and everything was all right. I lit a
fire, made coffee and drank a glass of brandy, then I started
baking bread for the celebration. Then I went to the stable to
tend to the cattle. I met Milivoje and Iva Milanovic and gave them
their key, to try to open their house with it.
My husband Milorad
was about 50 m. from me when the shooting started. He then
disappeared and I could not see him and I returned to the stable
of Golub Jankovic. Already then I did not know what had become of
my husband.
I returned to the village and heard the shouting of
Moslems, shouting hurrah, let the Serbs have it! I hid in a ditch
and saw someone going towards Jovika's house and stable and
letting the sheep out. Another one was standing, all of them were
armed.
I started walking and saw the house of Bole Nikolic ablaze.
They saw me and came after me. One caught up with me and asked me
if I knew him. I knew him from sight but I did not know his name
and surname.
They had already set fire to my house and they made
me go into the [burning] house and bring out cigarettes. The one who had
recognized me asked me where the ciqarettes were and told me to
hand them over, and that they were taking me to their commander.
They brought me to the commander whom I recognized from
Glogova, whose family lives in Avdagina Njiva, who previously
smugggled cattle.
There a woman carrying a machine gun, cursing my
Chetnik mother, wanted to kill me. Cursing my Serb mother they
wafited to kill me, while [woman] Fatima Golic, Nezir and Ahmet
Gojcinovic's brother, whose name I do not know, defended me.
When I started from ny house which was smouldering, Nezir gave me his
rucksack to carry.
They burned everything before them. I did not
see the killing take place, but from them I heard that they had
killed Novak and Vito Simic, our neighbours, elderly people. Nazir
ordered what was to be burned. When we came to Kravica, I saw
Ohran's son called Huso and the son of Saban Music who worked with
my neighbour Pavle Nikolic.
In the village of Kajici, Nezir, the commander told me to come
along and see my Serbs, where I saw the dead bodies of four men
and of one woman on a a stretcher. I recognized one of them, Goran
Nikolic, son of Cvijetin.
One of the dead men was without a head.
According to Nezir, the woman had been wounded and had died.
They took me to Glogova to their headquarters located in the
house of a Serb, Nikolie, I do not know his first name. I spent
the night there. During the night three women wanted to kill me.
In the morning one Ibisevic threw a knife at me which stuck in the
door, demanding that I say that I love Alija Izetbegovic. That
Ibisevic claimed that he had killed Raso Milosevic and others in
Glogova during the summer, and claimed that worked in the store in
Glogova.
When they attacked me, I was defended by Fatima Golic,
while her brother told me "fuck your Serb mother, I would kill you
if it were not for my sister".
I was taken to Srebrenica by Fatima Golic, the
military police force. In Srebrenica they took me to the police
station (former Secretariat of the Interior) to the officers on
duty, where Dostana from Bjelovac, I do not remember her surname,
already was [a prisoner].
I was interrogated by Zulfo Tursunovie and the
commander Nurija. Later we were taken to prison in the courthouse.
They kept coming into the prison and maltreating us all the time.
They would put a gun to our foreheads, curse our Serb mothers, or
come into the prison, knives in hand, asking whose throat to slit
first. A man from Bratunac put a knife to my throat and said:
"your Gavro slit my mother's throat".
With me in prison was [a woman] Andja Mitrovic from Patkovci, Zvornik, who
told me that she had been raped in Konjevic Polje, that she was
pregnant, and that she even knew who the father was, one Husein
from Cerska where she was in prison. One Krdza, a Moslem, told me
that Drago from Srebrenica had died in prison.
Occasionally I saw my neighbour Ratko Nikolic, who had been
captured in Kravica, he was black and blue all over and would only
blankly stare in front of him.
I know that the following were with
him in prison: Mis0 Milovanovic from Sase, Branko whose surname I
do not know from Zvornik, Miso and Drago from Zvornik, or
something like that, I do not remember well, then one Neso or
Stevo, all of them mainly taken prisoner in Cerska in May last
year.
A police officer on duty , Esref Gabeljic, formerly an inspector
in the Communal Assembly, whom I knew, came one day and told me:
"You [unreadable] will not have you".
In this police station they call
each ouer by Serbian names, but we all know that they are
Moslems. They call one of them UPI and one Salko, Osman and
Hasan, a big blond man, were also there.
I am ready to repeat all this before any court.
[Witness] Milosava Nikolic
(thumbprint)
GVOZDENIJA MATIC, daughter of Vidoje, village of Sikiric
Nationality: Serb, occupation: housewife.
Bratunac commune
S T A T E M E N T
On December 14, 1992 I was in my house in Sikiric when the
shooting started at 5:55. I slept upstairs so I ran down the
steps, went into the kitchen and my husband Desimir followed
me. Desimir is a farmer and we've lived all our life in the
village. As I entered the kitchen, I turned on the light and a
bullet shot through the window from the direction of Loznicka
Rijeka and hit the stove in the kitchen. Desimir and I ran
outside.
We came under heavy fire outside and we saw a large group of
Moslems jumping over the fence of our yard. There must have been
about a hundred of them. There were some civilians and some in
camouflage uniforms carrying weapons. The group included some
women and older boys carrying sacks for the loot.
The part of
Sikiric where we lived was mostly inhabited by Serbs.
Among the
Moslems there were unarmed men with large back-packs.
I ran to
the pigsty while my husband ran to the other side of the house,
they shot him and killed him on the spot. I hid among the pigs
and when they killed my Desimir I heard them saying "Sleep, old
man, sleep".
All that time, my husband's sister called Bozana
Ostojic was in our house. She did not manage to escape because
the moment she got up to run the Moslems killed her. Actually
she was killed under the kitchen table - that is where we found
her.
While I was hiding in the pigsty, a young dark Moslem
(about 25 he must have been) came up wearing a coloured uniform,
but I could not recognize him now. Seeing me he gave me a sign
to crouch and asked me if I had any flour. I told him we had
plenty of everything in the house begging him to take everything
but not to slaughter me.
He was followed by another Moslem in
plain clothes, I recognized him as Resid from Brezovica, he was
carryinq a back-pack.
I hid and he did not see me. When the two
of them left, fearing I would be found, I climbed be on the roof
beams. Later on at least a hundred of them came looking around
in my pigsty. But I stayed where I was until about 9 p.m.
About
6 p.m. four Moslems appeared including the one who had spotted me
in the pigsty and I heard him explaining to the others how he had
found me there in the morning and that now I was gone. Another
one from the group said "I have been waiting here for 2 hours,
she could not have left unnoticed".
A little later, another 4-5
Moslems came in to slaughter some pigs, they took about 7 pigs,
killed them,cut up the meat in pieces packed it and went off
with it. I heard one of them saying to the others: "Edo or Medo,
I am not sure which, you have been near pigs and you know how to
kill them". lie answered that he had never slaughtered any pigs.
I think they were referring to Edo from Osmac, Srebrenica commune
who had settled in Sikirica few years ago.
I was still in
hiding when about 7.30 p.m. the same people who had killed the
pigs set fire to both houses and both stables taking my cow and
horse with them.
Among the Moslems who burnt down our village
and killed us Serbs I recognized Alija Ibric from Piric, he was
in plain clothes and he was not carrying a gun, also Hajrudin
Begzadic from Piric in a coloured uniform, Meho from Bajrid and
his two daughters and Esma Kiveric, a teacher from Srebrenica and
I heard her clearly say: "Go from door to door, wait for them and
kill them and when you've killed them collect the loot".
I saw Alija Ibric take a canister with brandy inside, some meat and
sitting on the porch say: "If you were alive now Desimir, we would
drink to you because your brandy is so good."
I saw Alija break into the curing shed. I also heard that
Resid Sinanovic from
Bjelovac had killed Milos Jovanovic from the small village of
Jovanovici. In the group of Moslem I recognized Jusuf's
youngest son and daughter-in-law, then I racognized Meho and
his two daughters and he is from Bajric, then Rukin's daughter
who is Jusuf's daughter-in-law. Then there was Mirsa, Edo's
brother from Osmac.
Desimir and his sister were killed by Edo
and Mirso, both from Osmac, because they were the first to jump
over our fence. About 9 o'clock in the evening a transporter of
the Serb army reached the Loznica bridge and then I heard the
Moslems saying "Let' s get out of here, they have come from
Bratunac, they could surround us and kill us".
I went to hide in a
shed when about 6 Hoslems came by carrying their loot collected
in the Serb houses, they were on the run fearing the Serb army
because they knew the Serb army had probably discovered that the
Moslems had killed so many civilians, plundered their homes and
burnt down our village.
Then I went downhill to the river in the
direction of Bjelovac. As I climbed over a wire fence I stepped
on a corpse in the dark. I learnt the next day that Grozda and
her son Zlatan had been killed there.
Zlatan was a craftsman. I
was present when they carried Boza Todorovic from Loznica and
Novak Vuksic also from Loznica out of the transporter and when
they both died there [from their wounds] while we were waiting
for the boat to carry
us across to Ljubovija in Serbia where they would get medical
care. There were a lot of wounded people waiting to be
transported to Serbia for treatment. I too crossed into Serbia
by boat.
Signed: Gvozdenija Matic, born 1938
RATKO (Rajo) NIKOLIC
Born on: July 7, 1945
Place of birth: OpravdiEi, commune of Bratunac
Profession: worker - night watchman
Nationality: Serb
S T A T E M E N T
I was born in the village of Opravdici, in the
commune of Bratunac which is a purely Serbian village in which I
lived all my life. I did not do my military service since I was
found incapable, and due to the fact that I was not a conscript I
did not take part in the war as a member of the Territorial
Defense nor was I officially issued any arms.
I was captured on January 20, 1991 in my native
village of Opravdici by the members of Muslim army, namely by a
group of about 25 soldiers in camouflage uniforms, all of them
armed with automatic rifles; I knew no one from the group. They
appeared suddenly, fired at me immediately and wounded me in the
leg, although I was in civilian clothes, unarmed and I did not
even attempt to escape.
They took me to Pervane and then put me
onto a ~truck. After that Naser arrived from Konjevic Polje
together with Zulfo Tursunovic, so I left with them and their
army for Jezestice from were I was taken on foot to a Muslim
village and then from there driven to Srebrenica.
They locked me
up in the police station prison. There I found Kostadin Popovic,
called, "Kojo" who was captured on Christmas in Kravica, Mica,
whose last name I do not know, but I did find out that he was from
Sasa and that he worked on a floatation line, as well as an old man
from Jezestica whose name or surname I did not find out, since he
was badly beaten and died that night in prison.
He was taken away the next day and buried somewhere.
The day after, I remember it
was a Wednesday, I was taken to the first floor, to the office of
a man dressed in a camouflage uniform. I saw on the table in
front of his a large bayonet, some salt on a plate and a gun. He
asked for my name and surname, which weapons I wan officially
issued, how many children I had, where they were and where were
the other members of my immediate family.
After that he asked me
whether I knew what the knife and salt were used for, and when I
answered that salt was used to flavour food and a knife for many
draw crosses on the body and salt to sprinkle on them.
He did
not ask me anything else, he did not beat me and the policeman on
duty took me back to prison.
After that the policemen who were on
duty, two or three of them would enter the prison at a time and
beat us all over, using their hands, feet and rods until we
would loose consciousness.
They would beat us up like that on a
number of ocassions in the course of both day and night, as each
shift would come to work. While beating us they would curse our
Chetnik mothers and use other obscene words.
I did not know these
policemen, not even their names, since in our presence they called
one another by Serbian names such as Bata, Zoran etc.
I was in
prison until 16 January, when Skelani was attacked. On that day
they transferred three of us to a prison which was located behind
the court in Srebrnica. Three of us were looked up in one room,
while in the room accross the hall they kept the women.
On that
same night they brought six more men from the vicinity of Skelane
whose npmes I never found out, and locked them up with us. At the
beginning of February, they brought from Pobudje, from a barn
they kept the prisoners until then, among others, Andja, I don't
know her last nime, I just know that she was from a village in the
vicinity of Zvornik and that she worked in the Vezionica plant in
Zenica, a seventeen-year old boy named Dragan who was captured in
May 1992 in Kasaba, Branko Sekulic wounded and captured at Rogac
also in May 1992, Ilija, I don't know his last name captured in
Skelane and Jakov from Popovic who was captured in Konjevic Polje
while he was returning from the army as well as a man from Zenica
whose name and surname I don't know and who was wounded and
captured in Kajici on Christman during the attack on Kravica.
We spent the entire time in that prison. During that time we were
beaten with all sorts of objects by the guards and others who the
guards let it, a number of times during the day and especially at
night.
Zulfo Tursunovic came two or three times and asked who beat
us, and we answered that we were beaten by whoever wanted to do
it, and immediately after he left we were beaten again just like
before.
Sometimes they would take out some of us, particularly
Kojo and beat him up so badly that when they brought him back
into the prison he would be in an unconscious state.
During that entire time, a doctor never came to prison to examine us,
except for one occasicm when we were taken to the hospital for
examination. Even then we were not examined by a doctor, we just
told him where we hurt and he sent us back to prison without
giving us any medication.
As a result of the daily beatings in
prison, Kostadin Popovic, Mico and a man from the vicinity of
Skelane who was about 63 years old died. When Kostadin died they
stopped beating us, while Micp died a few days after Kostadin.
They took the three of them from the prison and I heard that they
buried them in the cemetary in Srebrenica.
During the whole time we
spent in captivity we did not bathe and every 2 to 3 days we got
only a small bucket of water. We ate only once a day, and I know
that I ate beans 43 times and potatoes on two occasions; the food
was uncooked, unsalted and inadequately prepared. With the food we
got a small piece of oatcake, on 3 or 4 occasions corn bread.
We had nothing to lie on or cover ourselves with.
On February 18, 1993 a man without a left arm up to
the elbow came to prison and said that the first one to get up
would be exchanged, and as I was the first to stand up, I was the
one chosen for the exchange.
We were taken to be exchanged twice
and then brought back, I and Ilija who was in the hospital at that
time due to an injury. On the third occasion on February 26, 1993
we were exchanged at Jezero.
Since I was beaten and my ribs were
broken, and considering that I had lost 25 kilograms, I was sent
to the hospital in Zvornik were I spent two weeks being treated
and recuperating. I have the required medical certificates which I
am submitting.
I am prepared to repeat this statement in any court
or international organization.
In Bratunac, 3, April 1993
Ratko Nikolic, signed.
[Document from] MEDICAL CENTRE -INTERNAL MEDICINE WARD
ZVORNIK
Hospital Discharge Certficate
Name and surname: Ratko Nikolic
from Zenic in the vicinity of Kravica was treated in this hospital
on the internal medicine ward from March 1, [19]93 to March 14, 1993
for the following ailments: Asthena cerperis, St. post Centusienem
cerperis., St. post Fracturam costae IV et VIII sin.
Method of treatment: Hyperalimentary diet, nutritive solutions
containing high doses of proteins, fats, carbohydrates,
vitamins, electrolytes and essential amino acida and analgetics.
The patient was admitted on this ward due to extreme physical
weakness, exhaustion and fatigue, pain all over the body. In
addition, the patient complained of frequent, liquid defecations
without any traces of blood or phlegm. Namely, seven weeks prior
to being admitted to the hospital the patient was captured by the
Muslim army and taken to prison, where he was physically and
mentally maltreated and at the same time very poorly fed.
According to the patient's statement he weighed 75 kilos [165 pounds] before he
was captured and on admittance to the hospital he had exactly 50 [110 pounds]
kilograms. When he was admitted to this ward the patient
was actively mobile,... afebrile and gave the impression of an
patient in a medium grave condition. He was conscious, oriented in
time and space and towards himself and others. The patient was a
man of medium hight and asthenic constitution and had the body of
an extremely malnourished man. On the basis of an ausculation,
rhythmical heart action with clear tones and no cardiac murmers
was registered. The pulse was 88/min and the blood pressure 110/80
mmgh. The breathing frequency and respiratory sounds were found to
be normal. The front abdominal wall was slightly below the level
of the thorax, soft and without resistance on palpation, and
painfully sensitive on the entire surface. The liver and spleen
could not be felt. Upon admission all the basic laboratory
analyses were done: Hb-5.7mmaol 1/1., Er-2.8., Le- 6.1., sugar
level 2.8 mmol l/l, total bilirubin 7.5, nik romol 171, protein
plasma 63g/l, urea 4,1 mmol, creatinine 66 micromol l/l., ALT
133nkat. AST 266 nkat. sugar level control test 3.8 mmol 1/1,
urine normal.
A surgeon examined the patient and determined a
post-contusion state of the body and a post-fracture state of the
fourth and eighth left ribs. Upon admission an
electrocardiographic examination was made and the findings were
regular: sinus noatrial node as the pace maker of the heart
activity, and frequency about 65/min., negative T waves in D2, D3
while the results of the radiophotographic examination of the
lungs were regular as well as the findings of the pulmonary
segments examination.
A radiologist examined'the X-rays of the
thorax and found the state characteristic for the fracture of the
fourth and eighth left ribs.
In addition a neuropsychiatrist
examined the patient and found the patients neurological state
normal and his mental state without any psychopathological
symptoms.
An echographic examination of the abdomen was made and
gave the following results; the liver somewhat enlarged and
lowered, homogenous and lighter in colour. The kidneys are large
and well developed on both sides of the pyelocalicectasis system.
The parenchyma is wider than normal. An edema of the medullary
pyramids was found. In the lower left lobe of the kidney in the
parenchyma a hyp... change waa found the size of 1 cm. The urinary
bladder was empty.
During his stay in the hospital the patient
received oral and parenteral hyperalimentation and analgetics and
vitamins and oligo-elemenns and essential amino acids.
Discharged
as recuperated with the recommendation to be on home care and
spared all physical or other activities for at least one more
month and then to contact an internist for a check up and the
required laboratory analyses.
Ljubisav N. Gavric. M.D.
specialist for internal diseases
N.B.: Officially authorized by the undersigned: The Discharge
certificate could not be reproduced.
S T A T E M E N T
In the eariy morning hours of Monday, December 14, 1992; I was
sleeping in my house in Sikiric. My father and brother were also
in the house. Shooting in the village started around 6:00 a.m. I
ran out into the yard and saw a Moslem machine gun firing from the
direction of [Muslim] Salko Begzadic's house, which is some 300 meters
distant from mine.
I called my father and told him to run away because the village
had been attacked by Moslems. While he was leaving the house I
fired some 10 bullets to frighten them. The shooting grew in
intensity and did not stop, it came from all sides, also from the
direction of the house of Desimir Matic, i.e. from the direction
of the Moslem village of Pirici.
I set out towards my guard post and Mirko Petrovie from Bjelovac
(a settlement) came along running. He told me that he could not
start his truck and that he was running to Bjelovac to get help.
Running after him was Milovan Simic, wounded in two places, who
said that a bullet had hit him and that "Turks" had entered the
Serb houses there in Sikiric, from the direction of Salko
Begzadic's house.
I went to the asphalt road and was joined by my father and brother
and Milivoje Mitrovic nicknamed "Miko". I saw a large group of
Moslems coming towards us along the Drina river from the direction
of Salko Begzadic's house. They were about 100-200 m. away. I saw
when Rado Mitrovic was killed and [woman] Dragica Nedeljkovic wounded.
She is now in hospital in Valjevo. The Moslems were in fatigues
and in civilian clothes. They were silent. I could not recognize
anyone because of the distance and because it was early morning. I
saw when Milivoje Mitrovic was wounded near the Drina. We
withdrew towards the village of Bjelovac. During the following
night we crossed the Drina river, and spent the whole day hiding
on its banks.
I know of no other particulars. I heard the voices of the Moslems
from the asphalt road cursing; "F... their Chetnik mothers, let's
take Bratunac".
That same evening, December 14, 1992, (actually during the day
about 10 o'clock we took the wounded to the Serbian side [to Republic
of Serbia], and
while they were on the right bank of the Drina [on the side of
Republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia] they were shot at
by Moslems from Bosnia from infantry weapons. On that occasion; in
Serbia [itself], 5 people were wounded, as well as Mladjen Nedeljkovic and
Vidoje Ilic, both from Sikiric, who were driving the boat. I do
not know the names of the wounded. In the evening, i.e. night the
rest of us crossed over to Serbia by boat, after having taken care
of the wounded first.
Signed: Predrag Nedeljkovic,
born in 1963,
from the village of Sikiric,
commune of Bratunac
Milorad Nikolic,
born in 1934 in the village of Opravdici,
commune of Bratunac,
where he has permanent residence,
farmer
S T A T E M E N T
After on January 7, 1993, our Orthodox Christmas, Moslems hit and
burned the village of Kravica and killed on that occasion a lot of
Serb civilians, women, children and old people. [T]o escape the
Moslems, as I am old and infirm, as is my wife, I and my wife
Milosava fled to the village of Zelinje.
On the next day, i.e. on January 8, 1993 we returned to our
village and were in our house somewhere around 10 a.m. my
neighbours Mitar Nikolic, his wife Radojka and other villagers
returned to the village with me. We returned to the village so as
to celebrate our patron saint day, St.Steven.
After we had coffee
in the house I and my wife went to feed the livestock to our
stable, some 300-400 m away from the house. When we approached the
stable firing from small arms began from the direction of Mandici
and Mrakovac hill. I was startled by the fire and I saw at a
distance of around 200 m away as the crow flies a firing line of
Moslems, who opened fire on us. Bullets ricochetted around us
hitting the frozen ground. My wife started wending her way up the
hill towards the house and I stayed there to try to give her
cover while she advanced towards the house.
Then I heard the Moslems shooting around our houses as well.
As my wife had just
gone home I ran up to see what was happening and I heard the
Moslems shouting to each other that she was to be caught alive and
I also heard bullets blasting somewhere about 50 m. away from me
behind the houses.
Because of the fire from small arms I could not
see what was happening around the houses but I had to retreat
towards the woods so as to save my life.
At that point I lost all
trace of my wife who was a very sick woman and could hardly move.
Some time later I heard from my neighbours that the feeble Novak
Simic, 60 years old and Vitonir Milanovic, aged 48, were killed.
I asked the villagers who were pulling out the dead bodies of these
two men whether perhaps they had also found the body of my wife
and they said that they hadn't although the whole area had been
searched.
On that day when the Moslems caught my wife they burned
down my house and all the auxiliary structures around it, they
drove away a team of oxen, one heifer and 18 sheep; before that
they had plundered everything that could be taken away and they
took it away using my cart.
They also set fire to other houses, those of my neighbours, who
were either alive or were killed.
Bratunac, February 5,1993
Statement by:
signed Milorad Nikolic
End of the integral text contained on pages 105 through 132.
A photocopy of the document is available, in PDF form, at
this link.
