ČANČAR: SERB CIVILIANS - ELDERLY, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN - WERE KILLED IN JOŠANICA

SARAJEVO, SEPTEMBER 16 /SRNA/ – Prosecution witness Milorad Čančar testified at the trial of members of the so-called Army of BiH for crimes committed against Serbs in the areas of Višegrad, Foča, and Čajniče, stating that in December 1992, he and fellow soldiers from the 5th Jošanica Battalion of the Republika Srpska Army found the bodies of murdered Serbs in Jošanica and nearby villages, including the elderly, women, and children.

Čančar said he was heading to Jošanica with 20 comrades after an air raid siren was sounded in Foča. Along their route, they encountered the bodies of local residents, some of whom he personally knew and named in court. "We traveled by truck to Donja Jošanica, but it wasn’t safe, so we continued toward Gornja Jošanica and nearby villages. We first arrived in the village of Škobalj, where we found the first victims – Pero Kulić and his wife Vinka," Čančar stated. He added that they discovered bodies in other villages as well, including near the river. "Jela Višnjić was lying in the water and had seven stab wounds in her back, while her husband Miladin was stabbed once in the neck and when we found him he was still showing signs of life," Čančar said. He stated that in the village of Vilina they found the body of Vlatko Višnjić decapitated with a chainsaw, while on the hill in Vilina they found more bodies of murdered villagers, including two children. "The most terrible image that is etched in my memory is Dragan /Višnjić/ holding his son in his arms, and both of them are riddled with bullets," said Čančar. He said that they also found the body of Sveto Grujičić on the wire, whose head had been smashed with a hoe. "In the evening, we came with a truck and picked up the bodies that were on the side of the road and brought them to the hospital in Foča, while we picked up the bodies in Viline the next day," Čančar said. The defence allegation that some of the killed were members of the Republika Srpska Army was confirmed by the witness, adding that they were on their days off and that they were either celebrating patron saint day or were guests at the celebration. The prosecution also showed the witness photo documentation with the bodies from the morgue, on which he recognised the murdered Serbs. Prosecution witness Veljko Joknić, a former crime technician at the Public Security Station Foča, made a photo-documentation for 38 people killed in the village of Jošanica, Foča, in 1992. Joknić stated that the identification was carried out in the presence of relatives, and that most of the victims were women and children. He said that since December 19, 1992, 38 people were identified and photographed, and the rest were brought in the next day. Joknić pointed out that recognising the bodies was difficult due to the state they were in, but that he recognised the body of the first neighbour, Goja Stojanović, who was at her parents' patron saint day celebration. He testified that on December 21, 1992, according to the oral order of the investigating judge, he and his colleagues visited all the villages that suffered, where they made a record of the destroyed property. Former members of the so-called BiH Army officers Ferid Buljubašić, Ahmet Sejdić, Rašid Sobo, Ševko Glušac, Zakir Jamak, Bahrudin Muhić, Adem Fehrić, Mustafa Poljo, Enver Kustura, Muhamed Liska, Sakib Čakar, Izet Sejdić and Munir Nalo are accused of crimes against Serbs in the area of Višegrad, Foča and Čajniče. The indictment includes crimes committed in the area of Foča, Višegrad and Čajnič between August 1992 and February 1993. One of the counts of the indictment accuses Sejdić of ordering and participating in the attack on the Višegrad villages of Klisure, Bursići and Hadrovići in which eight Serb civilians were killed, while some were wounded and some were arrested. The continuation of the trial is scheduled for September 30.