Dudaković and others: VRS members' bodies exchanged for Fifth Corps members

SARAJevo, (Patria) - A witness for the State Prosecution stated at the trial of Atif Dudaković, former commander of the Fifth Corps of the Army of BiH (ABiH), that her husband Čedo went missing in the area of Bosanski Petrovac in September 1995 when he returned home for a stroller for his sick children, writes detektor.ba, reports the Patria agency.

Mara Jeličić recounted that she lived with her husband and two sick children in Bihać until the beginning of the war, after which they moved to the village of Vrtoče near Bosanski Petrovac, where, as she said, they owned a house and property.

The witness stated that the residents of Vrtoče began to leave the area in mid-August 1995, which she and her husband did with their children, and they arrived in the area of Sanski Most.

"The stroller for the sick children remained in Vrtoče, and my husband set off there on September 15, 1995. His brother Jovo Jeličić was with him. They set off in a 'Zastava' that belonged to their son. I haven't seen him or my brother-in-law Jovo since then," said the witness, adding that the disappearance of Čedo and Jovo Jeličić was reported to the Red Cross in Sanski Most.

According to her knowledge, her husband reached Petrovac, after which all traces of him were lost, while she heard that the vehicle he was in was registered in Bihać in 2006.

"A few days after the signing of Dayton, I came to Bihać to see what happened to the house. I met a lawyer who told me that he had met my husband at the entrance to Petrovac, that there was some professor there who was trying to stop him from going, but he went anyway," the witness recounted, adding that she did not find her husband's remains, but she did find the body of his brother.

Answering the Defense's cross-examination, the witness confirmed that her brother-in-law Jovo's body was exchanged in the area of Sanski Most when an exchange of bodies of 14 members of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) for eight members of the Fifth Corps was carried out. She also stated that her husband was not militarily engaged, that he had a work obligation as a guard at a motel in Bosanski Petrovac, but that he did not carry a weapon.

In addition to Dudaković, former members of the Fifth Corps Ekrem Dedić, Sanel Šabić, Ibrahim Šiljedić, Safet Salihagić, Adis Zjakić, Hasan Ružnić, Redžep Zlojić, Samir Solaković, Fatmir Muratović, Muharem Alešević, Husein Balagić, Edin Domazet, Ejub Konježić, Ibrahim Nadarević, and Said Mujić are accused of crimes against humanity committed in the area of the municipalities of Bosanski Petrovac, Ključ, Bosanska Krupa, and Sanski Most and surrounding villages, the murder of more than 300 people, persecution, and the destruction of religious buildings.

Dudaković is also accused of crimes committed against victims of Bosniak nationality, members and supporters of the People's Defense of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (NOAPZB), during the conflicts in the Cazin Krajina region, in the area of the municipalities of Bihać and Cazin.

The trial continues on June 17.