Halilović and Veseli: Prosecution witness Milošević does not know where the body of the boy Slobodan was found

The main hearing in the case against Sakib Halilović and Elfeta Veseli continued today before the Court of BiH, writes the Patria News Agency. The indictment charges Halilović and Veseli with committing a war crime against a minor victim of Serbian nationality during the war and armed conflict between the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) and the Army of BiH.

Zoran Milošević from Kamenica, the godfather of Ilija Stojanović, the father of the deceased boy Slobodan Stojanović, testified today. When asked by prosecutor Mirza Hukeljić (deputy prosecutor Miroslav Janjić) to explain what he knew about the death of the boy Slobodan Stojanović, Milošević said that at the beginning of the war he was in the village of Kamenica, and his house was 4 kilometers away from Stojanović's.

He said that there were barricades between Muslims and Serbs and that the Stojanović family was in the part controlled by Muslims.

- They sent Ilija, I don't know the exact date, but it was the beginning of the war, to the barricade to arrange an exchange. Three Serb soldiers were dead and they wanted to exchange them. That's how Ilija came to our side. He was with me and my family, my wife and two children Slađana and Slobodan – said Milošević.

After that, Milošević claims, and according to his memory two months after they moved to Kamenica, which was under the control of the RS Army, Slobodan crossed to the other side over the barricades to "let out the dog, which was left tied to a chain".

- Our command negotiated for six days to let him go. They talked from hill to hill. They said the boy was fine. He was 12 years old then. And a Muslim neighbor, a good man, confirmed to us that Slobodan was playing with their children, but that they were asking for rifles, flour... for his exchange – Milošević pointed out and added:

- Two years later, I heard that he had been found and that he would be buried in Drinjača. I went and asked my godfather if we would open the coffin. Ilija did not want to. My godfather told me that he heard that some Albanian woman from Vlasenica had killed him. I couldn't believe that, because I know how good our neighbors are – Milošević added.

Elfeta Veseli's lawyer, Mirna Delalić, asked Milošević if it was true that no fighting took place in Snagovo, Kamenica, and Glođansko brdo in July and August because all of it was under the control of Muslim forces, and that from November 6th, the RS Army occupied Glođansko brdo. Milošević answered affirmatively. 

He told lawyer Delalić that he was not aware that the body of the boy Slobodan was found on Žlijebac hill along with five other bodies of fighters. He also said that he had not discussed this with his godfather Ilija. 

He said it was true that various stories circulated about the boy's death, but that he had never heard that Slobodan was in Tuzla.
Lawyer Delalić was also interested in why Milošević did not mention in 2015, when giving a statement on 16.4.2015, that Ilija had told him about an Albanian woman who killed Slobodan, and the witness became completely confused, saying "that no one asked him about that".
He was shown the record, and Milošević confirmed that it was his signature.

Prosecutor Hukeljić also read two statements given by Ilija Stojanović, the father of the deceased Slobodan, in 2005 and 2007. 

There it states that Ilija said that his son left on July 27, 1992, to let out a dog that remained in the yard in front of the house. Otherwise, the Stojanović family was exchanged on June 4, 1992. Ilija said he opposed Slobodan going to that territory, but the boy went anyway.

In his statement, Ilija states that they told him that Slobodan was in Tuzla, and that he later learned during an exhumation in some pit that the body of a child had been found. 

- We identified him with pathologist Zoran Stanković, he told me that the child's hands were cut off up to the elbows, that he had no ears, no toes – Ilija said in the statement, adding that he heard from Mujo Omerović that Elfeta Veseli had killed Slobodan. I told all this to English journalists, who suggested that we go with Omerović to the place where my son was killed to find the grave. We found nothing, and Omerović was returned to Vlasenica – Ilija Stojanović said.

Although Ilija is dead, procedures require the defense to ask questions they would have asked Stojanović. Thus, Delalić said she would ask Ilija the following:

- Mujo Omerović was a prisoner of the RS Army, wasn't he?
- Mujo Omerović did not take you to Žlijebac hill?
- Omerović was a prisoner, and he died as such?
- Mujo spoke to you about Ifeta, didn't he?

Otherwise, before the Court of BiH, expert Zoran Stanković, while reading the autopsy report, told prosecutor Miroslav Janjić that on the skull of the boy Stojanović) they identified him based on his feet and hands, parents were present, and the face was not visible because the body was in a state of decomposition) that a gunshot wound was observed.

- The projectile was fired at close range, which was confirmed by the reconstruction of the wound. The right earlobe was missing from the skull, and wounds were also recorded in the abdominal area, all inflicted with a sharp object, possibly a knife or razor – stated the expert.

The continuation of the trial is scheduled for September 27 at nine o'clock.