Halilović and Veseli: Witnesses claim Kibe was not commander, Elfeta was in civilian clothes and helped the wounded

The main hearing in the case against Sakib Halilović and Elfeta Veseli continued today at the Court of BiH, reports the Patria News Agency.

Three witnesses for the BiH Prosecution testified, and among them was Slađana Crkvenjak, the sister of Slobodan Stojanović, the murdered boy. The prosecutor Miroslav Janjić is proving in this proceeding that the accused, during the war and armed conflict between the VRS and the Army of BiH, as a platoon commander (Sakib Halilović) and a soldier (Elfeta Veseli), members of the Diversant Platoon of the Command of Joint Units Liplje, Kamenica, acted contrary to the rules of international humanitarian law, violating the provisions of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of civilians during wartime, and committed a war crime against a minor victim of Serbian nationality.

Crkvenjak recounted that her brother left them in July from the lower part of Kamenica to their house in the upper part, which was under Muslim control.

- Father tried to contact Muslim neighbors via megaphone, and they told us that Slobodan was fine, that he had been transferred to Tuzla with their children. However, we learned the truth when a certain number of Muslims were captured and brought to Vlasenica. My mother went to talk to them, and they said that Slobodan was dead, that he was killed by a woman of Albanian origin, and that her father was a forester – Crkvenjak said.

She further stated that later in 1993, she didn't know the exact month, she was called to identify the body with her mother.

- We found a terrible sight at the Fire Station. The body was on the table, there was no tissue, the head was separated from the body. There was a blue coat on the side. There were two other bodies. We recognized him by his height. We buried him, and later we heard the same stories that the Albanian woman did it out of revenge because her father was killed. And when the war ended, they told the same stories, our neighbors, Muslims, told them. One neighbor said that they took him from his house when he was on the front line, and he told my father: "Ilija, I wouldn't have let them take him." I don't remember the names of those neighbors, but the stories are the same that Elfeta Veseli killed Slobodan – Crkvenjak explained, confirming that her father Ilija was not present during the identification.

When asked by lawyer Mirna Delalić if she was aware of where Slobodan's body was found, that it was on Žlijebac hill, 10 kilometers from Kamenica, and that he was found with two other soldiers, the witness said she was not aware.

Delalić also presented Crkvenjak's statement from 2015, given to SIPA in 2015, where the witness did not mention Elfeta Veseli's name.

- It's possible I didn't mention it – Crkvenjak said.

The other two witnesses, Izet Karić and Abdulgafer Alihodžić, confirmed that they were not members of any unit but volunteers who set out from Tuzla in 1992 towards Cerska, Snagovo, and other places wanting to help civilians. Alihodžić does not have a military ID and was never a member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Karić has a certificate stating he has been a member of the Army since April 15, 1995.

Karić recounted that he saw a boy once and heard about his suffering, with three different stories: that Edin Osmanović took him and let him cross the lines, that the boy escaped on his own, and he also heard that Elfeta killed him.

- Osmanović told me that Elfeta killed the boy, but he was a drug addict and was jealous because I was dating Elfeta at the time – Karić said.

This witness even argued with prosecutor Janjić, and the public could hear parts of how this witness was being questioned. Karić told the prosecutor that he wanted to know who killed 40 people, his relatives, 14 children...

- You told me if you wanted their names. I know their names, give me the culprit and those responsible – Karić said.

Alihodžić knew Veseli from Vlasenica and said he had never heard that Elfeta killed him and did not believe she could have done it. He explained that Halilović was the leader of the convoy because he knew the territory, but he was not the commander. As the witness added, a woman named Elfeta was in the group, whom he knew from before, and he also said that he saw her later, but she was in civilian clothes with refugees.

- I left Halilović in Snagovo, and sometime in 1993, I saw him again in Tuzla. He did not issue orders to us, he showed us the way… Elfeta did not carry weapons, and I did not hear that she killed any boy, and I don't think she could have done it – the witness stated, answering the defense's questions.