Spahić was also not recorded during the investigation: The goal of the Čemerno operation was to destroy howitzers

The witness of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that the goal of the operation in Čemerno near Ilijaš was to destroy howitzers. Halid Spahić, who, at his request, had protection measures lifted at this trial, said that he did not read the statement he gave during the investigation in 2007 because he was in a hurry as his sick wife was in the car.
"Your Honor, when I signed, I believed," the witness said.

The witness explained that after leaving the BiH Prosecutor's Office in Semizovac, he received a call and was told to return because he had not signed something.

"I returned and signed several copies, I didn't read them," Spahić said.

The defense pointed out that the practice of forcing witnesses to say something they did not say during the investigation continues, and that Spahić is a new witness who was not recorded while giving his testimony, which is against the law.

According to the Law on Criminal Procedure, witness testimonies are generally recorded. In this case, none of the 122 witnesses were recorded.

Spahić said that he was a member of the Ilijaš reserve police force, and as read by Vladimir Simović, prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, his statement indicated that he was a member of the Territorial Defense (TO) from the spring of 1992 until the TO grew into the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BIRN reports.

The witness denied being in the TO in the Korita area.

"I was a member of the reserve police force from the beginning, I don't know the exact date," the witness said, and prosecutor Simović stated that the investigation record did not mention him being in the reserve police force.

The witness answered negatively to the question of whether he knew that there was a TO in Korita, adding that he knew there was a village guard.

"I patrolled with Ekrem Bešlija and visited them. Omer Spahić made the schedule of where we would go," Spahić said.

He explained that when the village guards finished, a military organization was established in August 1992, and Mirsad Bešlija was in charge.

The witness said that besides Mirsad Bešlija, he could not remember who was a member of the military unit, and as prosecutor Simović read, the statement listed the members of that unit.

"I wasn't there and I don't know," the witness said.

Spahić stated that he was in Čemerno when the howitzers were to be destroyed.

He noted that when he and Ekrem Bešlija returned from patrolling the village, they found soldiers near the school in Korita.

In the investigation, it was stated that Mirsad Bešlija called them near the school, and the witness explained that the person who interviewed him did not write it down correctly.

"We found about 50 soldiers in camouflage uniforms from Kakanj and Breza," the witness said.

He added that he was called by a person nicknamed Mazalo, who told him they were going to destroy howitzers, and that there were no other objectives for the operation besides destroying the howitzers.
"We went up the forest and came out on some mountain. We stayed there until dawn. Mazalo told me: 'You five stay here.' The five of us held the retreat," the witness stated.

As prosecutor Simović said, the statement indicates that Mirsad Bešlija assigned them, and the witness said he knew that Mazalo assigned him, whose first and last name he did not know, but confirmed that the person with that nickname was not among the accused.

The BiH Prosecutor's Office charges former members of the Territorial Defense (TO) and active and reserve police forces – Džemal Hadžić, Teufik Turudić, Džemal Smolo, Senad, Haris and Benjamin Sikira, Enes Durak, Mirsad, Nusret and Mirzet Bešlija, and Hamdija Spahić and Nehru Ganić – with participating in a joint criminal enterprise in the village of Čemerno in June 1992.

Spahić added that he was wounded in the left arm while running across a meadow, that he lost consciousness afterwards, and that he woke up at the Breza Health Center, after losing consciousness two or three times.

"I couldn't hear anything when I fainted," the witness said.

After hearing the witness, prosecutor Simović stated that he objected to the drastic differences in the witness's testimony, and that he would submit the investigation statement.

The defense attorneys for the accused will cross-examine this witness on July 18.