Čemerno Case: Explicit Order Was to Destroy Howitzers and Not Enter Buildings

(Patria) - At a new hearing before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the case of Džemal Hadžić and Others, better known as Čemerno, a former member of the TO Kakanj testified today, who did not want his name or photograph to be made public. He stated before the Court that he joined the TO Kakanj as a volunteer and that he himself participated in the operation at Čemerno.

Answering questions from prosecutor Vladimir Simović, he described how, a few days before the events at Čemerno, volunteers from Kakanj came to Breza and were accommodated in the school gymnasium, which was shelled, after which they were transferred to Vlahinje, where they were also exposed to shelling, and that on that occasion the company commander Senad Jašarspahić was wounded. He also said that the platoon commander was Teufik Turudić – Tufo.

On June 9, they were sent to Korita, where they spent the entire day in the school premises, and then in the night hours they headed towards Čemerno. When asked by the prosecutor what they were told was the goal of the operation, he replied that, in front of the assembled soldiers, the first defendant Džemal Hadžić said that the goal was the destruction of howitzers and ordered that no one enter the buildings, and that the operation must not last longer than twenty minutes.

On this occasion as well, prosecutor Simović cited parts of the statement the witness gave in 2017, to which the witness reacted by stating that on that occasion the inspector tried through pressure to lead him to answer that Hadžić ordered "to destroy everything alive," which he, as he says, did not agree to. When asked by the prosecutor whether they knew there was an army at Čemerno, the witness replied that the howitzers could not operate on their own and that someone had to service them.

Describing the course of the operation itself, the witness said he remembers darkness, rain, a bad road, and a terrible feeling of fear when the firing started as they reached the edge of the forest towards the village. At that time, he saw two enemy soldiers, which caused him and another comrade to move to another location. The prosecutor claimed that the witness said in his statement that the soldiers he saw were members of the TO, which the witness denied, causing tensions between the witness and the prosecutor to rise for a moment, prompting judge Minka Kreho to warn both of them.

In his further testimony, the witness described how they reached the howitzers, but that there was no one at the howitzers at that time. Gunfire was heard at the other end, but he did not see anyone who was killed on either side. They were supposed to mine the howitzers but could not because the man carrying the detonator cables had fled.

They also failed to set them on fire using gasoline, so they decided to push them down a nearby slope, which they did. Only then did he see his colleagues Benjamin and Haris Sikira. Afterwards, they descended into the village of Mahmutovića Rijeka and continued on to Breza.

Only later did he hear about the casualties on both sides, but he could not say anything about that because he was not present there. Answering questions from the defense, the witness repeated that the order from Džemal Hadžić was exclusively to destroy the howitzers and that no one should enter the buildings.

This witness also repeated on several occasions that part of the allegations contained in the previously given statement do not correspond to his testimony, saying that the inspector pressured him, telling him that he would file an indictment against him as well, that he would go to prison, and that his family would go hungry, but that he did not succumb to those pressures, adding that even the present prosecutor Simović calmed the inspector on several occasions.

The defense claims that this refers to inspector Karišik, whose actions and method of taking and compiling statements they have previously objected to.

(S. Spahić)