Čemerno Case: Village full of soldiers, slept in houses, command post, kitchen

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Sekula Trifković, a witness for the BiH Prosecutor's Office in the Čemerno case, spoke today before the BiH Court about the events that took place on June 10, 1992, in this location.

Trifković was born and lived in Čemerno until the end of September 1992. He testified that he was sleeping upstairs in his family home on June 6, 1992, when his brother Veseljko woke him up and told him that the attack had begun. Sekula said that there were four children and his sisters in the house, and that they went from the basement towards the rocks, which descended 30 to 40 meters towards Mahmutović River.

"I knew where they were because I used to herd sheep there and I know the terrain. I went back to the house several times and carried food and water to the cave," Trifković recounted.

He told prosecutor Vladimir Simović that he saw a man in a black uniform waving to a person who was behind a wall near his house.

"I later realized that it was the commander, who was gesturing with his hand to move forward," says Trifković.

The Trifković hamlet is several hundred meters away from the location of the howitzers, specifically from the plateau where they were stationed, as well as from the village center itself. Trifković confirmed to the defense that his house was not burned down, nor were the houses of Đorđe Trifković or his father Spasenija, and he confirmed that there was no shooting from those houses.

Trifković spoke about a found diary belonging to a certain Kakanjac, a member of the Army of RBiH, which was in the possession of several people who corresponded with him.

When asked by prosecutor Simović if there was any heavy weaponry in the village, witness Trifković said with a smile that he didn't know "what needs to be said, or rather, if I knew what was correct to say and what I said in the investigation."

He later admitted that howitzers were deployed and that some villagers objected, but he said there were no soldiers! Lawyer Senad Pizović asked the witness who fired the howitzers, villagers or refugees, if there were no soldiers.

"I don't know, what do I know, maybe the villagers too," said Trifković, also stating that he had heard of Momir Šikuljak, but didn't know "what was organized and attempted there."

The witness said that firing sounds were heard, and left open the possibility that there were about ten of them.

During questioning by lawyer Ifet Feraget, the witness stated that they kept watch, but that he was not armed, although it was possible that others had weapons. The witness's remark at the end that he would surely be the worst witness in his area was also interesting, and during the testimony when questioned by the lawyers, he twice said "I stumbled upon it."

Witness Trifković admitted to lawyer Dražen Zubak that his sister Darinka did not sleep in their family home on the night of June 9-10, because she was helping in the kitchen to prepare food for the army, and she slept at Dragoslav Damjanović's house.

Another witness, Novo Jevrić, recounted how on Okruglica on June 8, he and his uncle and about ten other soldiers were mobilized and taken by truck with 10-15 other Kunosić residents to Čemerno, where they were met by a commander with the rank of sergeant in an SMB uniform, who told them where each group would stand guard.

"We went towards Dernek, we made shelters from stones and I worked two shifts," said Jevrić, explaining that they made shelters towards Dernek, with their backs to the howitzers.

He said that upon arriving at Čemerno, they went to the building where the kitchen and command post were located.

"We had weapons, but I was in jeans. We were lying in Damjanović's house when an attack was reported by military phone and that we should go to our positions. We took our weapons and set off. Gunfire was heard. We saw Ranka and Jadranka asking us what they should do. Someone told them to hide in the barn. Petar Rašević worked in the kitchen, he was the cook, we met him and he showed us the way to Karaula, from where we went to Okruglica," said Jevrić.

He pointed out that he heard someone say, "Trifkovići, where are you, we've brought your godparents for coffee."

He said that from Okruglica he went to Ilijaš, and in the military unit he heard talk that they had captured a war diary that mentioned the operation in Čemerno.

"I heard that the son of some Omerhodžić, the son of a hodža from Župča, lost that diary," said Jevrić.

To lawyer Anto Grgić, the witness said that he had previously heard detonations from howitzer fire and that shells were fired towards Breza, Visoko, and Kakanj. To lawyer Mersih Delić, Jevrić confirmed that the sergeant who met them at Čemerno showed them where the howitzers were and that they also received ammunition. He also said that Jadranka and Ranka cooked for the army.

Damir Alagić asked the witness if everyone in the house where he slept, which was set on fire, was armed with a zolja or RPG device, to which the witness answered affirmatively, adding that they did not return fire.

The witness also told Feraget that they had learned an hour and a half before the attack began that an attack was expected at Damjanović's house, and that there were soldiers when they arrived at Čemerno, and that he recognized Ljubiša Lazendić because he went to school with him. He also said that soldiers slept in other houses because not everyone could fit into one. He pointed out that in the group with him, which Rašević led to Karaula, there were 4 to five soldiers.

"The remaining 30 soldiers were killed," said Jevrić.

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

The trial continues on January 16.