Čemerno Case: Protected Witness Requested His Identity Be Revealed, Destroying Howitzers Was the Only Task

(Patria) - The trial in the Čemerno case continued today before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and after a protected witness (whose identity protection was granted in 2017) entered the courtroom, he requested that his testimony be made public.

The witness is Emir Zora, who stated, like several other witnesses earlier, that during the investigation he experienced great fear, and that one of the two interrogators insulted him on ethnic grounds, calling him a gypsy.

The defense then reiterated that prosecutor Vladimir Simović had never responded to a series of complaints, as ordered by the former presiding judge of the panel, Halil Lagumdžija, but Emir Zora continued his testimony.

He recounted that in April 1992, he was a member of the reserve police force, whose headquarters were in Ljubina. On April 4, 1992, he worked as a courier as needed.

Regarding the operation at Čemerno, he said that one of the regular police officers told him to check on the reserve police and inform them that they would be going on an operation to destroy howitzers.

"I was not obligated to go, but I went as a medic. I had a blue uniform and a Heckler & Koch rifle. We set off from Korita towards Čemerno, and at Dernek hill we split up. I went left, and with me were Enes Durak, Azmir Halilović, and Nermin Bešlija," Zora said.

He further stated that it was dark and the fighting began. Nermin Bešlija was wounded, and he bandaged him, with Durak assisting. After that wounding, Azmir threw a grenade, which bounced back and severely wounded Azmir, so he also proceeded to bandage Halilović.

"Enes helped me pull them out, and we carried them down on makeshift stretchers. The task was to destroy the howitzers," Zora said.

When asked by Enes Durak's lawyer, Ifet Feraget, whether the descent from Dernek took a certain amount of time, Zora answered affirmatively, and also that upon reaching the howitzers, they learned that Velimir Vidaković had been killed.

"The fighting lasted about half an hour," Zora confirmed.

When asked by Feraget about his 2017 interrogation at SIPA, Zora confirmed that he became frightened, a fear he still carries today.

"Did they tell you what to say?" Feraget asked, and Zora replied:

"They interrupted me a hundred times."

This hearing was also marked by a series of objections from the defense, as well as a dispute between Judge Minka Kreho and prosecutor Simović, with Kreho ultimately stating that she would not organize training on the proper examination of witnesses.

The second witness, Ferid Bešlija, explained that while he was in the village of Korita (he went to Breza at the end of March), there were no organized military formations.

"Everyone defended their own house, if someone had a hunting rifle. There were no orders. We were scouting," Bešlija said.

He noted that Nusret Bešlija enjoyed the trust of the locals because he was the president of the local community. Questioning then began about the events in February, to which Nusret Bešlija's lawyer, Dražen Zubak, objected, stating that this period is not relevant to the indictment, and the objection was sustained.

Witness Bešlija watched the entire operation to destroy the howitzers from Crveno brdo, which is far from Čemerno, and said that he received all information at the time from Radio Ilijaš.

"Everything I heard was from a green transistor radio," Bešlija said, adding that he does not personally know that Nusret Bešlija was in the operation.

In a 2017 statement, Bešlija said that Durak was promoted because of that operation, but he confirmed to Feraget that the 126th Ilijaš Brigade, where Durak became commander, was formed a year after the Čemerno operation.

The trial in this case continues on December 21.