Trial for Štrpci: Twenty civilians removed from train and killed by ID card

Due to poor health, three witnesses of the BiH Prosecutor's Office were unable to attend the trial for the murders of civilians abducted from a train in Štrpci (Rudo municipality) in February 1993, so their previously given statements were read, writes BIRN, as reported by Patria.

In a statement given to the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office of Serbia in December 2014, Koviljka Buzov said that on the critical day, her husband Tomo, who was an officer of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), went to visit their son, who was serving his military service in Podgorica.

Buzov stated that her husband reported that the train he was supposed to take was delayed and that she thought everything was fine until her son informed her that he had not gotten off the train. The next morning, she said, she heard on the news that a kidnapping had occurred in Štrpci.

Together with the families of the injured witnesses, as she said, she wrote slogans and they demanded to be received by Milošević, then President of Serbia. He received them, as the witness stated, and "offered to bring Karadžić to her."

- If I had my way, I would cut them piece by piece, for all the evil they have done to me - reads the statement of witness Buzov, who also stated that she suffered a stroke after this event.

For the abduction of 20 civilians from the train in Štrpci on February 27, 1993, who were killed in the Višegrad area, the BiH Prosecutor's Office charges Luka Dragičević, Boban Inđić, Obrad and Novak Poluga, Dragan Šekarić, Oliver Krsmanović, Petko Inđić, Radojica Ristić, Vuk Ratković, and Mićo Jovičić.

According to the indictment, Dragičević was the commander of the Second Podrinje Light Infantry Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), and Boban Inđić was the commander of the Intervention Company of this brigade, while the other accused were members of the Intervention Company or the First Company of the First Battalion of the Second Podrinje Light Infantry Brigade.

At the trial, the statement of Misina Rastoder from 2014 was read. He said that on February 27, 1993, his father Jusuf, who worked in Belgrade, took the train to Bijelo Polje to use his days off.

Rastoder stated that he heard about the train abduction in which his father was on the radio. At that time, he did not know that his father was on the train, but learned this when a colleague brought his father's salary. The remains, as he stated in his testimony, were found in Lake Perućac.

Zejna Čorić said in a statement given in 1996 that her husband had left Belgrade for Prijepolje that day. She pointed out that she does not know any person who was on the train who could testify about the forced removal.

The trial will continue on June 13.