Witness in the Dobrovoljačka case: Interrogated under pressure on BiH Statehood Day, signed minutes without reading

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

"I was summoned for interrogation at the BiH Prosecutor's Office on November 25, 2020. That is a state holiday, Statehood Day. I was alone with the SIPA investigator and some woman who was typing. I was under pressure. It was my first time at the Prosecutor's Office, I didn't have my glasses, I did sign the minutes, but I didn't read them. I wanted to leave as soon as possible," said Hazim Bahtanović, a witness for the BiH Prosecutor's Office, at a hearing in the Dobrovoljačka case today.

Regardless, prosecutor Mladen Vukojičić submitted the minutes of that interrogation as evidence for the BiH Prosecutor's Office. Bahtanović testified about the events of May 2 and 3, 1992. Vukojičić showed no interest in clarifying the situation regarding the pressure Bahtanović experienced while giving his statement.

Bahtanović explained that he and the young men from his street, Urjan Dedina, had organized themselves and were keeping watch.

"Our position was specific. Transit, Jewish Cemetery, Vrbanja Bridge... That was our area. We had organized ourselves since April. We survived the first barricades, the second ones, the shelling, the sniping, the arrival of tanks," said Bahtanović.

He recounted that they had two posts, through which on May 3 they heard that the 2nd Army Corps was evacuating, and that he and a few other guys went down to Skenderija, to the Ice Hall, from where they observed what was happening.

Prosecutor Vukojičić referred to the interrogation minutes, asking Bahtanović by whose order they went to Skenderija, but Bahtanović said there was no order and that they had only heard about the move, and having experienced the horrors of May 2, they went down to see off the convoy.

Speaking about May 2, Bahtanović said that JNA tanks passed by their houses and that his friend was killed that day.

"They went down below Transit. There were fierce battles. That day, two of my colleagues set a tank on fire at Transit. I approached as much as I could, but I couldn't approach a tank unarmed. One of them was Vlatko Marković. Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats defended Sarajevo," said Bahtanović, who also broke down in tears at one point during his testimony.

He confirmed to the defense that he was aware that tanks were heading towards the BiH Presidency on May 2, and that they learned through the media that President Alija Izetbegović had been arrested and was in Lukavica.

He confirmed that the integration of various units under the control of the Territorial Defense was very slow and chaotic, and that some units remained outside state control.

Today, Ismet Bajraktarević also testified in the Dobrovoljačka case. In 1992, he was the head of the joint service of the Stari Grad Sarajevo Municipality, stating that on May 3, he was in Dobrovoljačka, where he was wounded.

"I started towards Dobrovoljačka when I saw that some other people from the Municipality were going there to see what was happening. We were in the yard in Mjedenica. The convoy was passing, then it stopped. People were approaching them and asking for weapons. If I could have approached, I would have asked too," said Bajraktarević.

He pointed out that on May 3, he had no contact with Hamid Bahto, then commander of the Stari Grad TO, and that there were no orders, and that the people gathered along Dobrovoljačka were not in military formation.

"What military position? There were civilians there, I'm not saying there weren't members of the TO, but how would I know who was and who wasn't. Ninety percent of the people were in civilian clothes," emphasized Bajraktarević.

Prosecutor Vukojičić referred to a previous statement and asserted that the witness had previously said he saw TO members taking away weapons. Later, he told the defense that colloquially, anyone who was there could be called a territorial soldier.

"Well, I was too. And I wasn't a member of the TO," said Bajraktarević.

He also confirmed that JNA positions were firing on Sarajevo during April and May.

"Well, that's common knowledge. There was shelling. Two houses next to mine were hit in Kovači. The city center was shelled, near the bank (Central Bank of BiH), near Svjetlost... The Post Office was burning on May 2," said Bajraktarević, stating that he was aware that during that period there were various groups that were not under anyone's control, such as Caco's, Ćelo's, Juka's...

He stated today that someone from that convoy shot at him, that there was general chaos, and that a friend took him to a yard and he doesn't know what happened afterwards.

The trial in this case continues on April 22, 2026.