Janjić confused: Halilović was not my commander, and I don't see Elfeta in the courtroom!

The main hearing in the case against Sakib Halilović and Elfeta Veseli began today before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reports the Patria News Agency.

Before the start of the main hearing, a status conference was held where prosecutor Miroslav Janjić stated that 25 witnesses (one protected) and one medical expert would be heard, and the prosecution would offer 19 material evidence. During this procedure, Janjić will prove that the accused, during the war and armed conflict between the VRS and the Army of BiH, acted as a platoon commander (Sakib Halilović) and a soldier (Elfeta Veseli), a member of the Diversant Platoon of the Command of Joint Units Liplje, Kamenica, Armed Forces of BiH, contrary to the rules of international humanitarian law, violating the provisions of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of civilians during wartime, and committed a war crime against a minor victim of Serbian nationality.

The accused are charged that in the summer of 1992, near the village of Kamenica near Zvornik, the accused Veseli killed a twelve-year-old boy of Serbian nationality, Slobodan Stojanović, and the accused Halilović observed the commission of the murder from close proximity, without preventing her from carrying out the murder, and afterwards failed and did not take the necessary and reasonable measures to punish the subordinate soldier who committed the murder.

Halilović's lawyer, Lejla Čović, stated in her opening remarks to the Court panel that the defense will prove the opposite of what the BiH Prosecutor's Office claims, and that the witnesses' statements are contradictory. The defense also pointed out today that in this specific case, the BiH Prosecutor's Office has no evidence, nor is it true that Sakib Halilović, known as Kibe, was superior to the second accused Elfeta Veseli, as stated in the indictment.

- We will particularly prove that the crime itself did not happen as described in the indictment - said Čović.

It was also emphasized that a protected witness will testify in the case, whose statement, previously given to the BiH Prosecutor's Office, is completely contrary to the autopsy findings.

Darko Samardžić, the presiding judge of the panel, also expressed surprise that the Prosecutor's list of witnesses includes as many as 25 people, given the scope and complexity of the indictment itself.

The first witness for the prosecution today was Dževad Hodić, who had to leave his hometown of Kula Grad in April 1992, after Serbian forces occupied the place. He said that he, along with 30 to 40 men, went to Tuzla and carried the wounded.

- We agreed to go to Croatia for training. We went to Našice, stayed in an abandoned facility for a month. Everyone from BiH had equal status - said Hodić.

Prosecutor Janjić had to repeatedly show this witness the record of his interrogation at SIPA on November 26, 2014, and March 30, 2017, and establish what the real truth is, what he is saying today before the Court or what he previously stated. The defense pointed out that in none of Hodić's statements did he mention the existence of an organized unit, nor did he characterize Halilović as a commander anywhere.

- Halilović arrived in Našice at the end of our training. He was a logistician. We returned to Tuzla and from there we went further - said the witness.

Judge Samardžić asked what these groups of men were training for in Našice, and the witness replied:

- Well, for the defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina - stated Hodić.

This witness then explained that they left Tuzla for Podrinje, and parted ways in Snagovo. He went towards Cerska where his mother was, and later stayed in Sultanovići, from where he went to Novo Selo where a group of volunteers was stationed, and where Halilović and a certain Elfeta, whose last name the witness did not know, were also present.

- She was thin, in uniform, dark-haired, of slight build - said Hodić, and when asked by Janjić if there was such a person in the courtroom, Hodić replied, "I don't see anyone like that in the courtroom" and "that is not the woman he knew.".

The witness for the BiH Prosecutor's Office stated that he saw a minor boy of Serbian nationality among the soldiers of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area of Novo Selo.

Hodić stated that he heard several stories about the tragic fate of the boy, but that he did not witness his murder.

- I saw him with my comrades several times. On one occasion, I saw him in a house, he was bare-chested. He had a scratch and a bruise on his right shoulder. Later, I heard that Elfeta killed him. Various stories were told about the manner of killing, but I don't know anything about it - said Hodić.

He emphasized that there were several women in the group of soldiers at that time in the area of Novo Selo and Kamenica (Zvornik municipality), four or five of them, and that they wore camouflage uniforms.

When asked by Mirna Delalić, the lawyer for the second accused Elfeta Veseli, if the witness had ever been offered by the Prosecutor's Office to identify the accused through photos, Hodić replied that he had not.

- The witness said everything himself. The defense also asked if there were other women there, and the witness said yes, that some wore uniforms, and from the opening remarks we heard that other witnesses did not confirm the allegations in the indictment, which we believe will be proven during the proceedings as it arises from the evidence currently available to us - Delalić told reporters after the main hearing.

The continuation of the trial is scheduled for August 31.