ĐURAĐ MAJKIĆ TESTIFIED ABOUT ATTACK ON JNA CONVOY

SARAJEVO, APRIL 22 /SRNA/ – At the trial of Ejup Ganić and others accused of crimes against JNA soldiers in Dobrovoljačka Street in Sarajevo in 1992, a witness of the BiH Prosecutor's Office Đurađ Majkić testified today about the attack on a convoy of soldiers, a killing committed by a member of the Green Berets, and how he was captured and taken to a gymnasium hall in Sarajevo where he was beaten and interrogated.

Majkić said that at the time he was serving his military duty and that toward the end of April, together with 15 young soldiers from the Slobodan Princip Seljo barracks, he was sent to help with the relocation of the command of the then Second Military District of the JNA.

According to him, on May 2 an attack occurred on a vehicle delivering food to the soldiers stationed at the command, during which the driver and an officer accompanying him were wounded and later died.

He stated that the attack on the command on May 2 lasted from afternoon until evening, and that negotiations took place on May 3.

Superior officers, he says, told the soldiers that they would leave safely once the then chairman of the BiH Presidency, Alija Izetbegović, arrived.

Majkić recounted that he saw Izetbegović and his daughter Sabina arrive at the command, accompanied by others whom the soldiers greeted, and that on that occasion Izetbegović told them they would leave safely and should not be afraid.

"This was followed by the order for officers to board vehicles into which archives and officers' belongings were loaded. The 15 of us soldiers were in a military truck at the rear of the convoy, and behind us were a civilian vehicle and a UNPROFOR vehicle," the witness said.

He stated that the convoy had not gone far when it was attacked by individuals wearing police uniforms, mixed camouflage and olive-green uniforms, as well as civilians wearing green berets.

"After the gunfire, I saw the head of an officer in the civilian vehicle slump. People in uniform and civilians approached the truck, disarmed us, and forced us to lie on the ground," said Majkić.

He recounted seeing a man in an olive-green uniform with a green beret, after attempting to open the door of a Pinzgauer vehicle marked with the Red Cross, fire bursts from an automatic rifle, accompanied by curses, killing a lieutenant colonel and a woman who were in that vehicle.

Majkić added that he could not identify which officer it was, but clearly saw the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The witness said that after being captured, individuals in police uniforms took them to a gymnasium hall, where torture and beatings followed.

Majkić stated that among those escorting them to the hall was a man with a leg in a cast, whom he later learned was Juka Prazina.

"As they were taking us, some were shouting `kill them all,` while others were saying `don't touch them, the army is not to blame,`" Majkić said.

The BiH Prosecutor's Office witness stated that after two to three days spent in the FIS hall, they were exchanged and reached the barracks in Lukavica without incident.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Mladen Vukojičić asked the witness to clarify whether JNA members returned fire, to which Majkić replied that the army fired on May 2 during the attack, but that on May 3 no soldier fired a single shot.

For the attack on the JNA convoy on May 3, 1992, in Dobrovoljačka Street in Sarajevo, resulting in killings, injuries, and abuse of JNA members and civilians, Ejup Ganić, Zaim Backović, Hamid Bahto, Fikret Muslimović, Jusuf Pušina, Bakir Alispahić, Enes Bezdrob, and Ismet Dahić have been charged; they held high political, military, and police positions.

The next hearing is scheduled for May 13.