TESTIMONIALS OF SERB SURVIVORS - MURDER, ARSON, ROBBING...

I was wounded in front of Milosav Jegdić's stable in the village of Gapići. Since I couldn't move, I lay on the ground and looked around to make sure that the Muslims weren't approaching me, and then I saw Radojka Blagojević coming out of her house, together with Milja and Mileva Jegdić. At that moment they opened fire, Radojka was wounded in the left arm above the elbow, while Milja and Mileva were killed on the spot, as they were leaving the house.

By: Tatjana Parađina

FOČA, JULY 31 /SRNA/ - Several Serb survivors testified about the attack and murders, burning of villages and looting of Serb civilians in Jošanica on St. Nicholas Day in 1992.

Ratko Blagojević stated the following:

"They surrounded us from all sides, and then they started shooting at us. At that moment I was wounded in the right hip. At that moment, my cousin Radomir Blagojević, who was near me, ran towards me to help me, but he did not make it because a burst of machine gun fire hit him from the opposite side and killed him on the spot.

I was wounded in front of Milosav Jegdić's stable in the village of Gapići. Since I couldn't move, I lay on the ground and looked around to make sure that the Muslims weren't approaching me, and then I saw Radojka Blagojević coming out of her house, along with Milja and Mileva Jegdić.

At that moment, they opened fire, Radojka was wounded in the left arm above the elbow, while Milja and Mileva were killed on the spot, just as they were leaving the house. I saw Radojka return to the house, but immediately after that she went out again and ran towards the forest called Vezovi Ravni."

After being wounded, Ratko managed to hide in the bushes until the Muslim soldiers pass by. He went to the house of Vasilije Višnjić in the village of Medanovići, where Radojka Blagojević and Risto Crnogorac, both wounded, were already there. He hid in the basement of the house.

In the transcript of the hearing, witness Ratko Blagojević stated:

"From the basement I saw that four Muslims entered the Višnjić house, or rather a larger group of them, and four of them entered the basement. The size of the basement was 3.5 by six meters. The walls were made of solid material, or rather stone. They threw hand grenades and tear gas. I managed to throw one hand grenade through the door. I don't even know how Risto and I survived that."

Mikajlo Pljevaljčić also described the insidious and brutal attack on the village:

"I was in my village of Crnetići in Jošanica. On December 19, 1992, I got up around six o'clock and woke up Jovo Pljevaljčić, who was in my house to have coffee. I left the house and heard shooting in the villages around Gornja Jošanica. I returned to the house and told Jovo that the villages had been attacked. I took my rifle and fired a few bullets. Immediately afterwards, shooting was heard from all sides around my village. Jovo and I fired, but we saw that there was shooting from all sides and we started to retreat, because we had little ammunition left.

Jovo went down the hill, and I went towards it. I hid in a forest above the village and saw that the Muslims were starting to burn my village and house. I shot at them, but fire opened from the other side, so I had to run further through the forest. At that moment, I saw that all the villages were burning, and I heard from all sides shouting `Allahu Akbar` and `catch them alive`."

Milomir Višnjić said that on December 18, 1992, he came from Foča to his village of Baždari to celebrate the feast of Saint Nicholas.

"During the night of December 18-19, I got up several times and looked around, but I didn't notice anything. At around 6:30 a.m., I was woken up by gunfire from all sides, so I immediately got ready and went outside. I saw shooting from all sides and that the surrounding villages were burning. I fired a shot from my rifle, but immediately the shooting started from all sides.

At that moment, there were five women, three men and two children in the village. The women and children began to run towards the stream. Missiles also started falling on the village, so I retreated. They were shooting from hand grenades, machine guns and started burning houses. I went towards the village of Hodžići, because there were a lot of women and children there, but that village was burning and I couldn't get close. I hid in a stream and about a hundred meters away I saw Muslims who had arranged themselves into riflemen and were clearing the terrain, all the streams.

I continued running since I was alone and reached the village of Vašadići. Along the way, I saw women and children running towards Foča. When I reached Vašadići, they started burning the village, but the locals resisted and opened fire, so I joined them and started shooting," Višnjić said.

LARGEST EXECUTION AT JOŠANICA RIVER

After the attack began, Serb civilians attempted to flee the village and surrounding area. Most of them headed towards the Jošanica River, but it was there that the largest execution of Serbs was carried out.

Mara Mićević from the hamlet of Medanovići gives two testimonies about the attack on Jošanica:

"On St. Nicholas Day, December 19, 1992, early in the morning, I found myself in my house with my husband Vasika. We heard some gunfire and at first, we thought that our neighbors were celebrating the feast, but then we saw that the surrounding villages were burning and that Muslims had attacked us. We fled towards the river into the forest, and on the way, we met Dana /Danica/ Stevanović with her two children, so we all went to the stream together.

There we were met by four Muslim soldiers, who immediately caught us and took us to the Jošanica River where there was a larger group of Muslims. There they interrogated my husband, one of them slapped him and took him to a stream, saying that they would kill and slaughter him. When they reached the stream, one of the soldiers said that one of them was moving. When they approached the water, and I followed them, I saw the bodies of Mladen Višnjić and his wife Jela in the river.

Mladen was moving, so the one who was leading my husband, slaughtered him with a large military knife. After that, he threatened to cut my husband's throat too. After some time, the Muslim soldiers left, only two remained, who after a short time told us to run. We started running towards Foča, where we eventually arrived and found salvation.

Danica Stevanović said that on December 18, 1992, she went with her two children from Foča to the village of Baždari to visit her father-in-law Manojlo to celebrate St. Nicholas Day.

"We sat up that night until two o'clock and went to bed. Around 6:30 a.m. I heard gunfire from all sides. Milisav Ivanović and Momo Kulić were in the house, along with my father-in-law. The men came out and someone told me to pick up the children, we were being attacked. I took the children, and my father-in-law and I started running down the stream. When we got near the village of Hodžići, my father-in-law went towards that village, and I stayed in a bush. There was gunfire from all sides.

I went to the village where I found Vasika Mićević and his wife. We sat there for a while and saw three Muslims walking towards us. When they noticed us, they said: 'Stop'. The children started crying, and I raised my hands. They came over, and one of them took my bag and took 5,500 /then/ German marks and a book with 2,000 German marks in it."

The book "Atlas of Crimes Against Serbs During the Defense-Patriotic War," published by the Republic Center for Research on War, War Crimes and the Search for Missing Persons, states that they were then taken to the bridge below the village where she was interrogated.

At that moment, one of the Muslim soldiers approached her and said: "The Serbs saved my family in Višegrad, and if they hadn't, I would have slaughtered you right now."

After a few hours spent at that location, most of the Muslim soldiers left, leaving only two with them.

"We were there with them for a while and one of them told me to go to Foča. That's how it was. I set off for Foča with two small children, and Vasika Mićević and his wife were with me. I saw Miladin Višnjić and his wife Jela lying under the bridge where we were standing. As far as I could see, they had been slaughtered," Danica said. /to be continued/