WITNESS RECOGNISED TWO SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALS AS PERPETRATORS OF MASS MURDER OF 23 BOSNIAN CIVILIANS

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (February 12,2008) – Genocide survivor Nurija Zobic, is one of the four witnesses testifying at the trial of Serbian war criminals Milorad Savic,Mirko (Spiro) Pekez and Mirko (Mico) Pekez before the Bosnian State Court.

The witness stated yesterday he immediately recognised two Serbian war criminals as being the perpetrators of a mass murder that left 23 Bosnian civilians dead in the two villages in the Jajce municipality in September 1992,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

All three, former members of the genocidal paramilitary formations of the Serbians living in Bosnia, have been indicted by the Bosnian State Prosecutor for carrying out the attack in the Bosnian villages of Ljoljici and Carkazovici and murdering 23 Bosnian civilians.

The witness stated he recognised Serbian war criminals Mirko (Spiro) Pekez and Mirko (Mico) Pekez in the courtroom.

"When they came that day to take us out of our houses, I saw Spiro's son Mirko and, later on, Mico's son Mirko Pekez. They were dressed in camouflage uniforms and had automatic guns. My children started crying and asked me where we were going, and I told them we had to go," the witness said, adding that Serbian war criminals Mirko (Mico) Pekez and Jovo Jandric took away their jewellery and valuables in Tisovci village.

The witness said that his two sons were both 11 years old at the time, and that day was the last time he saw them, as well as his wife.

"People were screaming loudly when they brought us to the edge of a precipice and ordered us to line up facing the abyss. Jovo Jandric ordered the others to have their guns ready and then I heard shooting. Half an hour later, I woke up and noticed that I was surrounded by dead people," said Zobic, who was shot in his leg that day.

The Bosnian State Prosecutor's indictment describes Serbian war criminal Jovo Jandric as an accomplice in the mass murder of 23 Bosnian civilians.

Second Prosecution witness Borko Oparnica claims to have seen the corpses of the murdered Bosnian civilians from Ljoljici and Carkazovici in Tisovac village but added he didn't know who was behind their murder.

"I was told by my staff to visit the crime scene in Draganovac. When I arrived there, I saw grass covered with blood and corpses. I could not look at them, as I knew all these people. Later, I heard that the whole thing was initiated by Jovo Jandric," Oparnica said, adding that Fahrija Mutic told him that Milorad Savic and Mirko (Mico) Pekez had participated in the mass murder.

The trial of Serbian war criminals Milorad Savic,Mirko (Spiro) Pekez and Mirko (Mico) Pekez is due to continue before the Bosnian State Court on Friday, February 15.