FOUR NEW WITNESSES TESTIFIED BEFORE BOSNIAN STATE COURT AT TRIAL OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL NOVAK DJUKIC

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (26 August,2008) - Four new Prosecution witnesses have testified before the Bosnian State Court about May 25, 1995, when a mortar hit the Kapija area in Tuzla, where young Bosnian people used to gather, killing 71 and wounding more than 200 Bosnian civilians.

The Bosnian State Prosecution charges this crime upon Serbian war criminal Novak Djukic, former commander of a genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's paramilitary unit (VRS).

The Prosecution considers that, on May 25, 1995 Serbian war criminal Novak Djukic ordered the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's artillery squad, situated in Panjik village on mount Ozren, to shell the eastern Bosnian city of Tuzla, using 130mm cannons.

"I heard an explosion and I saw a lot of dust. A few seconds later we heard screams and cries for help. There was blood everywhere. People were saying all kinds of things, like 'do not leave us here, save us' and so on, " Nadir Huremovic said. As he was not injured on that day, he and his friend tried to help the wounded.

Witness Vildana Isic said that her two brothers were wounded on that day, but she was not injured. She said that she went to Gradina hospital by car, together with her brothers and a few other wounded Bosnian civilians. When they got there they received medical assistance.

"I had to step on my friends' body parts. When we arrived to the hospital, I found out that my boyfriend had been killed. A friend of mine, who was with me on that day, died ten days later," Isic said.

Witnesses Edin Altunbabic and Adnan Aliefendic were not wounded on May 25, 1995. As they said in the courtroom, they tried to help whoever they could after the mortar had hit the ground.

"I drove a few people to the hospital. I stayed there, helping others carry the wounded people to the hospital. I remember a truck, which drove many wounded people to the hospital. Most of them did not show any signs of life," Altunbabic said.

The trial of Serbian war criminal Novak Djukic is due to continue before the Bosnian State Court on September 2, 2008, when the Bosnian State Prosecutor will examine three more witnesses.
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