Preventiva in Visegrad?

*Preventiva – the network of guards and contacts protecting Karadzic.

On 26.01.2005. an anonymous email arrived at Nezavisne Novine ( a newspaper in Banja Luka) which claimed that Preventiva was planning assassinations in Republika Srpska. The author of the email distanced himself from the murder of Bosniaks in Visegrad and even called it “genocide“. He claimed that he was a member of the war Presidency in Visegrad municipality and that he “could not help the poor people who suffered in Visegrad” because the main people in charge were “Brane Savovic and Risto Perisic“.

Milan Lukic led away in a police car in Argentina after being arrested.

The author also named  a few Visegrad Serbs who were supposedly targeted for assassinations: Drazen Perendija, Stojan Papic, Mile Lukic and  Mile Peric.

The letter continues naming members of the “Preventiva“:

Milan Josipovic, former Police commander and  Drazen Knezevic, policeman as the leaders for Eastern Bosnia. Policemen Lelek, Goran Nedic, Srecko Nedic, Novak Poluga, Miro Moljevic and ex-policemen Rakovic and Milicevic.

For the Sarajevo-Romanija region Milovan – Cicko Bijelica. For the Banja Luka-Posavina region Radomir Njegus and for Hercegovina Zoran Mandic.

For financial support, the main persons in charge Brane Smiljic, aka Zika, from Visegrada; Pecikoza, former director of  a firm called “Terpentina”;former director of  Dam “Visegrad” Marjanovic.

According to the letter all important meeting were held in Zlatiboru, in the apartments of Branimir Savovic, Brane Smiljica and Riste Perisica. The core of the organization are Branimir Savovic, Radomir Njegus, Risto Perisic, Cicko Bijelica, Milan Josipovic and Momcilo Mandic,who was in charge for contact with the State Security of Serbia.

The letter also states who is in charge of supplying the organization with weapons: former commander of the  Visegrad brigade Luka Dragicevic and Milan Kosoric, who during war-time supplied Serb Democratic Party with weapons from Serbia. Persons in charge for logistics: Radoje Tasic, journalist from Visegrad, and lawyer Radomir Tanaskovic.

As for the author, at the end of the letter he claims that his role during the war was to gather material support mostly from outside of Bosnia. He mentions that he worked with Miroslav Kojic.

He also admits that he is writing this because he found out that Branimir Savovic and Risto Perisic are planing to plant him an indictment at the Hague so as to save themselves. He also notices that not a single member of the war Presidency has been indicted for war crimes.

War-time picture of Milan Lukic in a military uniform in Visegrad.

VGM Editor’s Note: On 8. April 2005 an email signed by Milan Lukic arrived at “Nezavisne Novine” in which he blames some leading Visegrad Serbs for killing his brother Novica. This letter where he calls Savovic and Perisic “communist scum”, is not important because of its content as it is for other reasons. Namely, thanks to this  email, Hague investigators were able to track down Lukic in Argentina. And also “Nezavisne Novine” published that this letter and the last letter giving details about “Preventiva” came from the same server. So most certainly Lukic is the author of the previous email.

*Read: How he slipped into hiding by Ed Vulliamy

*Read:Lukic set to face trial for Visegrad Terror by Nerma Jelacic

*Full letter in Bosnian here.

In Memoriam: Safet ef. Karaman

Safet ef. Karaman, imam in a Visegrad mosque, taken away by Serb soldiers in June '92.

Safet ef. Karaman was born on 29.11.1949. in Okrugla near Visegrada. He came from a famous religious family – the Karamans. He finished the Gazi Husrev Bey madrasah in Sarajevo in 1973. In 1989 he became an imam in the Emperor’s mosque(Careva dzamija) in Visegrad. He was the main imam(glavni imam) in Visegrad, an official of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Besides that, he was one of the founders of the Party of Democratic Action(SDA) in Visegrad and a member of the Main Board(glavni odbor) of the SDA. He refused to leave Visegrad, saying: ”I will not leave Visegrad until my  congregation members do” (“Necu otici iz Visegrada dok ima dzematlija“). On 07.06.1992 he was taken away from his apartment by Serb soldiers and led in an unknown direction. Until today his remains have not been found. These Serb soldiers later returned and took the mosque keys from Safet’s wife Vasva. They looted, set ablaze and bulldozed the mosque. Safet’s father, Mustafa ef. Karaman, also an imam in Okruglo, was harassed and beaten by Serb soldiers in front of his house in Okruglo. He and his wife later escaped to  Gorazde via Medjedja  thanks to guides and resistance soldiers from the First Visegrad Brigade of the Bosnian Army. Safet’s son, who was a a High-school student in Sarajevo, after learning what happened to his father, joined the resistance as an 18-year old.

Read more:

+ In Memoriam: Himzo Demir

+ Destruction of mosques in the Visegrad Municipality

+ Serb Democratic Party Crisis Committee

Bosniak MP Adem Huskić Marks Yom Hashoah

Bosniak MP Adem Huskic

Adem Huskić
House of Representatives, Member
Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina

On Tuesday 21st April 2009, we are commemorating Yom Hashoah, the Holocaust Remembrance Day. This date, 27. Nisan according to the Hebrew calendar, marks the anniversary of the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising.

I take this opportunity to honor the heroes of the 1943 Warsaw uprising, and also to remember that we still have to fight fascist ideology, so that this ideology will be defeated once and for all.

Although the fascist states have been defeated, fascism as an ideology has not. I sincerely hope that the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina will find the courage to adopt legislation against Holocaust and genocide denial. And in that way, it would be a contribution to the fight against fascism.

Pionirska ulica massacre

Ariel photograph of the house in Visegrad where about 70 Bosniak women and children were burnt alive.

Above: Ariel photograph showing the house in Pioneer street where in June ’92 around 70 Bosniak women and children were burnt alive by Bosnian Serb soldiers from Visegrad.

Milan Lukic having a hair cut in June '92

Above: Milan Lukic having a hair cut at the height of the Visegrad Genocide. Milan Lukic is believed to be behind the Bikavac and Pioneer street massacres.

Paklenik Massacre

Hand-drawn map by Ferid Spahic explaining the Paklenik massacre during the Vasiljevic case.

The Paklenik Massacre is the massacre of at least 50 Bosniaks by Bosnian Serb Army in the Rogatica Municipality on 15 June 1992. One day earlier,local Serbs close to the Serb Democratic Party-led Visegrad Municipality organized the deportation of several hundred Bosniak civilians to Olovo(a town in Bosnian Government-controlled territory). However, on its way towards the Rogatica Municipality, Bosnian Serb Army members from Visegrad stopped the buses and took all the men off to another bus. They spent the night in Rogatica and the next day they were taken to Paklenik (Hell) to a ravine called Propast (Downfall) where they were systematically executed and their bodies thrown into the ravine. Only one man survived the massacre – Ferid Spahic. The men responsible for this massacre have not yet answered for their crimes. The only people who have been indicted were Mitar Vasiljevic, Nenad Tanaskovic, Sredoje and Milan Lukic. The Bosniak civilians who were deported and who were massacred came from the following villages in Visegrad: Gornji and Donji Dubovik, Velatovo, Zagre, Smijece, Zupa and Dobrun.

The remains of these executed Bosniaks were found in 2000.

During the Mitar Vasiljevic case, Ferid Spahic testified about the Paklenik massacre. Above is a hand-drawn map by Spahic explaining the murder of about 50 Bosniak men civilians from villages in the Visegrad municipality.

Hand-drawn map showing the position of Bosnian Serb soldiers and Bosniak victims near the Paklenik ravine.

Spahic also drew an important map showing the location of Republika Srpska Army members and Bosniak civilians shoot and dumped in the Paklenik ravine. Spahic names 3 Bosnian Serb soldiers he recognized: Predrag Milisaljevic, Slavisa Vukojcic and Ceho Borisa.

Read more on this here.

Editor’s note: These drawings were used as evidence in the Vasiljevic case. They were obtained on the official ICTY website.

* Read Daniel McGrory’s “Britain forgets Bosnia’s nameless dead “ The Times (London), 28 August 2000:

(…)

At this cave in Paklenik, on an April morning in 1992, 53 men faced their execution. Their hands were tied behind their backs with barbed wire. In groups of five they were marched to the mouth of the cave and shot at point-blank range. One man – the only survivor – tried to run and tripped as automatic gunfire ricocheted around him. The Serbs were sure they had shot him. Until now this man has been too scared to lead inspectors to what could turn out to be one of the biggest mass graves in this country.

In ten days of digging, the scientists have already uncovered more than 50 bodies. Small yellow flags mark the position of each skull. Beneath them and in crevices they can see the remains of more victims.  Scrabbling on her hands and knees, Dr Eva Klonowski shows how one man, his elbow shattered by a bullet and his hands still tied, somehow managed to crawl 50 yards to a ledge where he must have bled to death in the darkness. ‘This is a slaughterhouse and whatever your politics or what you think of the Balkans, surely we have a duty in the name of humanity to find out who these people are,’ she says.

The investigators get no help locally. Farmers who live only a few hundred yards away express astonishment at the discovery of the cave.

(…)

Lukic’s attempt to buy alibi

Visegrad Genocide Survivor Ferid Spahic tells the court about Lukic's Defence team's attempt to bribe Vilic

Edited: 17.04.09

Ferid Spahic, Hamdija Vilic‘s comrade in the Bosnian Army and a survivor of the 15. June Paklenik Massacre, where dozens of Bosniak men were separated from a civilian convoy leaving Visegrad and systematically murdered, testified about the attempted bribing of Hamdija Vilic by  Lukic’s defence team.

Last year Ferid Spahic found out that Hamdija Vilic was offered a large sum for false testimony to give an aliby for Milan Lukic. He, at once, called the Persecution at the Hague and informed them about this. Later on he learned that Vilic had already contacted  the Persecution in early November.

Ferid Spahic testified in earlier Visegrad war crimes cases (Vasiljevic and Tanaskovic ) concerning the Paklenik massacre. On 14.06.92 a convoy of Bosniak civilians which was organized by the SDS-led Municipality (according to the witness the main person in charge was  Ljupko Tasić) which was destined for Macedonia. The convoy turned towards the Sokolac Municipality where Bosniak men were separated from their families. About 50 Bosniak men were taken to Sokolac where they spent the night. The next day, they were taken to  a ravine called  Propast (Downfall) where they were systematically shot and thrown into it. Ferid Spahic was able to escape.

*Read Downfall, Colder than Death, Irhan Ceco, DANI, Sarajevo

WHO KILLED HAJRA KORIC?

Milan Lukic, accused of commiting war crimes against Bosnin Muslims in Visegrad

At the trial for crimes against Muslims in Visegrad the witness called by the Trial Chamber described how Milan Lukic killed Hajra Koric cold-bloodedly in front of a group of women. Contrary to that, the defense claims that a person mentioned as ‘he’ in one of the witness’s previous statements was not Milan Lukic but unidentified ‘other Chetnik’

Following the subpoena issued by the Trial Chamber, witness CW-2 testified today at the trial of Milan and Sredoje Lukic with full protective measures: pseudonym, image and voice distortion. In the statements she gave to the Visegrad Association of Women Victims of War and the OTP investigators last year the witness recounted an incident in which Hajra Koric was murdered before her eyes. In the indictment, Milan Lukic is charged with the murder of Hajra Koric. In September 2008, in the course of the prosecution case, another witness, VG-35, testified about the same incident. That witness was also in a group of women who saw the murder.

In late June 1992, CW-2 headed towards Bikavac, a part of Visegrad, in the company of women who had been seeking shelter in abandoned houses in Visegrad. They were stopped in the street by Milan Lukic and ‘another Chetnik’ who wanted to see if Hajra Koric was among them. When Lukic identified Hajra Koric, he took her out of the column and shot her into the chest, the witness said today. Lukic then turned around and asked the women, ‘What’s the matter with her?’ He then fired another shot into Hajra Koric’s body on the ground.

The defense counsel brought up some discrepancies between the witness’s description of the event today and what she had stated previously. As the defense counsel put it, in her statement to the Association of Women Victims of War, the witness said that another Chetnik shot Hajra Koric; Lukic shot the victim ‘only’ when she was already dead. On the other hand, in the statement she gave two weeks later to the OTP investigators the witness said that Milan Lukic fired both shots. According to the defense, this showed that the witness ‘mixed up the names’. The defense counsel also argued that Milan Lukic was not in Visegrad on that day. The witness disagreed with the defense counsel, explaining that in both statements she ‘recounted what I saw and went through’.

Prosecutor Dermot Groome objected to the way in which the defense counsel examined the witness, noting that the discrepancies in the witness statements were the result of the witness using the pronoun ‘he’ in her statement to the Association of Women Victims of War and the person who interviewed her didn’t ask her to specify who ‘he’ was. Contrary to that, in her interview with the OTP investigators, they constantly reminded the witness to say who ‘he’ was whenever she said ‘he’ had said or done something. Prosecutor Groome had only one question for the witness but he asked it in closed session.

The evidentiary part of the Milan and Sredoje Lukic trial was supposed to be over by the end of this week. However, yet another defense witness would be examined via video link after the Tribunal’s Easter recess.

Source: sense-agency.com

Victim self-defense: Bosniak resistance in Visegrad

In every Genocide, there are people who realize the awful truth and prepare to defend their homes and family. Today we shall remember those, who prepared, fought and did not allow their home-town to fall to enemy hands without a bullet fired. In the Visegrad, there are several persons who should be remembered.

The Patriotic League insignia

1. Zijad Subasic, a young member of the illegal Patriotic League(PL), he was the PL leader in Visegrad according to PL leader Kerim Lucarevic.  In late ’91 and early ’92, he and a couple of other young Bosniak men bought and transported small arms to Visegrad from Sarajevo via Gorazde. Zijad and his men managed to stop the Uzice Corps in Dobrun (outskirts of Visegrad near the Serbian border) and capture 40 “White Eagles”. They held this position for five days and thus allowing many Bosniaks in village areas to flee.  Zijad was injured during one street fight and sent to Foca(which was not occupied by the JNA yet). After the occupation of Foca, Zijad was taken from his hospital bed by some local Serbs from Visegrad and slaughtered on the Mehmed-pasa Sokolovic bridge.  R.I.P

Zijad Subasic, commander of the Patriotska Liga unit in Visegrad.

2. Murat Sabanovic,   led an armed group which captured a few Serb policemen and held them captive in the Hydroelectric dam  in Visegrad, thus allowing Bosniak civilians from Visegrad and surrounding villages to flee. He became famous  after a televised telephone conversation with the Commander of the JNA in Sarajevo General Miltutin Kukanjac in which he swore (which was unthinkable in the Communist regime) at General Kukanjac.  Sabanovic claimed that he had explosives (but he did not) and that he is going to blow up the dam if the JNA did not retreat from Visegrad. This lasted a few days and was finished by  intervention of B&H President Alija Izetbegovic who pleaded with Sabanovic “not to blow up the dam”.  Sabanovic’s actions were more strategic and psychological than military.

*Desperate General Milutin Kukanjac begging Murat Sabanovic not to blow up the Visegrad dam.

3. Ahmet Sejdic, Commander of the  First Visegrad Brigade formed in early May near Medjedja, Visegrad. It was made up of refugees and Visegrad Genocide survivors, former concentration camp inmates, rape victims etc. These were people who had high moral and nothing to loose. Their only aim was to liberate Visegrad. Fighters of the First Visegrad Brigade were able to liberate  a few strategic villages and basically keep (a large part) the left side of the Drina river under control. They are popular for having taken Zaglavak (a hill above Visegrad) from Russian volunteers in the Army of Republika Srpka(VRS), about 15 Russians were killed in that operation. The First Visegrad Brigade held their positions until May 1993, almost a year of resistance on Visegrad territory.

Ahmet Sejdic, commander of the Prva Slavna visegradska brigada/First Visegrad Brigade.

4.Zaim Kustura, Ahmet Sejdic’s deputy, a people’s hero famous for leading expeditions in Visegrad’s hills and forests and rescuing Bosniaks hiding there. He is believed to have saved hundreds if not thousands of lives.

5.Mehmed Tvrtkovic, Commander of Visegrad’s Territorial Defense.

Image: Members of the First Visegrad Brigade in the forest near Vsiegrad preparing for an operation.

Image: Female members of the First Visegrad Brigade. Women who were raped or sexually abused or whose husbands or children were murdered in Visegrad by the Bosnian Serb Army joined up the resistance.

Updated: 24.9.2009

6 April 1992- 6 April 2009-REMEMBER!NEVER FORGET!

On 6.04.92 Uzice Corps of the Yugoslav Peoples’ Army(JNA) led by General Dragoljub Ojdanic attacked Visegrad along with other paramilitary formations which were under the JNA control(White Eagles, Seselj’s Chetniks etc.). Resistance was broken down and JNA occupied Visegrad on 14. April 1992.

General Dragoljub Ojdanic, who led the JNA attack on Visegrad.He is at the Hague anwsering for war crimes commited in Kosova.

Facts:

*At least 1661 Bosniaks murdered(according to IDC)

*Hundreds of Bosniak women raped

*Thousands forced out and deported

*All Islamic architecture deliberately destroyed including the city’s two main mosques

*Bosniak property confiscated

Perpetrators:

*Yugoslav Peoples’ Army/Army of Republika Srpska(VRS)

*Serb Democratic Party(SDS) Crisis Committee (Krizni Stab)

*Serb led Visegrad Municipality

*Paramilitary formations under the control of/tolerated by JNA/VRS

*local Serb neighbors

Aftermath:

*Visegrad is an ethnicly cleasned town.

*Except for Milan Lukic, no other high-ranking Serb official has answered for crimes committed in Visegrad. Not a single member of the Visegrad Municipality or the Crisis Committee has been arrested.

*War criminals still live in the town

*One of the two mosques has been rebuilt by Visegrad’s Bosniaks living in other parts of B&H or diaspora.

WITNESS REMEMBERS LUKIC’S SMILE

Milan Lukic at the Hague

THE HAGUE, 04.09.2008.

VG-32, one of the two Bosniaks who survived the execution on the Drina river bank near Visegrad on 7 June 1992 testifies at the trial of Milan and Sredoje Lukic. As he identified Milan Lukic in the courtroom, the witness said that he ‘remembered well his smile’ before the execution on the river bank

Protected witness VG-32 is one of the two survivors from a group of seven Bosniaks executed, as alleged by the indictment, by the accused Milan Lukic and his accomplices on 7 June 1992 on the Drina river bank near Visegrad. The trial of Milan and Sredoje Lukic opened in July 2008 with the testimony of witness VG-14 who spoke about this event.

After a few weeks in Gorazde, the witness returned to Visegrad in early May 1992 because he had a work obligation in the local health care center. The witness moved to the house of his father-in-law; it was located near his workplace to avoid having to pass through numerous check points all over town. The situation was getting risky: ‘Muslims were disappearing every day’, he said.

In the afternoon of 7 June 1992, Milan Lukic and several armed men came to the house of his father-in-law. They took the witness and his friend to a nearby house where a number of captured Muslims – including a boy – were detained. After he took all of their valuables, Milan ordered four of them to come with him. A car with three other prisoners was waiting outside the house. They all drove to the Vilina Vlas hotel, where they were joined by Mitar Vasiljevic. Vasiljevic, Milan Lukic’s best man, is currently serving a 15-year sentence for his part in this crime.

They left the hotel and headed towards the Drina River. When they got close to the river bank, Milan lined them up facing the water and ordered his companions to open fire at the prisoners. ‘I felt a flicker of hope’, VG-32 said describing the moments when he jumped in the river before he was hit and a body of another victim fell on top of him. When he heard the attackers leaving, VG-32 realized that another man had survived the execution without injuries. The two of them remained in the water for some time and then took shelter in the bushes. When the night fell, they swam across the river ‘holding to a tree stump’.

VG-32 also gave evidence about his encounter with witness VG-114 several days after she managed to escape from the house set on fire in the Bikavac neighborhood. Milan and Sredoje Lukic are also indicted for this crime. The state VG-114 was in when they met ‘went beyond the worst horror movie’, he said. Her face was burned beyond recognition and the wounds in her hands were ‘full of maggots’. In its opening statement the prosecution indicated that witness VG-114 would be testifying without protective measures. VG-114 wanted to describe how it felt ‘to be burned alive’ and to look Milan Lukic, her schoolmate, ‘who did this to her’ in the eye as she told her tale.

In the cross-examination, Milan Lukic’s defense counsel continued with his mistaken identity strategy: he claims the witness mistakenly identified the accused because he didn’t know him personally. According to the defense counsel, the information the witness had about the accused were based on rumors. The witness rejected this argument saying that the person sitting in the courtroom was Milan Lukic who took him to the execution site on 7 June 1992 and ‘whose smile he remembered very well’.

Source: Sense Agency