At the trial of Veselin “Batko” Vlahovic, a witness said the defendant took away her neighbours in 1992 and that their bodies were found eight years later.
Witness Hatidza Babic, who lived in Grbavica in 1992, said that on June 15, 1992 she saw from her window Vlahovic taking away three neighbours from their apartments. Their bodies were discovered in a rubbish damp in 2000.
“The wife of one of the neighbours wanted to throw him a sweater. Vlahovic said that he would not be needing anything,” testified Babic.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Vlahovic with the killing of several people in Sarajevo in 1992 and abusing and stealing from Bosniak and Croat civilians.
A second indictment has also been filed against Vlahovic, charging him with the murder and disappearance of 14 people, as well as rape and abuse of civilians.
At this hearing, protected witness S45 testified that she heard that defendant Vlahovic took away her 25-year old neighbour, who was afterwards found dead at Trebevic Mountain, near Sarajevo.
“I saw from the building’s entrance the car pulling over and Batko coming out and approaching the neighbour, and the day after I heard that the neighbour was taken away,” said witness S45.
Asked by the prosecutor, Behaija Krnjic, why during the investigation she said that she had personally seen Batko taking away the neigbour, and not that she had only heard about it, the witness responded that she was afraid and that she only saw “Batko and the neighbour in front of the building and nothing more.”
The next hearing is on March 7, 2012, when the prosecution will examine three more witnesses.
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