"Mice" and the Police Chief Ordered us to Drive Away Eight Corpses

Nezavisne Novine, Banja Luka, Srpska, B-H, September 29 1999

Continuing a series of articles about the infamous formation "Mice", which at the beginning of the war terrorized the inhabitants of Teslic, our research team has found new information about the crimes of this group. Besides statements by witnesses and victims, "dug out" by our correspondents from the Netherlands, our information was extended by the testimony provided by Serbs from Teslic who are aware that only by denouncing criminals and making sure that they are tried, the Serb nation can be cleared of a shameful stain caused by irresponsible individuals and wrong policy of the then leadership.

Witness N: Two men in uniform (I later found out that their names were Raka and Bata) came to see me. They confiscated my car, Volkswagen Passat CL Turbo, one year old. They did not give me any sort of a receipt. After thirty minutes the two of them came back and took away my second car, Volkswagen Golf, 60 liters of gasoline and 50 liters of oil. After that, they kept coming and taking away all sorts of stuff. They took from my restaurants 250 liters of strong liquor, including 40 bottles of whiskey.

Dobrivoje Culibrk was driving my Passat around Doboj, while Golf was driven by the deputy Police Chief Milan Savic. Later I heard that the Golf was stolen and I do not know where it is now.

Witness M: I remember that on June 3, around 6pm, about ten uniformed policemen from Teslic showed up in front of my house. They said they had a search warrant. They were looking for weapons. When they finished with the search, they said I had to go with them to the Police Station to give a statement. There, they took me to a room with more people. Then a man named Piko came in and hit me several times with a baton. Ten minutes later Piko asked me to another office and told me that if I gave DM 10,000 for the Serb Army, I would be set free. We went together to my house and he told my wife to bring the next morning DM 10,000 and that in that case I would be released. When my wife brought the money, he showed it to me and said that that money saved my life. However, he did not release me. Instead the next day a policeman on duty called me and told me to write a letter to my wife to bring another DM 10,000 and that I would be released. My wife brought that too, but they did not let me go. They transferred me to the prison in the Territorial Defense building. There I was beaten with a wooden club and my arm was broken. Piko came and took me to the hospital, and told me that I could buy my freedom for another DM 20,000. I told my wife to find that money any way she could. When I returned from the hospital, Piko drove me home and my wife gave him DM 14,500, 3,000 Swiss Franks, and 16,000 Austrian Schilings. Then, he left me at home and told me I had bought my life back.

Witness R: When they brought me they put me in a waiting room. There, Piko slapped me around, and then others arrived and beat me with arms and legs. I couldn't see their faces because while they were hitting me, I had to turn towards a wall and lean against it with three fingers... Later, Piko came and said I should offer assistance for the Serb Army. I offered DM 5,000, but he said that that was not enough. Then I offered DM 7,000 and said that was all I had. He accepted that and let me go saying to bring money at 9am the following day. The next day, I handed over to him DM 7,000. He didn't give me a receipt. Instead, he told me not to talk to anyone about the incident.

Witness T: They brought me to a room where about 60 people were held at the time. That evening, they immediately started with orders. A person would show up at the door and shout "get up". Then all of us had to lean against the wall with only three fingers on each hand and sing Serb patriotic songs. He would tell us which songs to sing.

Witness S: One of the "Micas", small, swarthy with curly hair, together with the Police Chief, told me that there were dead people in that room and that they should be buried. I did that with another three policemen. I'd rather not mention names. We used a yellow truck. We drove away eight corpses. I did not recognize them. That happened about 2am. The corpses were buried at the spot where sand was dredged in Vlajici.

Accused P: Our immediate superior was Sljuka, but I considered captain Petricevic to be our true superior. I was in Pribinic and one morning in front of a local bar lieutenant-colonel Bilanovic and Police Sergeant Ranko asked me to go with them towards Borje, where they pointed out a place where we were supposed to dig. I understood that we were supposed to dig an underground shelter of some sort. Following their orders, I returned to Pribinic and took from captain Jotanovic men from the working platoon. They dug for a day and continued the next day because of rain. When we finished with digging, I realized that we may have been digging a grave. We were told to stick around that evening around midnight. Captain Petricevic told me to take a truck and drive to the Police Station in Teslic. I went there escorted by the Military Police. In the Police Station we took several people from the prison. I do not know how many because I was sitting in the cabin while the policemen were putting them in the truck. We drove to the place where a hole was dug out, unloaded the truck and, since they lay on the ground, following the orders by a soldier who was with us, an execution was performed. I fired several bullets from a handgun, later, and I don't know if I killed anyone... Later, I went for another group in Pribinic. A smaller group was taken from that prison and the procedure was identical as with the previous group.

Accused K: I went with a group to Teslic as an escort in order to pick up 18 prisoners. We put the prisoners in the truck and drove towards Borje where an execution was performed. The commander of this action was sergeant Dragan Marjanovic, since our sergeant Sljuka was absent and Marijanovic was replacing him. After that we took a group of 10 prisoners from the prison in Pribinic. All the present shot and it is unclear who shot at whom... I am an ordinary soldier and cannot say whether a written order existed or not. I did that as a soldier and do not understand why I am guilty, since I had to follow the orders.

Accused Z: On one occasion sergeant Ranko Sljuka told us that detainees would be executed based on orders of lieutenant-colonel Bilanovic. That was done that day around 11pm, and the action was led by sergeant Dragan Marjanovic... We put beaten up and half dead people in a truck. I do not recall exactly how many... After they were taken off a truck and laid on the ground, Marjanovic ordered us to shoot. We shot from handguns... I do not feel responsible because I am an ordinary soldier and I had to follow orders...

Vera Galijasevic

They Told me that the Army had Taken Rasim to Gradiska

Starting with that day I couldn't find out anything about his fate. I searched daily and all I managed to find out was that he was held in the prison in the Police Station and that he was later transferred to the prison in the Territorial Defense building. When I heard that he could have been killed after the attack on the village of Rankovic, I went to look for him in the Health Center and the Civilian Protection. They sent me to the Police Chief Dragan Kuzmanovic. When I managed to see him, he seemed annoyed and told me that I should stop looking for Rasim in Teslic because the Army had taken him to Gradiska. After that, I had no news about him.

I was at the identification of the remains exhumed from the common grave in Borje, but he was not there. I heard that some of the killed were buried somewhere in the village of Vlajici.