Former officer testifies in Tuzla Column trial

BELGRADE -- A former officer at the Tuzla military barracks, Branko Jovović, has testified in the Tuzla Column trial. Ilija Jurišić is accused of using prohibited materials in an attack on a Yugoslav National Army (JNA) column pulling out of Tuzla in 1992. Jovović said that the column was not a fighting column and that it had come under a surprise attack. The Serbian war crimes prosecution indicted Jurišić on November 5, accusing him of giving the order to fire at the detachment of the JNA’s 92nd Motorized Brigade in Tuzla. At least 92 soldiers were killed in the attack, and 33 injured. A large number of military vehicles were destroyed as well. At the trial today, Jovović said that, as the commander of the base within the Tuzla barracks on May 15, 1992, he had started packing up his troops, getting ready for a move to the... [read full story]