The 1992 Execution in Veliki Park
On April 22, 1992, eight JNA reservists were shot in Sarajevo’s Veliki Park. The men were heading for Ilidza when their transporter broke down in the suburb of Dobrinja. Forces under Davor Matic captured the group and took them to a police station in Novi Grad before moving them to the Police House in downtown Sarajevo. Nedzad Herenda, age 73, and Edvin Jusic, age 54, both deny they were the shooters. Herenda, who lives in the Netherlands, says he spent his days in a basement office for Bosnian State Security. He says he heard gunfire and ran outside, where he saw at least four gunmen in a semi-circle near a tree. He says he did not know those men. When a police officer asked him why the men were killed, Herenda replied, "They got what they deserved." I find the accusation that Herenda was a gunman based on this single remark made in shock to be entirely insufficient.
Conflicting Testimony and Legal Acquittals
In 2016, Bosnian prosecutors indicted wartime special police commander Dragan Vikic, assistant interior minister Jusuf Pusina, Nermin Uzunovic, and Mladen Covcic for the killings and the disposal of bodies. The indictment named Herenda and Jusic as opening fire on the JNA reservists, but neither was actually charged. All four indicted men were acquitted in 2022. During the trial, Witness A claimed Herenda shot all eight prisoners from two metres away, while other witnesses said Matic or his men pulled the trigger. Jusic says he was a police sniper in Novi Grad who went to the police station to find more ammunition. He says he tried to save a victim by removing a blindfold and was shot in the leg by Covcic. He also identified Sulejman Babic as one of the shooters. In 2007, international prosecutor Philip Alcock told Herenda’s lawyer that the evidence gathered from 70 witnesses did not disclose any credible evidence against him and suggested Herenda was a possible scapegoat.
The court also heard that Herenda was abducted and tortured by AID officers for four days in 1996. He denies the claim that he confessed to the executions. The appeals panel noted that many witnesses identified the two men as killers, yet no testimony cited identified Jusic as opening fire. Jusic says he fled to Germany after being told he was in danger and says he has never been interviewed by Bosnian prosecutors. The indictment’s claims regarding Herenda’s membership in the ‘Bosna’ unit were disputed by the trial chamber, which said he answered to the State Security chief.
The Stalemate and the Missing
Interpol issued Red Notices for Herenda and Jusic in 2017. The Netherlands refused to extradite Herenda because he might not get a fair trial. Germany refused to hand over Jusic because he is a German citizen. The victims were Djordje Bjelica, Vlajko Golubovic, Nedeljko Vujicic, Zoran Markovic, Miladin Vukmanovic, Stevan Djokanovic, Milivoje Lalovic, and Dragomir Djeric. Only two of these eight men have been found in mass graves. Six victims remain missing.
In Republika Srpska, April 22 is the Day of the Missing Serbs of Sarajevo. Sasa Djokanovic said his family spent decades searching for remains with no results. The families received conflicting reports that the men were released, burned at a landfill, or held at the Viktor Bubanj prison camp. In 2023, prosecutor Vesna Ilic asked German authorities to question Jusic, but he has not testified. Cantonal prosecutors in Sarajevo first looked into the case in 2000, but in 2005, a complaint by Bosnian Serb police structures in East Sarajevo named 13 others, including Jerko Doko. In 2024, Ilic was accused of ignoring an instruction to split the case against Herenda and Jusic into separate proceedings by December 1, 2023.
