European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 7, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Balkans. Continued from Page 15 serbian forces surrounded the City in april and Borislav Herak s decision in late May to flee across a Bridge in Central Sarajevo into the serbian held District of Vrasca left the older Herak who is 55, alone. When this reporter arrived at two Story Home in the to Falicki District Herak a father invited him in then quickly burst into tears. Referring to a tape recorded confession by his son played on Sarajevo television on tuesday night Herak said Quot i could see that he was frightened but i believe he was telling the truth. Now i am ashamed to look people in the face because my son has thrown dirt on his  saying his son had a history of poor grades in school erratic behaviour As a conscript in the yugoslav Navy and heavy drinking accompanied by threats of physical harm to his father the older Herak said Quot i would be happier if he had simply killed me and gone to prison for it. Now i am alive and tortured by what my boy has done to innocent  like Many residential districts in Sarajevo the to Falicki neighbourhood where Borislav Herak grew up on a Hillside that has been heavily pounded by serbian guns is a mixed Community of serbs croats and muslims and residents say there have never been nationalist frictions. Tracing his family s history the older Herak noted that his Mother was a croat and that his daughter Ljubinka 30, is married to a Muslim Nezah Jankovic who is a taxi Driver fighting in the bosnian forces. The couple have a daughter Indiana who is 7 and is now living with her Mother in Skopje capital of the former yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The younger Herak during two interviews at the prison spoke with warmth of muslims in particular of Jankovic his brother in Law whom he described As exceptionally kind and a Good husband to his sister. Speaking of the couple s daughter Indiana who like tens of thousands of people in Sarajevo has a combination of sorb Muslim and croat forebears he said Quot i love her More than anything else in my life  Herak said he had had nothing but Good relations with Muslim neighbors in to Falicki who had invited the Herak family into their Homes for Bajram the principal Muslim festival Here and had been invited each year into the Herak Home to celebrate the serbian orthodox Christmas. Quot they helped me muslims a he said. Quot they were very Good to me As people everywhere i went muslims helped me. They Are a very Correct  but Herak said that after he went to the Budge across the Miljack River in late May carrying a loaf of bread As a prearranged signal to serbian fighters waiting Lor him on the other Side he began to get a different View of muslims. From serbian radio and television and in gatherings with other serbian fighters particularly the older generation steeped in serbian folklore going Back to serbian defeats by the ottoman turks in the Middle Ages he said he Learned that muslims posed a threat to serbs. Among other things he said serbian political leaders and commanders told fighters that muslims who accounted for 44 percent of Bosnia s prewar population of 4 4 million were planning to declare Quot an islamic Republic Quot in Bosnia which became Independent of Yugoslavia under a Muslim led government in april just As the Sarajevo siege began. According to these accounts Herak a widow sits with her daughter at Sarajevo a lion cemetery praying at her husband s grave. Said muslims it would also require serbian children to Wear Muslim clothing. Quot we were told that we would have to cleanse our whole population of muslims Quot he said. Quot that s what we have been told. That s Why it has been necessary to do All  the Young fighter said that he had also been motivated by the urge to have things he never had before the War including women and items like television sets and videos and foreign currency that serbian fighters were encouraged to loot from muslims Homes. He said the aha Ovici killings when 10 members of one family were shot by Herak and his companions began As the three a we were told that no one must escape and that All the houses must be burned so that if anybody did survive they would have nowhere left to return to. It was an order and i simply did what i was  Borislav Herak mass murder suspect men entered the House heard voices in the basement and went downstairs to demand valuables. He said one of the two elderly women was sitting in a chair and told him Quot Sonny we done to have  Herak continued. A so then i hit the old Granny on the head with my Rifle and she got up and pulled a wardrobe away from the Wall and there underneath it was what we were looking  he said he and his two companions a whom he identified As Rade Eljes 47, a welder and his son Dragan Miljes 19 a had taken from the family 500 German Marks about $320, plus a collection of Gold bracelets chains earrings and rings. Herak said the muslims had not pleaded for their lives As they were ordered up the basement stairs and outside although the widespread killings of Muslim civilians by serbian fighters were Well known in Bosnia by late june. The Only exception he said was Osman one of the three Muslim men whose throats he Cut with his Hunting knife. He said the other Muslim soldiers Ahmed and Ziad had said nothing As they were tackled to the ground and had their feet held by other fighters while Herak Cut their throats. Quot it was just a Short Cut and they were dead immediately just like the pigs Quot Herak said demonstrating his technique in the prison office by kneeling on one knee pulling his right hand Back in a replay of the movement needed to expose his victims Ness and making a Quick imaginary Cut with his left hand. Quot but Osman was different Quot he said. Quot he pleaded for his life at the very last moment. But it made no difference. He was dead in two . One group that had no Opportunity to know what the serbian fighters planned for them was a working party of five Muslim men whom the serbian fighters took from a Quot prison Quot for Muslim civilians near vog Osca and drove up Zug Mountain to dig trenches for the serbian forces. Herak said that his companion that Day in july was a serbian Quot Volunteer Quot named Dragoljub and that Dragoljub had said Quot these Guys should be killed. They re working poorly. They re not making any  Herak continued Quot they were standing with their backs to me so i opened fire. They did t say anything it was so fast. Two three seconds they were  often Herak a account ran Back to the Sonja cafe a Motel and restaurant Complex outside vog Osca on the main Road North from Sarajevo to Zagreb the croatian capital. Herak said the Quot commander Quot of the prison for Muslim women established in the Motel rooms was a serbian fighter named Miro Vukovic who was a loyalist of an Ultra nationalist serbian paramilitary group headed by Vojislav Seselja a leading politician in Serbia. He said Vukovic had established Quot a system Quot for the serbian fighters raping and killing the women. Quot it was always the same Quot Herak said describing How he and his companions w Ere encouraged to go to the Motel by serbian commanders who told them that raping Muslim women was Quot Good for raising the fighters  Herak identified the women he had attacked a Emina Sabina Amela and Fatima among others the youngest of them teen agers the oldest about 35 a and said Vukovic the Quot prison commander a had told them Quot you can do with the women what you like. You can take them away from Here a we Don t have enough food for them anyway a and Don t bring them  Herak said this was understood to mean that the women should be killed. He described How he and a companion had attacked Fatima whom he described As Quot a Nice woman about 30 years old Quot in a room at the Motel and then taken her at gunpoint in their car to Zug Mountain. A we stopped by a Small Bridge and i told her to get out. She walked about three meters away from the car with her Back to me and i just shot her i think in the upper Back or the Back of the head Quot he said showing How he fired from the hip once More without taking aim. Quot i went to her just to be sure that she was  Herak said some of the women had been left by the Roadside while others had been dragged into Bushes to hide them from the serbian military police who he said were feared among the serbian fighters. He said that he went to the Motel once every three or four Days and that although serbian fighters routinely took the women they raped away and killed them there were always More women arriving. Quot it was never a problem Quot he said. Quot you just picked up a key and went to a  Herak s account of the rapes was among the tape recorded sequences shown on Sarajevo television. His father showing visitors through the younger a Herak s room at the family Home on Rinska Street in Sarajevo seemed to shift from grief to something closer to disgust As he opened cupboards and showed piles of pornographic magazines and empty liquor bottles. A nun0 a a ?.oron by times a never pick Upa gun Hera sad. Quot but he did no to listen he just said hat s Okay old Man you Shell v re a Al v a Quot f0r the serbian shells to cd u Page 16 a a the stars and stripes monday december 7, 1992