Savic et al: Events directed by Kalinovik police
08 October 2008 A Prosecution witness recalls how he survived the shooting, after having been detained in Kalinovik.
Fejzija Hadzic, former director of the Communal Services
Company in Kalinovik, said that he was detained on June 25, 1992, adding that,
after having been held in the detention camps "controlled by the police, he was
brought somewhere in order to be shot.
"All those detention camps and all the things that happened to Bosniaks,
who were detained in them, were directed by the police in Kalinovik. They were
the ones who brought us to those places, guarded us and took us somewhere else
to perform forced labour. In the end they handed us over to whoever they wanted
to," Hadzic said.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Krsto Savic with the crimes in Kalinovik municipality. The indictment alleges that members of the
Public Safety Station in Kalinovik participated in those crimes. At that time
Savic was chief of the Safety Services Center in Trebinje, which was responsible
for the Public Safety Station in Kalinovik.
The same indictment charges Milko Mucibabic, former policeman from
Nevesinje, with having participated in the crimes against Bosniaks committed in that
town.
The witness was among "male residents of Ljehovina village", who were
captured and driven to "Miladin Radojevic" school building, where he stayed for
about ten days. During the detention he was exposed to "horrible conditions in
the detention camp, lack of food and sleeping conditions".
As indicated by Hadzic, in early July 1992 he was among about 70 other
Bosniaks, who were transferred from the school building to "Barutni magacin"
detention camp, in which he survived "monstrous frights" in the course of his
30-day detention.
"On August 5 some soldiers came and beat us up severely. Then they loaded
us on a military truck, which was escorted by a police car with a rotating
light. Some time later we arrived to a barn in Ratine village. They took us out
and started shooting at us. After having been hit on my knee, I fell to the
ground. I was the only one who survived the massacre," the witness said.
The killed people's bodies were dragged into the barn and set on fire,
but he "managed to open the back door and run away".
In the course of cross-examination the witness told Slavisa Prodanovic,
the Defence attorney of indictee Savic, that he "cannot say for sure who was
responsible for this crime", adding that he was sure that the action was
"thoroughly plans, as everybody knew what was going to happen".
Second Prosecution witness Jasar Vuk was detained in the police building
in Kalinovik in the course of 1992. This witness testified at the trial of Ratko
Bundalo, Nedjo Zeljaja and Djordjislav Askraba, former members of military and
police structures in Kalinovik, who are currently being tried before the Court in
Sarajevo.
"I spent three months in the police building. I do not know why they
detained me. I never did any bad things to anybody. The conditions were fine. We
had food and water. They would sometimes take us to the toilet. However, they
never allowed us to go out," Vuk said.
The
trial is due to continue on Thursday, October 9, 2008.
Justice Report is a
specialist reporting agency focusing on war crimes trials taking place before
local courts; development of the local legal system; and efforts to come to
terms with the past.
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The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
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