Klickovic et al: Humane Exchange Commissions
08 October 2008 A Prosecution witness speaks about the participation of Mladen Drljaca in the exchange of prisoners in 1992.
On May 22, 1992 in "a neutral area" in Pritoka, near Bihac, Prosecution
witness Esref Hadzic and indictee Mladen Drljaca participated in an exchange of
civilians and soldiers, who were searched for by the Bosniak and Serb
Prisoners Exchange Commission".
"Prior to the exchange, members of the two Commissions held a meeting at
which we agreed on the lists of persons who were going to be exchanged. This was
the first time I saw Mladen Drljaca. It seemed as if he was superior to others,"
Hadzic said. He represented Bosniaks in the Prisoner Exchange
Commission.
Hadzic said that the exchange in Pritoka was conducted on May 10 and May
22, 1992, but indictee Drljaca participated in the second one only.
The Prosecution charges Mladen Drljaca, Gojko Klickovic
and Jovan Ostojic with crimes in the Bosanska Krupa area in 1991 and 1992.
The results of the investigation, conducted by the Prosecution, which are
attached to the indictment, indicate that Drljaca participated, as President of
the Exchange Commission, in the exchange of forty prisoners on May 10 and May
22, 1992. It further alleges that the wartime Presidency of the so-called
Serbian municipality of Bosanska Krupa made the decisions pertaining to the
exchange.
"Other people, who were exchanged on May 10, said that some prisoners had
been abused in Krupa. We conveyed this information to the Commission members,
who represented the other party, at the meeting held prior to the second
exchange. At that meeting we requested exchange of nine more prisoners,
including Semsa and Kemal Sepic, who, according to our findings, had been most
severely abused," Hadzic said.
As indicated by this witness, Mladen Drljaca said that he
would convey this request to his "superiors", but he did not pronounce their
names.
Hadzic said that, on May 22, 1992, Semsa Sepic was exchanged, together
with other prisoners, as per a decision made by the wartime Presidency, but her
husband and seven other persons, who had been searched for, were not exchanged.
"On that day we received a document, which indicated that the others
could not be exchanged, because they had to be kept under custody," Hadzic
recalled, adding that the Commission members could not decide who would be
exchanged and who would not.
"The Commission members cannot be accused of prosecution of people in
this region, because we performed a humane job at the time. If there was
anything humane in the war, those were the Exchange Commissions," Hadzic
said.
This witness added that the Commissions were composed of representatives
of civilian and military authorities.
The
trial is due to continue on Tuesday, October 14.
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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