Selimovic et al: Handshake With Indictee
10 February 2010
"The interviews were conducted every day. They lasted for an hour or two. Selimovic was the one who asked most questions. I was never beaten by him, but I do recall having been slapped," Nebojsa Trkulja said, testifying for the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the trial of Mehura Selimovic, Adil Ruznic and Emir Mustafic.
The three men are charged with having supported and motivated the detention of members of the Republika Srpska Army and police and civilians in detention centers in Bihac, Cazin and Bosanski Petrovac from February 1994 to February 1996.
The indictment alleges that Selimovic was Counter-intelligence Officer, Operational Officer and Deputy Chief of the Military Security Service Section with the Fifth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, Ruznic was Assistant Commander for Security and Operational Officer of the same Section and Mustafic was a member of the Military Police Squad of the Fifth ABiH Corp.
Trkulja said that, in addition to oral questioning by Selimovic, detainees had to answer questions in writing, adding that they did not know the answers in most cases.
"Sometimes we would sit there and write for hours. Most questions pertained to war crimes, but, for instance, I did not know the answers. If we did not know the answers, we were given a leaflet containing some responses, which we then copied and signed," the witness said.
Trkulja said that two and a half months later, detainees were transferred to a car mechanic workshop in Cazin, where the questioning continued.
"Selimovic questioned us again, but much less often. We were beaten more often than in Bihac. They beat us at night. A couple of them would come to the cell and hit us with all kinds of objects: hands, feet and sticks. It took us five days to recover," the witness said.
Trkulja was transferred from Cazin to Bihac in 1995. He was then exchanged, just like the other prisoners. The witness said the day they were taken to be exchanged was "the worst day in his life".
"They had never beaten us as much as they did in the bus. We were blindfolded, so we did not know when someone would hit us. Although we were covered with blood and broken, they forced us to sing a song called 'My Bosnia'," Trkulja said.
At the end of the examination Selimovic addressed the Court saying he did not know about the beatings in the bus and he used the opportunity to apologize for this. Witness Trkulja then stood up and shook hands with him.
Pero Plavsic, who was held in detention in Bihac and Cazin, testified at this hearing. Plavsic confirmed that the detainees were beaten, adding that he was "privileged".
"Me and Selimovic drank whiskey during the questioning. I was privileged, because I knew some people whom they respected. While they beat the other detainees all the time, I was beaten only once. This happened in the bus which transported us to the exchange location," the witness said.
The next hearing is due to take place on February 24.
Justice Report is a
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local courts; development of the local legal system; and efforts to come to
terms with the past.
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