Lalovic and Skiljevic: Voluntary Work
03 March 2010 Dragan Prizmic, who testified for the Defence of Soniboj Skiljevic, says he voluntarily performed labour during his stay in Kula Penal and Correctional Facility.
"I went to work so I would not be in the room all the time. Nobody forced us to go. (...) I worked at an agricultural farm. I also dug gas channels for the hospital in Kasindol," Prizmic, a former member of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, said.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Radoje Lalovic and Soniboj Skiljevic with crimes committed in "Butmir" Penal and Correctional Facility in Kula, near Sarajevo, where non-Serb men, women and children were detained. The indictment alleges that prisoners were held in inhumane conditions and taken to other locations to perform forced labour. Some of them were allegedly killed while performing the labour.
The indictment alleges that Lalovic was the Kula Facility Manager until the end of 1992. His former Deputy, Skiljevic, took over the function of Manager at the end of the year and performed this function until the end of 1995.
Prizmic said he joined 70 other HVO members, who voluntarily went to the territory controlled by the Republika Srpska Army in Grbavica in December 1993.
"We went to Grbavica, because we wanted to get to Kiseljak, which was controlled by the HVO at the time. We were first taken to 'Slavisa Vajner Cica' military barracks, where we stayed for 10 days. We were then taken to Grbavica and assigned to a working squad. We stayed there until the end of March 1994, when they took us to Kula. In Kula we were registered by the Red Cross," Prizmic said. He was exchanged in mid July 1994.
Speaking about the conditions in Kula Facility, the witness said he slept on a bed "in a large room", adding that there were 30 other people in the room. He said they received three meals per day.
Nisad Sarajkic, who testified for the Defence of Skiljevic, said he was mistreated in Kula Penal and Correctional Facility after having been captured in May 1992.
"I was taken out of the room just after midnight and taken to the second floor in the building, located next to the gate. They asked me where I kept the keys to my apartment and two cars," Sarajkic said, adding that he spent nine days in Kula. He said detainees were not allowed to go to the toilet, but were "given a bucket" in which to perform bodily functions.
After having been exchanged in mid May 1992, Sarajkic was captured again in the summer of 1995. He then spent 81 days in the Military Police Command in Ilidza, where "conditions were horrible". He was then transferred to the Kula Facility.
"The conditions were better than when I was first held there in 1992. I spent the first night on a mattress. After that I slept on a bed. (...) We had three meals per day. (...) I did not perform labour, but other detainees did," Sarajkic said, adding that he knew Skiljevic was the Kula Facility Manager when he was detained there for the second time.
The second indictee's Defence is due to continue presenting evidence on Thursday, March 4, 2010.
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