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Kondic et al: Uninformed Policeman

Kondic i ostali

08 March 2010  A former policeman from Kljuc says Vinko Kondic was his superior, adding that police officers arrested Bosniaks from the area in 1992, but he did not know why.

"I do not want to say something incorrect, but I think Kondic was Police Chief and all stations were subordinate to him. (...) Policemen used to arrest people, but I do not know who those people were or what happened to them afterwards. Passing by 'Nikola Mackic' school, I saw some people in it. Others told me they were Muslims," Stevan Karac, a former member of the Public Safety Station in Kljuc, said, testifying for the State Prosecution.

Vinko Kondic, Chief of the Public Safety Station in Kljuc, Bosko Lukic and Marko Adamovic are charged with committing crimes against humanity and organising a group of people and abetting them to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Kljuc area during 1991 and 1992.

The indictment alleges that policemen and soldiers arrested non-Serbs and detained them in detention centers in the school building and the old railway station in Sanica, as well as "Nikola Mackic" school building and the Public Safety Station in Kljuc, where they were physically and mentally abused, from the end of May to August 1992. The Prosecution claims that, after they had been questioned, "police officers escorted" at least 1,161 men to Manjaca.

"I can tell you there were military barracks and soldiers, as well as a lake and a church in Manjaca. You must ask more concrete questions. I heard Muslims were detained there, but I do not know who detained them or why," Karac said, answering the State Prosecution's questions.

Prosecutor Dzemila Begovic said that in his statement given in February 2008 Karac said that the Crime Service of the Public Safety Station in Kljuc conducted "examinations and selection" of captured Bosniaks, who were then taken to Manjaca.

"It is true that I said that, but I must stress I assume this is how it happened," the witness said.

The witness said he "once" saw a person named Mustafa Lepirica, a former policeman, "sitting on a bench" in the Public Safety Station premises, but he did not know if he had been captured and brought there.

"We signed some statements, confirming we would continue working as policemen in Kljuc. This was ordered by some higher authorities. We signed the statements in the Chief's office. Most of our Bosniak colleagues did not sign the statement, but I do not know why. As of then, we put a Serb flag, the three-colour flag, on our caps," Karac said.

The Prosecution alleges that Kondic participated in a joint criminal enterprise. It further alleges that, between May 7 and May 21, 1992 he "established a mono-national police" by dismissing all Bosniaks and Croats from their functions.

Karac said he "knew absolutely nothing" about the events in Biljani in July 1992. The indictment alleges that more than 200 men were killed in the village. The witness said he supposed Bosniak civilians left Kljuc after having obtained permission from the Public Safety Station, because he saw them "queuing" in front of the Station.

"The war unfortunately happened. The stupid thing happened and everybody was leaving," Karac said.

The trial is due to continue on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.