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Selimovic et al: Prison Like a Hotel

Selimovic i ostali

18 March 2010  Two Prosecution witnesses say they were questioned by indictee Adil Ruznic during their detention in the "Adil Besic" military barracks in Bihac, adding that he did not cause them any bodily harm.

"Upon my arrival at the barracks, they accommodated me in a small space, where 14 of us stayed. The room was small, about six square meters. There were tiles on the floor. We slept on them. Later they gave us wooden pallets and one blanket for each of us. I remember some prisoners were covered with bruises. Some of them even had wounds from which blood was pouring. I thought to myself - something bad would happen to me," witness Ranko Stanojevic said.

 

Stanojevic, a former member of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, was captured in 1995. He said that during his detention he used to be taken for questioning, which sometimes lasted for several hours. Questions were written and distributed to them by indictee Adil Ruznic.

 

"Ruznic was the one who gave us papers with questions written on them almost every day. I did not know what exactly was his job, but I knew he was a security officer. Despite the fact that there were many other people who complained about having been beaten up by him, I must say he never hit me.
He was nice to me," the witness said.  

 

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Ruznic, Mehura Selimovic and Emir Mustafic with having helped and motivated others to detain 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, Operations Officer and Deputy Chief of the Military Security Service Section of the Fifth Corps with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, Ruznic was Assistant Commander for Security Affairs and Operations Officer with the same Section and Mustafic was a member of the Military Police Squad with the ABiH Fifth Corp.

 

Milenko Golic, a former VRS member, testified as the second Prosecution witness at
this hearing. He was detained in the military barracks in Bihac.   

 

"When I came to the barracks in Bihac, I had already had injuries on my face, because they had beaten me for five days in Kljuc. In comparison to that, my stay in Bihac was like being in a hotel. The food was excellent. We received two meals per day. They took care of hygienic conditions. Bearing in mind this was a prison with detainees in it, I was satisfied with the conditions," Golic said.

 

When asked by the Prosecutor whether people were examined and physically abused in the military barracks, the witness said he had heard about some detainees having been mistreated during questioning, but he never personally saw this.  

 

"There were beatings. I was not beaten, but some people were. I do not know who beat them. Everybody treated me in a correct manner. Those people performed their tasks in a professional manner. I am referring to Adil Ruznic and Emir Mustafic," the witness said.  

 

Both witnesses identified indictees Ruznic and Mustafic in court.

 

The next hearing is due to take place on March 24, when the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina will invite two more witnesses.