Damjanovic: A meeting in court after 14 years

Former Vogosca detainee Mujo Abaz testified today of the torture he survived in 1992.

The prosecution alleges that Dragan Damjanovic is responsible for crimes committed in Vogosca, near Sarajevo,in 1992.

Beside other things, Damjanovic is charged that on August 30, 1992 he tortured a detainee from camp Planjina kuca by “cutting a shape of a cross on his face”, after which he forced the victim to eat food soaked with his own blood. The defendant denies the charges.

During the hearing on Monday, Abaz confirmed these statements of the indictment.

The witness said that on May 18, 1992, he and other Bosniaks from Vogosca were taken to Planjina kuca camp.

“Every morning we had to check in to one of the check-points in Vogosca. Then we were distributed for work. I was usually in the town of Ravne,”said Abaz, adding that Serb soldiers had guarded them during the work.

Abaz told the court that on August 20, 1992, defendant Damjanovic approached him during lunch and ordered him to sit in front of him.

“He took out three bayonets and cut my forehead. I started bleeding. He forced me to lean my head over a plate of soup, which I later ate and had to drink the whole thing,” said the witness, who has visible scars on his forehead.

After that incident, Damjanovic left and the witness did not see him again until today in the courtroom, where he identified him.

At the end of October 1992, Abaz and his family were released and they left Vogosca.

The continuation of the trial is scheduled for July 18.