Andrun: Witness speaks of Dizdar disappearance

Hasan Tucakovic, a witness for the prosecution in the case against Nikola Andrun, has testified about his time in the Gabela detention camp near Capljina.

The state prosecution has charged Andrun that, as the then deputy warden of this camp, he is responsible for the abuse and death of some of the detainees. He is, among other things, also charged with the murder of Himzija Dizdar which took place in the summer of 1993.

Witness Tucakovic confirmed that Himzija Dizdar was among the detainees in Gabela, and said that he is aware of his disappearance.

“We were in the storage shed.  Someone called Himzija.  He wanted to take his shirt before he left. The same voice said that he would not be needing his shirt any more,” Tucakovic remembered.

He did not see Dizdar again on that day. However, Tucakovic did not identify Andrun as the person who took Dizdar out.

Tucakovic, as well as some other witnesses who testified earlier, joined the Croat defence council (HVO) at the beginning of the war in BiH.  After the disputes between the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina and HVO started, Tucakovic was arrested in Capljna in July 1993 and taken to Gabela camp where he was held until December of the same year.

Detainees, mostly Bosniaks, were located in one of the four aluminium storage sheds (containers) of the camp.

“There was nothing in the storage shed.  I found a piece of cardboard on which I slept, and I put my shoes underneath my head,” Tucakovic told the court.

According to his words, armed soldiers waited for the detainees at the entrance gate, and the camp was surrounded by barbed wire.

The witness said that he did not know whether the indictee Andrun as deputy warden at Gabela camp, but that he had heard from other detainees that this was the case.

“I saw Nikola a few times in the camp.  He was in military attire and armed,” Hasan Tucakovic said.

The trial is scheduled to continue on October 10, 2006.