Recollections Differ on Execution of Prisoners
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After examining 16 witnesses, including one protected witness, and presenting its material evidence, the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina completed presenting evidence against Suad Kapic, a former member of the 517th Cazin Liberation Brigade with the Army of Bosnia and Hezegovina, ABiH, charged with war crimes against prisoners-of-war.
The indictment, as represented by Prosecutor Milorad Barasin, alleges that Suad “Hodza” Kapic “and other members of ABiH” on September 18, 1995, took part in the capture of six members of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, near Dabar village in the Sanski Most municipality.
The Prosecution charges that Kapic then shot three of them dead and ordered an unidentified ABiH member to kill a fourth wounded man. The victims were named as Dusko Cukovic, Radovan Mudrinic, Goran Sucur and Slavisa Djukic.
The remaining two prisoners were handed over to members of the “Apaci” Reconnaissance Unit. Dragan Stupar and Milovan Mastikosa, the two survivors, testified against Kapic, saying they were captured on September 20, although the indictment alleged this happened on September 18.
Mastikosa said after having been captured, the six of them were taken to a hill, where an ABiH soldier said: “Hodza, these are yours”. He then “saw the indictee saying a prayer” before shooting the prisoners. Describing the man whom the other soldiers called Hodza, Mastikosa said that he “always had an automatic gun with him”.
Unlike Mastikosa, the protected witness, S1, said Kapic was carrying an anti-armour mortar, not an automatic gun.
Dragan Stupar said he recognized Kapic as the person present at the shooting and everyone called him Hodza. “After we had left with the ‘Apaci’ members, I asked one soldier if ‘Hodza’ was a religious cleric. The soldier answered: ‘No way… This is his nickname – derived from his last name ‘Hodzic’”, Stupar said.
The indictment alleges that having captured the VRS members, the Bosnian army soldiers agreed to ask a person named Hodza to come and a short time later Kapic appeared with a few other soldiers.
During its presentation, the Prosecution asked witnesses to describe what had happened to the four murdered prisoners. “I did not see any other prisoners, dead or alive”, S1 responded.
However, Prosecutor Barasin noted that last September, this same witness had started crying during his examination and had asked for the examination to be halted, claiming that he was “afraid that someone might intimidate his family”.
Witness S2, a former “Apaci”, said he had seenall six prisoners that day but his unit had taken over custody only of two of them. He “did not see the indictee” at the location, either.
Mirko Sucur and Rajko Cukovic, fathers of killed Goran and Dusko, also appeared as prosecution witnesses. They said that they noticed blood on the bandages wrapped around their sons’ bodies, when they opened the coffins to identify them.
“I had heard, earlier, that Dusko’s body had been cut. I opened the coffin to see if my son’s body was in there. I saw lesions on his body, made by a knife or blade, but didn’t see any bullet wounds,” Cukovic said.
Doctor Mile Solaja, who conducted an external autopsy of the four killed Bosnian Serbs in September, recalled that all four corpses had their hands tied behind their backs.
“I could see punctures on the body … [and] a puncture in the heart area, a cut on the front side of the neck and wound scaused by a small-caliber gun,” Solaja explained.
Ibrahim Nadarevic, commander of the 517thBrigade, a prosecution witness, said he had heard about the capture of the VRS members last year, when some former members of his brigade gave statements to the State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA.
Unlike him, witness Hasan “Haro” Hadzalic, a former Apaci commander, maintained Nadarevic had been personally informed about this case.
One of the features of the Prosecution presentation against Kapic were statements by witnesses questioning the indictee’s identity and saying they doubted his nickname was Hodza, as the indictment alleged.
The indictee himself has always denied he had that nickname. When the preliminary hearing judge wanted to note his personal details at the beginning of the main trial, the indictee gave his nickname as Suka.
Protected witness S1 said anyone who performed religious duties was nicknamed Hodza. He stressed that the indictee had performed his religious duties.
Witness Hase Zunic maintained that the indictee’s nickname was “Suki or Sule”, adding he did not know anyone in the Third Battalion of the 517th Brigade nicknamed Hodza.
On the other hand, witness Mesud Mejakic, a former member of the Second Battalion of the 517th Brigade, said each unit had a member named Hodza.
In addition to the witness testimonies, the Prosecution presented the army order to undertake the “Sana 95” military operation, during which the VRS members were captured, as well as the list of members of the 517th Brigade ordered to perform tasks in the field in September 1995.
Nadzida Cano is BIRN – Justice Report journalist. [email protected] Justice Report is online publication.
