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Testifying at the trial for crimes committed in Bugojno in 1993 and 1994 Fra Janko Ljubos, a catholic priest who lived in Bugojno during the war, spoke about the detention of Croats and the role of some indictees.
“One day a military policeman told me that he wanted to take me to the furniture shop. He took me to the basement. I saw wooden palettes and detainees lying on them,” Prosecution witness Ljubos recalled.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Nisvet Gasal, Musajb Kukavica, Enes Handzic and Senad Dautovic with crimes against Croats, who were detained in garages and detention camps in Bugojno. The crimes were committed during the conflict between the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, in 1993 and 1994.
Gasal and Kukavica are charged with responsibility for the functioning of “Iskra” detention camp, while Enes Handzic, former assistant commander for security with the 307th Brigade of the Bosnian Army, and Senad Dautovic, a former member of the Joint Staffs of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bugojno, are charged with planning and participating in the arrest of civilians in that town.
In the course of cross-examination the witness said that he once went to the Iskra stadium to visit detainees.
“I think it was a religious holiday. I went there to see what was happening with the detainees. I did not have any pass, but the control was not very strict. I entered the premises in which detainees were held,” the witness said.
According to this witness, church activists arranged with the guards and supervisors of the Iskra camp to “provide detainees with some military blankets and firewood so that they could use the stoves, which they had received through a humanitarian action.”
Fra Ljubos said that the conditions in Bugojno detention camps improved over time. He said visits were not allowed in the beginning, but were allowed later on.
“Sister Pavka visited detainees on a regular basis. She asked Enes Handzic to let her enter the camp. Sometimes she managed to get in and hand over the goods, but sometimes she would bring them back,” the witness said.
The witness specifically mentioned indictee Musajb Kukavica, claiming that other people told him “good stuff” about his behaviour in the detention camp.
Second Prosecution witness Ilija Dujmovic was a former detainee in the three detention camps in Bugojno. He was a member of the police of the so-called Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna prior to his arrest.
“It was agreed that everyone who stayed in Kaonik Hotel would surrender. They searched us and detained us in the furniture shop, where we were provoked and abused. I was beaten in the night between July 29 and 30, 1993. Other detainees counted that they hit me 180 times,” the witness said.
He said he did not know the men who had beaten him, adding that they were guards. He claims that he did not receive any medical assistance, although he had “bruises all over his body”.
The witness was transferred from the furniture shop to the gymnasium, where he was detained in the basement, together with some other detainees.
“We slept on palettes. The floor was covered with water. We did our needs on the room floor,” the witness recalled.
In October 1993 he was transferred to the Iskra stadium. He said that, one night he was beaten so severely that he started bleeding. He was not able to confirm who had beaten him, but he said that, this time, he received medical assistance. He told the Court that he stayed in a hospital for about a month, before being taken back to the detention camp.
Talking about indictee Gasal, he said that he could “not say anything bad about him”, adding that he once asked him if he could help him somehow. This happened while he was held in the detention camp. However, he said that somebody called him in October last year, asking him to testify in favour of Gasal and Kukavica, allegedly offering him money for this.
The witness said: “I told him that I would say what really happened, as I do not want anyone to suffer because of somebody else’s sins”.
The trial is due to continue on February 6.
