Markovic: Great Evil

“God forbid anyone lives to see her daughter in such a situation… Bruises on her face, clothes torn apart, unkempt hair…I did not have to ask anything. I knew she had been raped and I knew a great evil had been committed against her. She was just 17 at the time,” witness Marija Kalem said, through tears, at the trial of Miodrag Markovic.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has charged Markovic, a former member of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, with having taken “an underage girl” out of her house in Dragalovci village, Doboj municipality, in July 1992, calling the other residents of the house’ “insurrectionist mothers” and firing a bullet in the air.

The indictment alleges that Markovic dragged the girl to a nearby meadow, hit her with a revolver handle, raped her and threatened her by saying she should not tell anyone about what happened or else he would rape her again and kill her family members.

The witness said that indictee Markovic once came to their house and asked for a thresher, adding that was the first time he saw her daughter, who offered him a glass of water to freshen up. As stated by Kalem, the indictee came to the witness’ house two days later and raped her daughter.

“He knew that my husband and oldest son were in detention, so there was nobody to protect us. As soon as we let him into the house that night, he asked for her. He took her across the field. I took my two minor sons and ran to my cousin’s house. Upon her return she said she had been raped and she did not know how she would tell her father about it,” the witness recalled, adding she filed a report against Markovic with the Police Station in Stanari, Doboj municipality, on the following day.

Kalem said the indictee was never punished, but that he was transferred to the frontline after she reported the rape.

Radojica Celic, a former policeman from Stanari, testified for the Prosecution at this hearing, saying he received a rape report filed by Marija Kalem on July 12, 1992. He said he prepared an official note about the mentioned event.

During the course of cross-examination Celic mentioned he thought the case had been taken over by the military police, but he did not know what happened to Markovic afterwards.

“I was just a policeman on duty and I did my job. I am not able to tell you where the report ended up or what happened with that case later on,” the witness said.

The trial is due to continue on September 30, when the victim’s brothers will be examined.