Mikulic: Abuse in Dretelj

Testifying before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirsad Pejak said that he lived in Stolac until August 2, 1993, when soldiers of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) arrested him and took him to the “Bone Hospital”, from where he was taken to Dretelj detention camp. The witness said that he was abused by the police officers of the HVO in Dretelj.

“When he went out for lunch, we were beaten with sticks, poles and pipes. When they beat me once, I saw Dragan Mikulic, the other detainees told me his name. Dragan Mikulic was not present every time when we were beaten, but he was present in the majority of cases. He beat me and the others, too”, said witness Pejak.

Pejak recognised indictee Drazen Mikulic in the courtroom as the person who beat him in Dretelj detention camp.

The State Prosecution charges Mikulic, former member of military police of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, with having treated civilians, who were held in Dretelj, Capljina municipality, in an inhumane manner from the beginning of July to the end of August 1993.

The indictment alleges that, acting on his own or in collaboration with other persons, Mikulic participated, several times, in the torture of detainees in an extremely cruel, brutal and humiliating way, causing civilians severe injuries and suffering, which even resulted in the death of some of them. The indictee defends himself while at liberty.

Witness Pejak described how on one occasion the detainees from Dretelj were taken out for lunch and were lined up, and that one of the detainees died after he was hit in the head with plank by a young man called “Trebinjac”.

“Mikulic ordered Emir Repak and one young man, called Trebinjac to come into the fight. After it was finished, Repak sat down next to me, and Trebinjac took a rod with the nail and hit him in the head. Repak fell on me and I fainted”, said Pejak, adding that he later learned that Repak died.

The Defence of indictee Mukulic said that witness Pejak did not mention Mikulic in a statement he gave to members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in 2006.

Elvir Djulic also gave his testimony at this hearing, saying that he was taken to Dretelj detention camp along with his brother and father, and that his brother was abused there.

“At the entrance in Dretelj, my brother was tortured after he said that he is a minor. One soldier approached him and put telephone cables in his ears. My brother was crying, he was in a state of panic”, said Djulic, adding that he was not abused in Dretelj.

The next hearing is scheduled for January 26, 2012.S.U.