Terzic: Laughing while Visiting Detainees

Miro Pavic, who testified from Sweden via video link, said that indictee “Nina Terzic” never physically mistreated him, adding that he regarded the fact that she used to bring a dog, which sniffed detainees, as mental abuse.

“She did not physically abuse me, but I was mentally abused. I still feel the consequences of the abuse,” Pavic said, adding that he spent about two months in detention facilities in Odzak.

Pavic said that he saw when they beat old man Milutin Sarcevic up and detainees had to stand still while indictee Tezic and her dog passed by them.

“They unlocked the door and entered the room, where we were held. We stood up. We knew what we had to sing. We stood in a circle formation, while the dog went from one to the other and sniffed our genitals. Nina laughed, while other soldiers were hitting grandfather Milutin Sarcevic. He fell down due to the beating. His whole body was covered with blood. The dog went towards him, because he got upset. Nina then pulled him back, away from the old man,” Pavic said.

Albina Terzic, known as Nina, former member of HVO Military Police, is charged with having participated in inhumane treatment of Serb civilians, who were unlawfully held in the school building and Strolit factory in Odzak from May to July 1992.

The indictment alleges that Terzic hit detainees on their necks, using a police baton, encouraged a dog to attack them, tortured, humiliated and insulted them in various ways, including by forcing them to have sex with a mentally ill person.

“The dog sniffed my genitals and other people’s genitals, while they were laughing,” Pavic said, when asked by Defence attorney Tomislav Ljubic “if the dog’s head was in line with their genitals, while they were standing in a circle”.

Pavic said that he had not known the indictee very well from before, but he did know her father, as he was his work colleague.

“I worked with her father for ten years prior to the war. I got to know the little lady during the war. (…) I used to see her in Strolit. She had black trousers. She came with her dane. I think that she had a small pistol, but I am not sure. I did not see that she physically abused anybody. I was sitting with Nina a few days prior to the exchange and I told her to send greetings to her father,” Pavic said.

The trial is due to continue on May 15, 2012.
A.S.