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Witness Lale said that before being taken to the Silos camp he obtained a rifle in fear for his familys safety. He added he asked for a rifle from Lazar Krstic when the situation in the territory of Hadzici became tense.
Shootings started at night, and no one could leave because there were barricades. I was afraid for my family and I asked for a weapon. That was my only motive, said Lale, who began his testimony on July 19, 2012, when he said the conditions in Silos were horrible.
Witness Lale emphasised that on July 13, 1992, he was taken to the Silos camp, where he spent over five months, and that after that he spent his time under house arrest.
For crimes committed in the Silos camp, the Krupa barracks and the May 9 primary school, the Prosecution charged Mustafa Djelilovic, Fadil Covic, Nezir Kazic, Becir Hujic, Halid Covic, Serif Mesanovic and Nermin Kalember.
According to the indictment, Becir Hujic and Halid Covic were warden and deputy warden of the Silos camp, while Nermin Kalember was a guard in the facility, the other defendants were members of the police, military and civilian authorities in Hadzici.
Witness Lale said that the warden of the Silos camp once allowed him to see his wife, and that that was one of the positive things that happened during his stay in the facility.
The warden asked me and another man whether we wanted to see our wives. At first we thought it was a provocation so we kept silent. He took us to his office and our wives were really sitting there, said Lale.
Replying to questions by Edina Residovic, lawyer of the first defendant Djelilovic, the witness said that at the beginning of the war majority of population Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks in the territory of Tarcin and Pazaric were obtaining army weaponry.
The Defence of Halid Covic showed in the courtroom an excerpt from the documentary film Sarajevo Camps for Serbs, and the witness confirmed he was one of the participants in the film.
The film, among other things, claims that no one was prosecuted for the crimes against Serbs, that the forming of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the former Viktor Bubanj barracks was devastating for Serbs.
The film and the transcript were entered into evidence as exhibits of the Defence of Halid Covic.
Prosecutor Marijan Pogacnik objected to the films authenticity, while Milorad Rasevic, lawyer of Nezir Kazic, objected to the relevance of the footage saying it was a political pamphlet that has no place in a courtroom.
The trial is set to resume on August 30.
