Gazdic: Crimes against Helpless and Vulnerable Women

During the trial of Jasko Gazdic, a former member of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina tried to prove that he raped several women who were detained in the Partizan sports hall as well as in apartments in Foca in 1992. The indictee’s Defence denied that he committed the rape, and the Trial Chamber shall pronounce its verdict on October 31.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina requested that Gazdic should be convicted of a crime against humanity, adding that his actions were directed towards weak and vulnerable females, including 12 year-old girls.

The Defence and the indictee claims that he did not rape or hurt anybody, and that he is neither a maniac nor a paedophile.

During the trial that lasted a little less than a year, 17 witnesses were questioned as well as the indictee. The trial was marked by shocking testimonies of women, who, according to the findings of experts, now suffer from permanent personality disorders and whose sexual lives have been destroyed.

In 1992, the Partizan sports hall was used as a custody area for women, children and the elderly who had been arrested in Foca and the surrounding villages. All detainees were held in unhygienic conditions, and were exposed to starvation, physical and psychological torture, as well as to sexual abuse.

In the evening, armed men usually entered Partizan and took out groups of three to five women. They were taken into houses, apartment and hotels, and there, they sexually abused and raped them.

According to the indictment, in early August 1992, Gazdic, who was armed, came to the Partizan sports hall and took out witness A, who was then 12 years old, to one apartment and raped her.

Witness A testified at the trial without the presence of the public, and in the closing arguments, prosecutor Behaija Krnjic said that the witness was raped twice by a man whom the others called “Jasmin”.

Rape and Watching Rape

According to the indictment, Gazdic again took out witness A, her mother and another woman, led them to the apartment and ordered them to take a bath and then not to clothe themselves. As it is stated in the indictment, Gazdic raped all three of them individually in a manner that during the rape of one woman, the other two had to watch it.

The mother of the witness A also testified at the trial which was closed to the public, and prosecutor Krnjic said that she was raped by “Jasmin”.

As considered by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gazdic, together with two other people came to the apartment which was located in the immediate vicinity of the former Public Security Station (SJB) in Foca, and raped witness C, who complained that she was on her period but that he did not paid attention to it.

“He pushed me on the bed. I begged him, no, don’t, don’t. (…). He took off my dress and raped me … The rifle was beside the bed … He started to kiss me, but I could not stand it … Then he did what he wanted,” said the witness C, adding that she was raped by a person who identified himself as “Jasko”.

Witness F said that in 1992, she was raped in an apartment in which the indictee Jasko Gazdic was also present.

“We were in a room from which one woman was taken first. After that, they took me to the bathroom and raped me. While I was in the bathroom, I heard cries and screams from the room where that woman was,” said witness F, adding that that woman later told her that she was raped by several men, and that one of them was Gazdic.

Two more witnesses testified behind closed doors and without the presence of the public. The Prosecution said that witness D had alleged that she was raped by several men, and that one of them was also the indictee Gazdic. According to the Prosecution, witness E said that the indictee had sexually abused another person who was then 12 years old, and whose remains have not yet been found.

Senadin Ljubovic, expert of neuropsychiatry, established that the four protected witnesses suffer from a permanent personality disorder and that their sexual lives have been destroyed, and that because of this damage their sex life is troubled on a daily basis.

Psychological Disorders

Ljubovic concluded that all four of them have persistent psychological disorders, that they suffer from post-traumatic syndrome, and that they will forever have the trauma from multiple rapes.

“The most moving story was the one of witness A, who was a child when she was raped. Certainly such an act leaves lasting effects on the victim, especially when this happens to you while you are a child. This is very difficult to overcome,” said Ljubovic.

The Defence challenged the guilt of the indictee by hearing five witnesses, and called three witnesses who testified in favour of the Prosecution for another hearing. Witnesses A and B testified without the presence of public. Witness C, who claimed that she had been raped by Jasko, explained that she heard his name when she was brought to the apartment in Foca, where she was being held captive.Foča

As witnesses of the Defence, Radenko Vasiljevic and Zoran Mandic said that “they have no knowledge regarding what Gazdic did during the war”, while Miladin Sarovic said that he had known him since he was a child, explaining that before the war he had worked in his café.

“I didn’t see him in the company of women and girls. He never got married,” said Sarovic.

Miodrag Nikacevic, who was sentenced by the second-instance verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to ten years in prison for crimes against humanity in the area of Foca, testified in favour of the Defence in a session which was closed to the public.

Testifying in his favour, Gazdic said that he never raped or abused women of Bosniak ethnicity, but that on one occasion he had saved one youngster in the town.

Gazdic said that in August 1992, he was a member of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) in Foca, but that he never raped or abused detained woman of Bosniak ethnicity which the other members of the VRS had brought from Partizan in the apartment where he was staying.

According to his testimony, the apartment belonged to a certain Jure, who brought detained women from “Partizan several times during the night”.

“I was in the apartment when I was not on the frontline, so I have no knowledge of what happened there. I remember that one night Jure came with a couple of soldiers and four women in the apartment, and that one young girl was among them. Although I am indicted of raping her, nobody touched that child, and I saved her that night from jumping out of the window,” explained Gazdic.

According to the indictment, the witness A, realising what will happen, went to the window with the intention to jump, but Gazdic prevented her, then pushed her on to a bed and raped her.

During his testimony, Gazdic said that it was not easy for him during the war in Foca, because many considered that he worked for “the Muslim army”.

Gazdic’s trial began on November 30, 2011. He was arrested on April 21 last year and has been in custody since.

Due to sexual abuse and other crimes committed in Foca, eight people were sentenced in The Hague Tribunal and in the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to a total of 163 years in prison.

Albina Sorguč is BIRN – Justice Report journalist. albina.sorguc@ birn.eu.com. Justice Report is BIRN online weekly publication.