Blinded by Fear

Vinko Ljubas said that a man named Popara, a former member of “Zulfikar” Unit with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, came to his door on September 8, 1993 and escorted him to a pick-up truck, adding that he saw a few other people on the tailgate. He saw armed soldiers, but he did not recognise any of them, because he was “blinded by fear”.

“They drove us around Jablanica town, collecting some more people. There were nine of us in total,” the witness said, adding that people, who were standing in the streets, insulted them.

The witness told the Court that they were then escorted to the “Zulfikar” Unit base in Rogica houses and detained in an underground silo, where they spent “the first night fearing for our lives”.

Dzeko, former member of “Zulfikar” Unit, is charged with having participated in the unlawful arrest of nine Croat civilians from Jablanica and detention of those people in an underground silo near the Rogica houses in Donja Jablanica.

The witness said that soldiers asked for a volunteer. After having volunteered, he was escorted to a café situated in one of Rogica houses. He said that he was beaten up after having been examined about his personal data by Ramiz Delalic, known as Celo, who was killed in Sarajevo in 2007.

During his testimony Ljubas said that prisoners were beaten up, while they were escorted to a nearby restaurant to eat, but he was not hit by anybody.

The witness said that some prisoners, like protected witness J3, gave money in order to be released. He recalled having been taken out of the silo by two soldiers, one of them was Deba and the other one was probably Struja, who told him that he would “go and take a shower”. As he said, on their way to his house, they told him to collect money.

He said that his sister gave him the money, which he then handed over to Deba.

After having spent about ten days in the silo, the prisoners were transferred to a stable within the Rogica houses complex. Soldiers came to the stable, looking for prisoner Ilija Kaleb. The witness said that he recognised Dzeko by his voice, adding that he had known him from before.

“We heard some murmur. Ilija Kaleb was taken out of the stable. We heard beating and a gunshot,” the witness said, adding that Kaleb was wounded on that occasion.

He explained that, as far as he knew, Dzeko did not beat and wound Kaleb, adding that, during his detention he did not see him beating anybody or ordering others to do that.

The witness was released from detention at the beginning of October 1993, when, as he said, Dzeko approached him and said: “You are going to take a shower”. The witness said that the indictee drove him to his house and that he treated him in a correct manner.

The witness said that, about ten years after the war he met Dzeko in Jablanica and spoke to him about his arrest in September 1993. As he said, Dzeko told him that they were arrested as per a list made by Enes Kovacevic, the then Commander of the 44th Mountain Brigade, at a request of the “Zulfikar” Unit.

The witness said that Dzeko most probably participated in the arrest, although he did not personally see him.

The trial of Dzeko, who is also charged with other crimes in Jablanica and murders in Trusina village, near Konjic, is due to continue on April 16.