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Witnesses Ilija Jozanovic and Mijo Kristic said that on June 9, 1993 they were taken, along with other members of the Croatian Defence Council, from the village of Crnac to a detention facility in the old administration building of the Brown Coal Mine in Kakanj.
Jozanovic said he was taken to a room where he saw indictee Sehagic and two others.
“They beat me. They knocked me down and broke my rib by kicking me. I was beaten up so brutally that nobody believed that I would survive,” he said.
Jozanovic said that he was released about twenty days later, adding that he then went to Vares and joined the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, again. He was captured again and taken back to the administration building of the Brown Coal Mine in Kakanj.
“As soon as the indictee saw me, he beat me up. He then gave me a piece of paper and told me to write down all I knew about HVO in Vares,” Jozanovic said, adding he saw that the indictee beat other prisoners as well.
According to the charges, Sehagic, as a former manager of a detention facility in the old administration building of the Brown Coal Mine in Kakanj, participated in the torture of Croat prisoners.
The Cantonal Prosecution in Zenica alleges that Sehagic failed to undertake necessary and reasonable measures to prevent the torture and report the perpetrators to his superiors in order to have them sanctioned.
Witness Kristic said that he was beaten up during his detention.
“I cannot remember how many times they beat me. I had a feeling that they hit me with a bag full of sand. It was so painful that I lost consciousness. I was in pain, so I could not see who was beating me. Judging by the voices I heard, I assume that the indictee was present when they beat me with the bag,” Kristic said.
A third prosecution witness, Stjepan Kalfic, told the Court that he was detained in the old administration building of the Brown Coal Mine in Kakanj for about ten days.
“They questioned me about weapons. I had no clue about it because I worked in the mine as part of my civic duty. A person named Role and Jasmin Sehagic were present in the room. Jasmin told me to sit down. He began examining me and then hit me with his hands. He kicked me in the neck twice. He told Role to bring a knife so they could cut my fingers one by one,” Kalfic said.
On a procedural note, the Cantonal Prosecution in Zenica objected to the fact that witnesses were not reimbursed for their travel costs because the Court lacked resources, telling the Trial Chamber that this was not acceptable.
The trial is due to continue on June 3.
