Unprecedented Abuse of 600 Detainees

Protected witness AB-1 was captured in a village near Odzak in 1992 and taken to the “Bratstvo – Jedinstvo [Brotherhood – Unity]” school building in Odzak. The witness said that the detainees were examined, abused, mistreated and tortured in various ways from the very first day.

“We were beaten by members of military police of the Odzak Brigade, Slavonski Brod police, the Army of the Republic of Croatia, as well as civilians and soldiers, who used to enter the school gym,” witness AB-1 said, adding that indictee Tolic was a member of the military police. 

The witness explained that, besides Tolic, Ferido Halilovic, Jurica Bozic, Anto Golubovic, Albina Terzic and others were members of military police. Terzic was sentenced to three years in prison for having treated Serb detainees in the school building and “Strolit” Factory in Odzak in an inhumane manner.

AB-1 said that the conditions in the Odzak school gym were inhumane, that they sometimes did not get any food for several days in a row and that they were not allowed to use the toilet. According to the witness, about 600 detainees were subjected to unprecedented abuse in the gym which measured just 24 by 12 metres. 

“All the bad things happened to us, while Golubovic was the Manager. Tolic was his right-hand man. Tolic was between 25 and 30 years old, short haircut, slightly curly hair. I had known him from before,” witness AB-1 said, identifying indictee Tolic in the courtroom.

As he said, one evening Golubovic, Tolic and other members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, took him and other commanders from the village out of the gym.

“They hit us and beat us in a classroom. Golubovic beat me with his legs. After that Tolic told me to come and ordered me to bang my head against the blackboard. As I did not do it strong enough, he pushed me to the board,” witness AB-1 said, adding that he had consequences, including injuries and bruises due to the beating that lasted about 45 minutes on that day.

The Defence said that, in his statement given to the Public Safety Centre in Doboj in 2007 the witness failed to mention this event and his injuries. AB-1 said that he mentioned them in other statements, but the Defence said that this was the only statement it had received from the State Prosecution.

The witness told the Court that he saw Tolic, Golubovic and Bozic hitting a Rade Tomanovic with their legs. Tomanovic had been brought to the gym by Ferid Halilovic, who tied him to a volleyball pole.
 
“Tolic hit him on his chest and stomach with his legs. Tomanovic was dead in the morning,” witness AB-1 said.
He said that he heard that they forced some of the detainees to have sex with the mentally-disabled Stoja, who was brought, along with other women, from Modrica to the gym in Odzak. 

The witness said that money and jewellery was confiscated from them at a certain stage and that indictee Tolic was present on that occasion, but he did not know whose jewellery he confiscated.

When asked by indictee Tolic if he forced him to sing nationalistic songs, the witness said: “I do not know if you were there, when we were forced to repeat one song 150 or 200 times. But, when either you or Golubovic said ‘For home’, we had to respond ‘Ready’.”

Witness AB-1 was taken from the school building to Bosanski Brod, where the abuse continued. He spent 414 days in detention. He said that he sought compensation of damages for the trauma he went through. 

Tolic, former member of the 102nd Odzak Brigade with the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, is charged with having participated in the abuse of Serb detainees in the Odzak and Bosanski Brod area from May to October 1992.

According to the charges, Tolic, former Commander of guards, participated in the abuse of several tens of Serb victims in several detention camps and detention facilities. The victims were raped, abused and tortured in extremely humiliating ways. The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina alleges that the indictee participated in those crimes. A certain number of detainees died due to consequences of the torture and abuse.

Second witness Jovo Dragic said that indictee Tolic did not beat him, but he did beat other detainees.
As he said, Dragic was subjected to mistreatment by other HVO members. He said that a female member forced him to ‘make love with a female detainee’, but another soldier stopped that. He was forced to hit other detainees with a wooden board. He did not see Tolic, when money and jewellery was confiscated from detainees.

The witness said that he saw that Svetozar Deronjic, known as Ceto, was taken out of the gym. According to rumours, they drove him through Odzak villages, put him into a meat smokehouse and lit the fire, and finally castrated him before he died.

The witness said that Tomanovic was killed by a certain Ferid.

As far as the indictee is concerned, the witness said that he had known him from before the war, but he was not able to identify him in the courtroom, adding that he had sight problems.

While he was in detention, the witness lost about 50 kilograms. He managed to save himself by running away while they were digging trenches in Bosanski Brod.
 
The next hearing is scheduled for December 19.