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Witness Mario Prkic told the Zenica Cantonal Court that he was in town with his colleagues and friends, when military policemen came, asked to see their ID cards and took Croats away.
“They were dressed in camouflage uniforms. They had handkerchiefs with some Arabic text on them. They took us to the Mine hall and handed us over. The indictee was present at that place. He asked me if I had money and told me to hide it in my shoe, or else it would be confiscated. I followed his advice,” Prkic said.
As he said, after they had been registered, about 120 of them were taken to a room, which was 10 metres long and 6 metres wide.
“I shall never forget an unknown soldier cursing our Ustasha mothers and wanting to throw a bomb in through the window. The indictee jumped at him and prevented him from doing it. God knows, how many of us would have been killed in that hustle,” Prkic said, adding that he was released two-and-a-half hours later.
Sehagic, former member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, who was Manager of a detention facility in the old administrative building of the Brown Coal Mine in Kakanj, is charged with having participated in the torture of Croat detainees in that facility and having failed to undertake measures in order to prevent the torture and report the perpetrators in the period from June 1992 to September 1993.
Witness Prkic said that he knew some people, who were detained in the mine, but none of them told him that they were mistreated or abused.
“I think that the indictee saved my life on that occasion. As far as I know, Kakanj residents said nice things about him. I think that the truth will be revealed,” the witness said.
The trial is due to continue on January 9.
