‘Blue Eagles’ Paramilitary ‘Tortured and Killed’ Bosniaks

The prosecutor told the court in Sarajevo in his closing arguments on Wednesday that it had been proved during the trial that there was a wide-ranging and systematic attack on Bosniak civilians in Cajnice in 1992 and that Kornjaca willingly participated in it.

“The first arrest and detention of civilians began in mid-April 1992, and everything was completed by the end of May, when there were killings in Mostina. The attack took place in a short period of time and it was not an isolated incident,” said the prosecutor Dzevad Muratbegovic.

The aim of the attack was, as he said, the establishment of a Serbian municipality of Cajnice without the non-Serb population.

Muratbegovic said that that Kornjaca was well-informed about the events in Cajnic in the spring of 1992, thanks to “his position in the military hierarchy” and because he was there when the crimes were committed.

“A huge number of the witnesses at this trial knew the defendant from before the war. Many of them confirmed that he participated in the persecution of the Bosiniak civilians, the detentions and infliction of serious bodily injury,” said Muratbegovic.

According to the indictment, Kornjaca is charged, as commander of the paramilitary unit Blue Eagles, with taking part in a wide-ranging and systematic attack on the population of Cajnic from April to the end of May 1992, which resulted in “the detention of Bosniaks, killings, forced relocations, torture and other inhuman acts”.

He also charged with participating in the killings of 28 imprisoned civilians in the ‘Lovacki Dom’ [Hunting Lodge] in Mostina in May 1992.

According to the prosecution, civilians were detained in a metal container, in unsanitary conditions, with a lack of fresh air, food and water, and were interrogated and abused.

The prosecutor said that it had been proved that the defendant was involved in the abuse and beating of 14 of the victims.

“[Witness] Rasim Korora was one of the first victims of the beatings. He said that Milun [Kornjaca] came to the container in Mostina and that he hit him with his boot and his elbows in the back, while he was on the floor. The accused told him, ‘You will be slaughtered here’,” said Muratbegovic.

The prosecution will continue its closing arguments on February 26.