Prisoners Recall Beatings at Konjic School

Witness Igor Dragic told the Sarajevo-based court on Friday that he was taken from the village of Vrci to the Musala detention centre in a primary school in Konjic in mid-June 1993, when he was 18.

Dragic recognised the defendant Macic in the courtroom, saying that he was unforgettable and that in the Musala detention centre he had a look “that was ice cold”.

He said that while he was detained at Masala, he had to clean the camp every day.

“Once while I was cleaning, Maca [Macic’s nickname] called me into the container where the food for the prisoners was. He ordered me to clean and kicked me twice in the chest really hard. I screamed and then he hit me with something in the back,” said Dragic.

Macic is charged with participating in the torture and sexual abuse of the prisoners in the primary school from April till October 1993.

Another witness on Friday, Bersoni Pandza, also said that he was beaten at the detention centre after being summoned by Mucic.

“One time during his shift he called me around midnight and told me to go to the hall to sweep something. Some guards, soldiers, were waiting for me there and they beat me,” said Bersoni, although he added that he did not see if Mucic beat him.

A third witness, Bruno Boras, said that he heard that Macic beat prisoners, but that he did no harm to him.

The trial resumes on February 28.