Bosniak Villager Recalls Rape by Serb Fighter

The protected prosecution witness codenamed S-1 told the Sarajevo court on Monday that she recognised the person who raped her from a photograph of the defendant which was shown to her by the Bosnian prosecution.

“He pushed me to the lounge seating and told me to undress, he took off my pants, he pushed me into a lying-down position and raped me. He was holding my head so I could look at his face and in order to kiss me. I did not want that,” S-1 testified.

The witness added that some of the other soldiers who were there said at one point: “Dragan, is coffee coming?”

“He then told me to dress and to make coffee. I could not walk, my life was hell. I could not speak,” the witness said.

She said that she also saw soldiers force another villager called Fatima Jamak into a house that had been set on fire and then “that Dragan” killed her.

“They pushed her into the fire. I did not know that someone could burn that fast,” she recalled.

“That Dragan fired a gun… He killed Fatima and she fell into that fire,” she said.

She added that he then came to her and asked for water, and said: “It has never been more difficult for me. I had to fire two bullets so she did not suffer.”

Sekaric, a former member of the Territorial Defence forces and the ‘Osvetnik’ (‘Avenger’) paramilitary group, is charged with crimes against humanity as part of a wide-ranging and systematic attack by the Bosnian Serb Army on the civilian non-Serb population in the area of Gorazde and Visegrad.

He is charged with participating in an attack on the village of attack on Kokino Selo, the abuse of a family and children in Visegrad, the rape of a woman, the killings of a large number of non-Serbs, and the physical abuse of prisoners in the Uzanica camp in Visegrad.

Another protected witness codenamed S-3 said that she was also raped in the same house as witness S-1, but by another soldier.

“He was putting out a cigarette on my hands, he was beating me the whole time. He was hitting me on the head with his hands because I resisted,” she said.

She added that she heard one soldier call another using the nickname ‘Gorazdak’ (man from Gorazde), and that Gorazdak asked for water from S-1.

The witness said that some of the soldiers referred to Gorazdak as ‘Sekaric’, but did not mention his full name.

The trial continues on June 16.