Prosecution Witness Confirms Defence’s Thesis

Responding to Defence’s questions, Rifet Kadric, who was Deputy Commander of the Police Station in Stupari, meaning that he was Safet Mujcinovic’s Deputy, said that the prosecutor did not examine him about it during the investigation.

According to the charges, Kadric and Mujcinovic came to “Vodovod” in Stupari, where Stanisic worked at the time, and took him away and unlawfully detained him in the educational workers’ building in Stupari.

“I was not asked about it. I was not in ‘Vodovod’ with Safet,” said the witness, who began testifying on May 23.

Mujcinovic is charged, along with Selman Busnov, Nusret Muhic, Zijad Hamzic, Ramiz Halilovic, Nedzad Hodzic, Hariz Habibovic, Osman Gogic and Kahro Vejzovic, former members of the Territorial Defence and military and civil police, for having committed crimes in the Kladanj area.

Witness Kadric denied having seen any of the indictees mistreating Serbs, as said by the witnesses examined previously.

The witness said that civil and military authorities from Kladanj, as well as the Chief of the Safety Services Center in Tuzla, whose part the Kladanj Police Station was, were informed about Serb civilians being held in the educational workers’ buildings in Stupari.

According to the charges, in the summer of 1992 police unlawfully detained the Serb population in the educational workers’ buildings in Stupari.

Kadric confirmed a Defence’s thesis that police did not decide where the Serb population would be accommodated. He explained that a Serb representative told him that the President of Kladanj municipality told them, during a meeting, that they could not go to the territories controlled by the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, and that they would be accommodated somewhere.

The witness confirmed that police advocated for the release of the Serb population from the educational workers’ buildings but the President of Kladanj municipality disagreed with that.

The witness was not able to specify who made the decisions related to exchange but he said that it was not Mujcinovic.

“I would have certainly known had he proposed anybody’s exchange,” Kadric said.

The trial is due to continue on Friday, July 4.