Teacher Testifies, His Students Indicted

Witness Milo Dragic said that he was in a small group of people, whom policemen brought to a school building in Stupari in the summer of 1992, adding that other Serb residents had already been in the building. 

As he said, while he was in the school building, he saw indictees Safet Mujcinovic and Zijad Hamzic, whom they asked to transfer them to nearby buildings, which were empty. The witness said that Hamzic was the only one of them wearing a camouflage uniform, so he concluded that he commanded the army in Stupari. 

“Safet and the man named Zijad fulfilled my request,” said Dragic, who used to be a teacher to some of the nine indictees. 

According to the charges, Mujcinovic was Commander of the Police Station, while Hamzic was Commander of the Territorial Deefnce in Stupari. 

They are on trial, along with Selman Busnov, Nusret Muhic, Ramiz Halilovic, Nedzad Hodzic, Hariz Habibovic, Osman Gogic and Kahro Vejzovic, former members of the Territorial Defence and military and civil police, for crimes in Kladanj. 

They are charged with having unlawfully detained the Serb population and beat and treated them in an inhumane manner. 

Dragic said that about 100 Serbs were detained in the educational workers’ buildings in Stupari. He said that their freedom of movement was limited to a one-hour walk around the buildings. 

“Policemen used to guard us as prisoners, you understand. Policemen guarded us in order to make sure that we would not flee,” the witness said, adding that he was not beaten up. 

The witness said that he noticed indictee Habibovic among the policemen.

“Hariz used to be my student. Hariz was a guard. He behaved in a military manner,” the witness said.

Dragic said that, in the fall of 1992 he attended a meeting between representatives of prisoners and the President of Kladanj municipality, Commander of ABiH forces in the Kladanj area as well as indictees Mujcinovic and Hamzic. The witness said that his proposal to “dismiss the detention camp” did not generate any response from the other side. He said that indictee Hamzic did not participate in the conversation. 

“Nothing was done until our exchange,” he said. 

Dragic said that a few exchanges happened at the beginning and that indictee Halilovic helped his wife leave Stupari.

The witness said that he suffered from epilepsy and that he suffered epileptic seizures during the first two months of his detention but he did not have any medication. 

In February 1993 the witness was among about 20 Serbs, who were transferred to Tuzla, where they went on trial.

He was sentenced for the illegal possession of weapons and for having refused to join the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH. Dragic said that he did not know that it was a crime to have weapons without a permit.  

The trial is due to continue on July 11.