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Savo Gasic said that he used to love in Brezje village, Lopare municipality, in 1992 and that his two brothers were members of the Crisis Committee in that village. He said that local residents were armed by the Yugoslav National Army, JNA, but he did not know whether anybody used their weapons, when the village was attacked on June 19 that year.
The Crisis Committee decided that we should go to the woods and move towards Sitari and Jesenice villages. There were about 50 or 60 of us, members of Gusic, Mihajlovic, Djukic families. (…) The youngest among us was a little girl aged 2, the witness said, adding that he buried his gun in the woods prior to being captured in Stublic village.
He said that soldiers, who were dressed in light summer uniforms, tied his father-in-law Stokan Markovic to a tree.
We were then taken to Straza village, while Stokan and two other men stayed there, tied. We were given supper. We slept the night on some sponges, while women and children were taken to nearby houses to warm themselves. All of them were taken except my wifes brother, who was 15, Gasic said.
Gasic recalled having been transferred, along with the other local residents, to a big building with a stage in Rapatnica on the following day.
The hall was big. A small bulb did not provide enough light. We slept on the concrete stage. (…) We had water in canisters or buckets. As far as food is concerned, two of us used to share one dish, the witness recalled.
According to the witness testimony, about 35 local residents of Brezje village, as well as two prisoners from Bijela village, stayed in that hall. The witness said that Captain Ekrem Ibrasevic or Ibracevic once came to the hall entrance and threatened the prisoners.The Defence of indictee Ekrem Ibracevic said that, in his previous statements the witness did not mention the Captains first and last name. The witness responded by saying that other prisoners told him his name after having been examined at the Public Safety Centre in Bijeljina on February 3 this year.
Ibracevic is on trial, along with Faruk Smajlovic and Sejdalija Covic, with having committed crimes against Serb civilians in Rapatnica local community and Rapatnica football club premises in 1992.
According to the charges, the prisoners were beaten up, tortured and abused, while Ibracevic approved such behaviour, considering the fact that he supervised those detention centres. Covic is charged with having entered the local community premises and beat the civilians, while Smajlovic is charged with having failed to prevent other persons from entering the premises.
The Prosecution alleges that Ibracevic was Chief of the Military Security of the Municipal Headquarters with the Territorial Defence in Srebrenik, Smajlovic was Commander of the Military Police Squad with the Municipal Headquarters of the Territorial Defence, while Covic was a member of military police.
Gasic said that his brothers and father, the two persons from Bijela village and he were taken to the upper floor in order to be examined by investigator Ilija Lemesic. He pointed out that, in 90 out of 100 cases a person known as Muce took people away and brought them back.
We would hear creaking, moving of furniture, crying. (…) Muce brought my father back in 20 minutes. My father told me that he was beaten by a man named Sejdo or Senad, Muces brother, who had black gloves with rivets, Gasic said.
The witness said that his brother Simo was hit on his head with a rifle butt, adding that nobody beat him during his detention in the building in Rapatnica, where he stayed for about a week before being transferred, along with others, to the Central Prison in Tuzla by refrigerator truck. As he said, while he was in the refrigerator truck, he saw Stokan Markovic, who was mutilated and beaten up. The witness had found out previously that he conducted negotiations on behalf of the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS. According to the schedule, the trial is due to continue on December 16.
