Witnesses at Kotor-Varos Trial Speak of Assault and Imprisonment
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Dusko Vujicic, along with Savo Tepic, Dragoslav Bojic, Dusko Vujicic, Radojko Keverovic and Ilija Kurusic are on trial for their alleged participation in the detention, torture, and inhumane treatment of Bosniaks and Croats in Kotor-Varos during the Bosnian War.
At the time the alleged crimes were committed, Vujicic was an active policeman, Tepic was a public safety station chief, Bojic was the police station commander, Maksimovic and Keverovic were reserve policemen, and Kurusic was a member of the Army of Republika Srpska.
The protected witness, known as KV-2, said that two uniformed soldiers with red berets appeared in front of his home in June 1992. He recognized Vujicic, who he had known as a policeman prior the war.
“I don’t know if he knew me, but I knew him,” he said.
KV-2 said that Vujicic, who answered to “Dule,” asked him to hand over a rifle and seven bombs.
“I said I didn’t have them,” KV-2 said, after which he was allegedly taken to his brother’s house, where the two soldiers handcuffed him and ordered him to squat.
KV-2 said the two soldiers searched the house during that time, and that afterwards Vujicic beat him.
When the two soldiers took him outside, KV-2 said, he ran away.
Vujicic followed, pulling out his gun and shooting at him.
KV-2 said that he managed to hide under a cliff. According to his testimony, Vujicic went back to his home and took his wife and children to prison. His family was released in July 1992, and they left Kotor-Varos together afterwards.
At the same hearing, witness Izudin Dugonjic said that he was imprisoned in Kotor-Varos from the end of September to mid-November 1992. He said that prisoners were beaten by “Dule and Kreic,” among others.
“When they came, the beating was always unbearable,” said Dugonjic, who described Dule as short and chubby.
Dugonjic said that Dule and Kreic wore uniforms and red berets. He said that he did not know what Dule’s real name was, and that he used to come to the prison every day.
The trial will continue on February 23.
