Guards Did not Mistreat Detainees in Uzamnica, Witnesses Say

Defense witnesses at the trial of former Uzamnica camp guard Goran Popovic said that the camp guards didn’t mistreat detainees, but rather paramilitary formations led by Bosnian Serb commander Milan Lukic.

The Bosnian state prosecution has charged Popovic with participating in the abuse, assault, torture, and sexual abuse of detainees in the Uzamnica detention camp from April-September 1992.

Miodrag Pecikoza, a former guard at Uzamnica, said he worked at the camp for four months and never saw Popovic mistreat detainees in any way.

According to Pecikoza, Milan Lukic was the only person to come to Uzamnica and mistreat detainees.

“Nobody dared do anything to stop Milan Lukic and his soldiers. All of us could see them coming, but we didn’t dare approach him or say anything,” Pecikoza said. He personally never saw Lukic mistreat detainees, but said to the court that he had heard about it.

According to Pecikoza, the defendant and a few other guards asked to be redeployed to the front line in December 1992 due to frequent visits to the camp by Lukic and his soldiers. Popovic’s request was approved.

In 2012 the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia sentenced Milan Lukic to life imprisonment for crimes he committed in Visegrad, which include the beating of Bosniak men at the Uzamnica detention camp. Lukic was charged with having led the Beli Orlovi (White Eagles) or Osvetnici (Avengers) paramilitary unit.

Testifying as an additional defense witness, Milan Zecevic, another former guard, said that the guards always treated detainees correctly. According to Zecevic, he’d heard that Milan Lukic and his soldiers were the only ones who caused problems at the camp.

When asked by the prosecutor whether he personally saw Lukic mistreat detainees, Zecevic said that he had never entered the hangar where the detainees were held. He said that he heard about Lukic and his soldiers through the other guards.

Zecevic mentioned that detainees received three meals per day and that they got the same food as the guards.

When asked by the defense whether he knew if Bosnian Muslim detainees were given pork and forced to eat it, Zecevic said that he had never heard that such an incident occurred.

The next hearing will be held on February 18.