Witness Describes Banovici Detention of Local Serbs

Berberovic, a former commander of military police with the Territorial Defense in Banovici, said that civil police, members of military police with the Territorial Defense in Banovici, and the 19th Muslim Brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina confiscated weapons and detained Serb residents mentioned in the list of allegedly armed Serbs.

“Only oral orders were given to them. No written orders were issued at the beginning of the war in May 1992. The list of armed Serbs in Banovici was found at Savo Borovina’s mid-1992. At the time Borovina was in charge of an attempt to arm the Serb population,” Berberovic said.

According to his testimony, they found weapons in the homes of all the people mentioned in Borovina’s list. Those people were then taken to detention.

“An improvised detention camp was set up in two basement premises in what was formerly the railway company building, as per an order by Nihad Livadic,” Berberovic said.

Berberovic testified at the trial of Esed Kocic, Miralem Colic and Fikret Mrkonjic, former members of military police with the Headquarters of the Territorial Defense in the municipality of Banovici, as well as Mirza Dedic, a former member of the police station in Banovici.

According to the charges, they inhumanely treated detainees held in a detention facility in the Railway Traffic building in Banovici. They allegedly acted in collaboration with other members of civil and military police, from early May to late July 1992.

“I entered the prison for half an hour only a couple of times. I once saw Esad Kocic question and Miralem Colic beat Zarko Dobrilovic, an old man who’d had weapons found at his place,” Berberovic said.

The trial continues on April 13.