Witness Describes Beating and Torture of Prisoners in Rapatnica

Mihajlovic testified against three former members of Bosniak forces, who have been charged with committing war crimes against Serb civilians who were detained in Rapatnica. The defendants are Ekrem Ibracevic, former chief of the Military Security Section of the Municipal Headquarters of the Territorial Defense in Srebrenik, as well as Faruk Smajlovic and Sejdalija Covic, former members of the military police.

Velibor Mihajlovic said he was detained in a hall in Rapatnica with about 40 other residents from villages in the Srebrenik and Lopare areas. He said the detainees looked scared and some had bruises on their faces.

“On the second morning, a man who was accompanied by two other men entered the hall. He introduced himself as captain so-and-so, but I don’t know his name now…He threatened us by saying we would be killed unless we admitted everything,” Mihajlovic said.

He said he found out later on that the two other men were brothers nicknamed Muce and Sejdo. He said the other detainees told him that they beat prisoners the most.

Mihajlovic said listening to the cries of people who were taken upstairs for interrogation was one of the worst experiences of his life.

“Cries were heard, chairs were thrown…you weren’t able to tell who was beating you, when you were knocked down from a bench and beaten by three or four men,” Mihajlovic said.

He said he wasn’t beaten, but was hit on the back with a police baton once while giving a statement.

Mihajlovic said six days after his arrest he was transferred from Rapatnica to Tuzla, where he was sentenced for having been a member of the enemy army.

Mihajlovic said that on his way to Tuzla he saw Stokan Markovic, whom he didn’t recognize immediately.

“He was lying in the corner. I thought he was dead. His eyes couldn’t be seen. His cheeks were hanging down over his chin,” Mihajlovic said. He said Markovic was detained at another location.

Petar Novakovic, who worked as a policeman before the war and stayed in Srebrenik until August 1993, also provided testimony regarding Stokan Markovic.

Novakovic said he had heard from an acquaintance who was a policeman that Mustafa Covic (also known as Muce), opened fire in short bursts at Markovic in the Luke area.

“He told me that Ibracevic was there as well and that Stokan’s face was distorted due to the contusions…He also asked me about Lazar Stanisic, the major…he said he was tough, that he did not want to tell them anything and that he was beaten up brutally and shocked with electrical currents in Rapatnica,” Novakovic said.

He also said that military policemen arrested his acquaintance Marko Maksimovic from Srebrenik. Mihajlovic said Ekrem Ibracevic interrogated and slapped Maksimovic in the face.

Mihajlovic identified Ibracevic in the courtroom. When asked why he had said in an earlier statement that the defendant’s name was Fikret, Mihajlovic said he might have said that.

The trial will continue on April 7