Witnesses Describe Treatment of Prisoners at Musala Detention Facility

Testifying at the trial of Ramo Zilic and Esad Gakic, a witness said he wasn’t aware of the torture and abuse of prisoners held at the Musala detention facility in Konjic. The witness, Ismet Mehic, was the head of a war commission which took statements from prisoners of war.

Ismet Mehic said clashes between the Croatian Defense Council and the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina started on April 15, 1993. As a result, approximately 40 Croatian Defense Council soldiers were captured and placed in the Musala detention facility, which had previously been a school building.

“Then the headquarters issued the order to form the War Commission with me at the helm, to take the testimonies from the prisoners. No one but the War Commission had the right to interrogate the prisoners. While I was in the “Musala” [detention facility], the statements from prisoners were taken in a correct manner. I collected those statements and gave them to the State Security. Afterwards, I didn’t have anything to do with these persons,” Mehic said.

Ramo Zilic and Esad Gakic have been charged with the inhumane treatment of Croat and Serb civilians detained at the Musala detention facility in Konjic.

According to Mehic, Edhem Zilic was the manager of the Musala detention facility. Mehic said he warned Zilic not to abuse the detainees.

Mehic said he was never informed about the torture and abuse of prisoners that took place at the Musala detention facility. However, he confirmed that after the war he heard about the abuse that took place there, and that Mithat Mirkic, nicknamed Mirka, abused the prisoners.

Rasim Krzo, a former military policeman with the Bosnian Army, was also questioned at this hearing. Krzo was the head of the guard shifts at the Musala detention facility in 1993.

“Ramo Zilic was something like a civil defense [force member]. I do not know whether Ramo had any weapons, even a bat,” said Krzo, adding that Zilic was stationed in a hallway of the facility.

Krzo described an evening when three Croat detainees were beaten. He said Mithat Mirkic, nicknamed Mirka, asked three prisoners to be brought to him. He was accompanied with two other soldiers. They were also accused of having raped prisoners.

“Osman Kurtovic, Edhem Zilic’s brother-in-law, who was the manager of the prison at the time, took out those three prisoners and brought them to Mithat. Osman returned them after their interrogation and then I noticed that they were beaten. I described it all in detail in my report, which I handed over to Edhem Zilic,” said Krzo.

During cross-examination, the cantonal prosecutor presented Krzo with a statement he had given during the investigation phase of the case. In his previous statement, Krzo said he was wounded when clashes began between the Croatian Defense Council and the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and went on sick leave for three to four months.

“According to your statement, you couldn’t have been in Musala from May-October 1993, if you had been on sick leave for three or four months. How do you explain that?” the prosecutor asked.

Krzo said he had injured his leg, and worked at Musala in that condition.

The trial will continue on April 28.