Witness Describes Capture and Torture by Bosniak Forces in Rapatnica
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Ekrem Ibracevic, Faruk Smajlovic and Sejdalija Covic have been charged with war crimes against Serb civilians in the municipality of Srebrenik. At the time, Ibracevic was the chief of the military section of the municipal headquarters of the Territorial Defense in Srebrenik. Faruk Smajlovic and Sejdalija Covic were members of the military police.
The witness, Vasilije Jovic, described his capture and interrogation by Bosniak forces in Rapatnica.
Jovic said when he was taken away to be interrogated his assailants threatened to shoot him.
“They said, ‘We killed Stokan. You’re next.’ Two uniformed guys came to pick me up. I resigned myself to death. They took me to a room upstairs. Four or five men were present,” Jovic said.
He said a person sitting at a desk interrogated him about weapons, while others stood behind him.
“Whenever I said I didn’t know something, they would hit me on the back and neck. It hurt,” Jovic said.
He said while being escorted to the room in which he was detained, he was knocked down and beaten again. He said he was kicked a lot, and still had scars from the beatings he endured.
Jovic said he was brought to Rapatnica with Stokan Markovic and a few other local residents from the village of Brezje.
He said all of them were taken in for interrogation and experienced the same abuse. He said two elderly men from the village of Potpec were imprisoned in the same room as him. Jovic described them as “scared and beaten.”
“You’re experiencing a lot of fear since you don’t know whether you’ll still be alive in the evening,” Jovic said.
Jovic said Stokan Markovic was separated from his group. When he and other prisoners were transported to Tuzla five days later, Jovic said he saw Markovic on a truck. He said he was “beaten and covered with black bruises, so it was difficult to recognize him at all.”
Responding to questions by the defense, Jovic said he had weapons and was uniformed when he was captured, but was not arrested because he was a soldier.
A statement given by Pero Rikic was also read at this hearing. Rikic came to the courtroom, but he was unable to communicate fully due to his age and poor health. The statement, which was given in 2008, described the attack on Brezje and the capture and transportation of captives to Rapatnica.
The trial will continue on May 5.
