Former Prisoner Describes Batkovic Abuses at Begovic Trial

Gligor Begovic, a former member of the Bosnian Serb Army, is on trial for participating in the beating of Bosniak civilians and prisoners of war in the Batkovic detention camp in the summer of 1992, as well as other crimes.

Testifying for the Bosnian state prosecution, Dzafer Deronjic, who was brought to Batkovic in July 1992, said that Gligor Begovic was one of the camp guards.

“We were all afraid of him, all of the detainees. We were afraid of both him and Veselin Nikolic,” Deronjic said. He said Nikolic and Begovic beat the prisoners the most.

Deronjic said some detainees were beaten every day and some of them died as a result.

The trial chamber asked whether he witnessed Begovic beating prisoners in Batkovic. Deronjic said he beat some of them.

When asked whether he was beaten during his stay in the detention camp, Deronjic initially said he wasn’t.

“I was just scratched once while I was entering the hangar. We entered the hangar each night. The guards would hit people, but luckily I wasn’t hit. Others were,” Deronjic said.

The defense asked Deronjic whether it was true that Veselin Nikolic had beaten him once. Deronjic confirmed that he had, and said he hadn’t wanted to mention it at the trial.

“I didn’t want to say so, because that’s about Veselin Nikolic, and this is about Gligor Begovic,” Deronjic explained.

Deronjic said he didn’t know Begovic’s last name during his stay in Batkovic.

“A man told me his last name in late 1992. The man told me his name was Gligor Begovic,” Deronjic said. Deronjic left Batkovic in October 1992.

A new prosecution witness will be examined on June 17.