Witness at Vrucinic Trial Describes Police Abuse at Multiple Locations in Sanski Most

Vrucinic, the former head of the public safety station in Sanski Most and a member of the local crisis committee, has been charged with participating in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at persecuting the non-Serb population of Sanski Most in 1992.

State prosecution witness Nihad Klujcanin said he was arrested in his house in the village of Trnova, near Sanski Most, on June 1, 1992. He said he was taken to the local police station, which was commanded by Mirko Vrucinic.

After giving a statement to the police, Kljucanin said he was taken to the Hasan Kikic elementary school, where he was beaten.

“They beat me, I was all bloody,” Kljucanin said. He said he was beaten with the butt of a rifle and was kicked with boots.

He said he was detained in the school from June 1-6, 1992. He said the prisoners were guarded by the police and military.

“I was a prisoner and a detainee. I could go nowhere,” Kljucanin said.

Kljucanin said his body was badly bruised from the abuse he experienced, and said prisoners were forced to beat one another. He told the trial chamber that he was taken out of the school building to a detention camp in the Betonirka building, where he was also abused.

“It was all organized. The security was done by the police…The Betonirka camp was the worst one. People were beaten day and night,” Kljucanin said.

Kljucanin said his abuse continued when he was transferred to cell number two of the local police station.

“They hit me with a chair, with wooden logs on my back,” Kljucanin said.

Kljucanin said he was taken from the police station to the Manjaca camp. He didn’t see any of the Betonirka prisoners there.

“They were just gone…Later they were found in mass graves near Manjaca,” Kljucanin said.

The trial will continue on July 10.