Nikola Maric, a former member of the Croatian Defense Council, has been charged with 25 counts of participating in ethnically based murder, torture and other inhumane acts in Prozor from November 1992 to October 1993.
Mesud Hero, the former vice president of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), testified at today’s hearing. Hero said the political and military situation in Prozor was tense during the spring and fall of 1992.
“In the summer of 1992 the Croatian Defense Council began behaving in an aggressive manner. For instance, they intruded on the premises of the Territorial Defense and confiscated our radio communication devices and forced Bosniak police officers to leave their workplaces,” Hero said.
He said the Croatian Defense Council conducted an attack on some Bosniak buildings on August 28, 1992. Two months later a general attack was conducted with the participation of the Croatian Army. According to Hero, on the day of the attack, October 23, 1992, members of the SDA and the Croatian Democratic Union held a consultative meeting, which he described as fictive and prepared in advance.
“Fire came from the direction of the Croatian Defense Council command. There were mine-thrower projectiles, cannons. The situation became totally chaotic. People began fleeing towards Jablanica. The able-bodied ones who didn’t run away were arrested,” Hero said.
Hero said only the villages of Here, Kute and Scipe weren’t taken over by the Croatian Defense Council.
After the Croatian Defense Council takeover in 1993, the Bosniak population in Prozor was gathered in the villages of Lug, Lapsunj and Pogradje. According to Hero, Bosniaks were expelled from other areas through the use of force, terror, murder, and rape.
“A general persecution happened on August 28, 1993. The local population of the municipality of Prozor was 62 percent Croat and 37 percent Bosniak, while Bosniaks were the majority in the town itself,” Hero said. He said only 130 Bosniaks remained in the municipality afterwards.
Responding to a question from the defense, Hero said he knew about official documents titled Alpha and Beta. These documents were prepared by commander Muharem Sabic, and detailed a plan to defend Prozor.
The state prosecution also included approximately 100 pieces of material evidence in the case file. The defense objected to relevance of most of the evidence.
Maric’s defense will discuss its evidence presentation plan at the next hearing scheduled for August 20.
