Witness at Stanarevic Trial Describes Assault and Detention in Ripac

The state prosecution has charged Stanarevic, a former military police officer with the 15th Bihacka Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, with participating in the murder of 11 prisoners from a facility in Ripac, in the Bihac area. The killings allegedly took place between June 24 and the first half of July 1992 at the Bezdan Pit. The prosecution alleges that Stanarevic and others participated in the killings and dumped the bodies into the pit.

State prosecution witness and former Ripac prisoner Nedzad Mesic told the court that he was fleeing from Bosnian Serb forces in the woods with a group of men from Orasac in June 1992. He said he and Hazim Delic were captured and detained in a school building in the village of Racic.

“There were lots of uniformed people. A military commander received us. He examined us. He ordered them to tie us up. They took us to some military buildings…a group of soldiers started beating us,” Mesic said.

Mesic said he was beaten throughout the night, and was taken to a nearby military storage space to be interrogated on the following day.

“When I arrived six guys approached me and started beating me…they continued beating me until I fainted,” Mesic said.

Mesic said he was then transferred to a detention facility in the village of Ripac.

“About forty people from my village who’d been previously captured were held in it. They were accommodated in an open hall. We were guarded by civil police. Military police officers used to come by every day and bring a small piece of paper with the first and last names of people, who were then taken away in an unknown direction. They were found in mass graves later on,” he said.

State prosecution witness Sead Dupanovic also testified at today’s hearing. He said he was invited to a meeting attended by many armed soldiers in the village of Lipca in May 1992.

“We entered the IMT premises, where tractors were being repaired. They told us we should hand our weapons over if we wanted to prove our loyalty. They said it was an ultimatum. I personally asked them to allow those who wanted to go to Bihac to do so,” Dupanovic said.

He said that a few people stayed behind in Lipca. He said he heard some of them were killed in September 1992.

The trial will continue on September 7.