Witness Describes Medical Treatment of Prisoner Held in Mostar

Enes Curic, Ibrahim Demirovic, Samir Kreso, Habib Copelj and Mehmed Kaminic have been charged with participating in the detention of Croat civilians who were subjected to severe physical and mental mistreatment in the municipality of Mostar from June to December 1993.

According to the charges, Curic was a member of the 49th Mountain Brigade of the Bosnian Army and the manager of a detention facility in a school building and other buildings in Potoci, Demirovic was the commander of the 47th Mountain Brigade of the Bosnian Army, Kreso was the chief of the military medical unit of the Mountain Brigade which was active in the Bijelo Polje area, while Copelj and Kaminic were members of the Bosnian Army.

Demirovic is also charged with an incident of rape which occurred in Potoci.

State prosecution witness Vesna Skrbo said soldiers brought her to a health center in Bijelo Polje, near Mostar, in order to assist the medical staff there. She said she went to the school building in Potoci in July 1993 in order to bring pills and bandages to detainees held there.

“Witness B approached me in the school building and said she wanted to talk to me. I noticed she was very upset. She told me her period was late. I thought it was caused by shock, so I told Dr. Samir Kreso about it. He gave me an injection for her,” Skrbo said.

Prosecutor Stanko Blagic presented Skrbo with a statement she gave to the state prosecution in October 2014, in which she said she assumed B had been raped, because she heard that women held at the school had been raped. Skrbo confirmed having said that.

She also said that Enes Curic was the manager of the detention facility in the school, and said he treated her in “a decent and normal manner.”

“I have never experienced any unpleasant situations involving him. He helped whenever he could,” Skrbo said.

Responding to questions from the defense, Skrbo said it was possible that Curic was subordinated to someone, but she didn’t know whom.

Demirovic’s defense attorney Nijaz Djuliman asked Skrbo whether she examined B. Skrbo said she didn’t and also said she didn’t remember the name of the injection that was given to her.

The trial will continue on September 16.