Witnesses in Tahirovic Trial Describe Abuse of Jablanica Prisoners

Mirsad Tahirovic, also known as Deba, a former member of the Zulfikar Squad of the Bosnian Army, has been charged with participating in the physical abuse of detained Croat civilians and prisoners held at the Battle of Neretva Museum and the Rogica Houses in Jablanica in 1993.

Miroslav Soko, a state prosecution witness and a former Jablanica detainee, testified at today’s hearing. Soko told the cantonal court of Mostar that during his detention, a grenade was thrown in front of the Prenj restaurant, where he and other detainees were having lunch.  

“As soon as the shelling stopped, members of the Bosnian Army and defendant Tahirovic began hitting us wherever they could – on our backs, kidneys, heads. I have a scar from a blow to my head with a rifle butt. It still hurts whenever the weather changes,” Soko said.

Soko said Tahirovic once forced the detainees to kneel down and yell “Allah u Akbar.”

Soko said Tahirovic introduced himself to the detainees as Deba. When asked whether he could recognize the defendant in the courtroom, Soko said he couldn’t say for sure whether the defendant was the same man.

Ivan Pavlovic, another former Jablanica detainee, was the second state prosecution witness to testify at today’s hearing. Pavlovic said he was captured by members of the Bosnian Army in September 1993, and was then detained in the Jablanica area. Pavlovic said he heard about a man nicknamed Deba during his detention.

“It was early evening. We were in the restaurant…Soldiers came and told us to kneel down and put our hands on the floor. Our heads were bowed. Deba approached me and kicked me with his boot in the middle of my face. I still feel pain in my jaw. He then grabbed me by the hair and raised my head. I saw him then. Deba wasn’t the only one who beat us. Other soldiers beat us as well with all sorts of objects – rifles, rifle butts. They hit us on our faces, our bodies,” Pavlovic said.

Pavlovic was unable to identify the defendant in the courtroom.

State prosecution witness Terezija Bradic, whose brother was held in detention in Jablanica, also testified at today’s hearing. Bradic said a member of the Bosnian Army abducted her brother, Vinko Ljubas, from his apartment in Jablanica in September 1993.

Bradic said her brother returned to the apartment a few days later, accompanied by two soldiers. She said her brother looked horrible – she described him as bent to the ground, scared and unable to speak. She said he told her to give money to the soldiers. According to Bradic, her brother was released a couple of days later. She said her brother told her he had given the money to a man named Deba.

State prosecution witness Hrvoje Juric said Tahirovic was detained with him in the same cell in the Battle of Neretva Museum in Jablanica one night. He described Tahirovic as a “pleasant young man.”

“He was a nice young man. He had long hair. He spoke to us and said it would all pass one day. I heard from the guys on the other side, the guards, that his name was Deba,” Juric said.

The trial will continue on October 8.