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Hasib Cehic, a former member of the National Defense of the Western Bosnia Autonomous Region, has been charged with the physical abuse of two captured members of the Bosnian Army in Pecigrad in the municipality of Cazin on July 16, 1994.
Cehic, nicknamed Siban, has also been charged with the inhumane treatment of five captured members of the military police of the Fifth Corps of the Bosnian Army. He allegedly physically abused the captives in the village of Zagrad in the municipality of Velika Kladusa on June 21, 1995.
Witness Rufad Kadiric told the cantonal court of Bihac that he had known Cehic as the owner of the Lambada cafe in Cazin.
“On the day of my capture I went to help evacuate the wounded together with Kemal. Following our capture, they took us to a house in Pecigrad where the command was situated in order to interrogate us. There were some beatings, but it was bearable,” said Kadiric, who was 21 at the time.
According to Kadiric, he heard noise and someone told him a man named Siban was coming. He said he was then beaten and nearly killed by the defendant.
“At some point he grabbed me by the throat and began strangling me. I was nearly dead, when a soldier jumped up and told him to release me since he was going to kill me,” Kadiric said. He said Cehic was dressed in military uniform. He said he had thick black hair and a mustache.
Kadiric was asked whether he could identify the defendant in the courtroom. Kadiric said although Cehic no longer had black hair and a moustache, his facial features had remained the same.
Witness Kemal Heljezovic said he hadn’t known Cehic. He said he’d heard that the person who beat them the most during his captivity and nearly strangled a prisoner named Rufad was named Siban.
“I identified him immediately during the investigation. He was a big man, with thick black hair and a mustache. Now I don’t know whether it’s the person sitting here in the courtroom, since twenty years have passed,” Heljezovic said.
Heljezovic told the court he had hearing problems and that his overall health had deteriorated due to the abuse he suffered.
The trial will continue on October 9.
