Witnesses Describe Forced Labour and Assault of Prisoners on Santiceva Street

Mile Puljic, the former commander of the Second Battalion of the Second Brigade of the Croatian Defense Council, has been charged with allowing his subordinates to take detainees held in the Heliodrom detention camp to locations where they performed forced labour and were used as human shields. He has also been charged with the unlawful arrest and detainment of prisoners in detention camps.

Protected witness and former Heliodrom prisoner S-4 testified at today’s hearing. S-4 said he was wounded on August 13, 1993, while carrying bags filled with sand on Santiceva Street along with other detainees from the Heliodrom detention camp.

“They pushed us into the area between the lines, where fire was opened. It was crazy while they were shooting at each other…We had nothing to eat that day. When we finally sat down to eat something, a grenade exploded on the bags. Stones and shrapnel pieces fell over my head and body,” S-4 said.

S-4 and prisoners Sefik Ratkusic and Salko Vraco were members of the Croatian Defense Council until their arrest on June 30 and July 1, 1993. They were all detained at the Heliodrom detention camp.

Salko Vraco said they were taken to various locations almost every day to dig trenches and fortify division lines.

“Whoever needed anything would come and take us away like sheep,” Vraco said.

Vraco said he was wounded on Santiceva Street on August 13, 1993. He said many people were wounded and killed on that day.

Ratkusic his arm was wounded while they were building a wall made of sandbags. He said they worked in an open area, where they couldn’t protect themselves. Like other witnesses who testified at today’s hearing, he said he didn’t know which zone of responsibility Santiceva Street belonged to.

“We didn’t even dare look at them [the soldiers], let alone talk to them,” Ratkusic said.

He said soldiers who took them to another location and treated them correctly carried emblems of the Fourth Battalion. However, he said he didn’t know who was in charge of Santiceva Street.

Defense attorney Senka Nozica presented Ratkusic with a statement he had given during the investigation. In that statement he had said “Tuta’s men” treated prisoners the worst and exposed them to the most danger. Ratkusic confirmed this statement.

Ratkusic said he saw a prisoner coming out of a post office in Santiceva Street with difficulty. He said he had bruises and burns on his back. He said the burns were caused by soldiers who put a hot coffee pot on his body.

Alija Bosto, a former member of the Bosnian Army, also testified at today’s hearing. Bosto confirmed having been wounded on Santiceva Street on August 14, 1993.

Emir Sose, a former Heliodrom prisoner, was also wounded on Santiceva Street. He said he was beaten up in front of the post office when he went to fetch some water. He said a bone in his arm was broken.

All five witnesses said they underwent hospital treatment after having been wounded. They all said that although they were prescribed home care, they were sent back to the detention camp and used for labour again.

The trial will continue on October 7.