Witness Describes Release of Injured Party at Salkic Trial

Salkic, a former member of the Bosnian Army, has been charged with treating civilian Nedeljko Stankovic in an inhumane manner at the Kozlovac prison in Tuzla on June 4, 1992. Stankovic was being held at the prison’s detention unit at the time.

The chamber accepted a motion by the cantonal prosecution of Tuzla to read a statement given by witness Fahrudin Meskovic during the investigation phase of the case. Meskovic sent a letter and said he couldn’t come to the court from Switzerland, his current country of residence. He said he had two underage children which made his travel impossible.

In his statement, Meskovic described the release of Nedeljko Stankovic from a detention unit in Kozlovac.

Meskovic said his brother, who was killed during the war, heard that Stankovic had been arrested. He said his brother was on good terms with the injured party, and that Stankovic had saved his life in Tinja at the beginning of the war.

According to Meskovic, his brother asked him to go to Kozlovac to ensure Stankovic’s release, because he heard that he was being treated poorly in detention. Meskovic said he went to Kozlovac with the help of his friends early one morning. He said while the guards slept, he and the others released Stankovic and a female prisoner who was held in detention with him.

“We drove them to the police station in Mramor, because we believed they’d be safe there. Stankovic was wounded, beaten and visibly scared,” Meskovic said. He said the police offered medical assistance to Stankovic.

Two additional defense witnesses, who have failed to respond to their summons since June 2015, will be examined before the end of the trial.

The prosecution submitted material evidence, thus completing its evidence presentation process.

The trial will continue on November 27. If the defense’s two witnesses fail to appear again, closing statements will be presented.