Hadzici Prisoners ‘Well-Treated and Not Abused’

Defence witness Amira Horman, who was testifying for one of the defendants, Halid Covic, told the state court in Sarajevo on Thursday that a medical doctor used to come to the Krupa and Silos military barracks to treat prisoners held there.

Horman said that detainees were taken to medical specialists or to the Suhodol military hospital for treatment if necessary.

She testified that she worked at Krupa military barracks as a nurse from the spring to autumn of 1993, when detainees from Krupa were transferred to Silos.

After that she continued working as a nurse at Silos, where she stayed until the end of 1995.

The witness said that detainees had scratches, cuts and blisters caused by the work they had to do, but she did not hear about anyone having been mistreated or beaten.

“I offered assistance to all those who needed it. Those were minor cuts, headaches, toothaches… If I was not able to help, they would take them to the out-patients clinic in Tarcin,” she said.

Horman said nobody complained about the hygienic conditions in Krupa, adding that detainees ate the same food as employees.

She explained that she used to get medical supplies and medications from a military care unit and the Red Cross.

She said that the Krupa and Silos detention facilities were disinfected and the detainees were clean.

Halid Covic, Mustafa Djelilovic, Fadil Covic, Mirsad Sabic, Nezir Kazic, Becir Hujic, Serif Mesanovic and Nermin Kalember are on trial for committing crimes against detainees held in the Silos detention camp, the Krupa military barracks and the Ninth of May school building. They worked either for the civil, military or police authorities.

Also on Thursday, the state court announced that it has confirmed two indictments for wartime crimes in the Kljuc and Prijedor areas.

The court confirmed the indictment against Mladjen Kovacevic and Bosko Devic, former members of the Bosnian Serb Army, charging them with crimes against humanity in the Kljuc area.

They are accused of participating in murder of men who were taken from their homes in the villages of Krasulje and Kamicak in August 1992.

The court has also confirmed the indictment against Boro Milojica and Zelislav Rivic for crimes against humanity in the Prijedor area in 1992.
Milojica and Rivic, former members of the 6th Ljubija Battalion of the 43rd Prijedor Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, are with persecuting the Bosniak, Croat and Roma population by committing murders.

They are accused of personally killing at least 19 people in the Prijedor, Hambarine, Ravska and Ljubija areas.