Witness at Pijunovic Trial Says Defendant Beat Him

The district prosecution of Doboj has charged Pijunovic with participating in the torture, rape, abduction and unlawful detention of civilians in Teslic from May to July 1992. The indictment alleges that Pijunovic was a member of a Bosnian Serb Army paramilitary formation called the Mice or the Red Berets.

According to the indictment, Pijunovic also confiscated money for the Bosnian Serb Army from a non-Serb under threat of violence.

Prosecution witness Amir Ikotic said he knew Pijunovic by his nickname, Piko. He said that during the war he used to see Pijunovic, then a member of the Red Berets, in the courtyard of his neighbour Rudolf Tibetanac.

Ikotic said he was taken to the police station in Teslic in May 1992 after Pijunovic and others surrounded his house.  

“They took me to a basement that was full of people. We slept, urinated and defecated in that room. About 60 people were held in it. Pijunovic used to enter the basement. He beat me once. He hit me on the back a couple of times. We had to turn towards the wall, show a three-finger salute and sing some songs. I don’t know if it was a rifle or a baton,” Ikotic said.

The last hearing in this case was held in December 2013. The trial chamber has waited for Amir Ikotic, a sailor, to appear in court since.

The trial will continue on June 18.