Two witnesses claim that Jankovic raped them

Two protected witnesses in the trial of Gojko Jankovic, who is charged with crimes committed in
Foca, have claimed that the indictee raped them during their detention.

On Thursday, protected witness 191 told the trial chamber that she was detained in Jankovic’s house from July 1992 to January 1993 and was forced to have sexual relations with the defendant and other soldiers.

On July 4, 1992, witness 191 was taken with another 180 Bosniaks to the elementary school in Kalinovik, from where Dragan Kunarac – a Hague convict – and another soldier took her and another seven girls to a house in Aladza.

There she first saw Jankovic. “At the time he looked much younger than now, he had black hair and beard,” witness 191 said.

She continued to state in her testimony that she, witness 186 and witness J.G. were taken to the house of Jankovic.

“The very first night we were raped,” witness 191 said tearfully, adding that Jankovic raped her once in that house, while Kunarac did that more than 20 times.

“I became an empty and injured person,” she said and added that while residing in this house she was called Gordana because all the detained women were named differently.

Clearly frustrated, indictee Jankovic accused witness 191 of lying, after which he wanted to leave the courtroom.

Protected witness 95 also appeared as a prosecution witness. She told the court that she had been detained in the high school centre in Foca, sports hall Partizan and Buk Bijela.

Witness 95 was detained from July 3 to August 12, and during that time period she was raped 150 times. The first time witness 95 saw the ndictee was in Buk Bijela, and later in sports hall Partizan, where he allegedly raped her.

Visibly upset, witness 95 said in her testimony that the indictee raped her three times at the beginning of August 1992.

“Sex lasted an eternity for me,” the witness said. “I cannot have children today. I am constantly crying and having nightmares about the camps.”

Jankovic’s defence counsel asked for a testimony of a court-appointed expert, because witness 95 did not say in her testimony given to the Hague tribunal in 1996 that the indictee raped her on multiple occasions and during her testimony she could not remember some of the events she previously described.

Marija Kaucic-Komsic, a court-appointed expert, confirmed the prosecution’s claims that witness 95 is reasonable and capable of testifying.

Witness 74, who was a rape victim in Buk Bijela, also testified. She confirmed to the trial chamber that she was raped by a young man, but could not remember his name.

She also once saw Jankovic there. Later, she and other women were taken to the high school centre in Foca, then to sports hall Partizan.

At the request of the prosecution, protection measures for all witnesses who testified on Thursday have been prolonged to 15 years.

Continuation of the main hearing is scheduled for August 4.