Andrun sentenced to 13 years

The War Crimes Chamber has found Nikola Andrun guilty of crimes committed against the civilian population in Gabela detainment camp near Capljina in 1993.

Andrun has been sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, which will include the time he has spent in custody since his arrest in November 2005. The prosecution and defence have both announced that they intend to appeal the verdict.

The Trial Chamber accepted seven out of the 13 counts of indictment which charged Andrun, as former deputy warden of Gabela detention camp, with murders and involvement in the murders of detained civilians, and their torture and inhumane treatment, during which he used intimidation and terror measures.

The listed crimes were committed during 1993, in the midst of disputes between units of Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croat Defence Council (HVO).

The Trial Chamber concluded that Andrunis guilty because on October 2, 1993 he took Enes Bratic from Gabela and escorted him to police station in Capljina where certain Vlado Rajic and Marinko Maric beat him. Maric twisted this Bosniak’s finger at the time, at which he broke it. Andrun then hit Bratic with his boot underneath the victim’s heart, after which he was beaten all night.

The Court also found that in October 1993, after detainee Alija Suta refused to bring fellow inmate Alija Colakovic outside, the indictee entered Hangar III – one of Gabela’s storage sheds – with other HVO soldiers. Colakovic was then kicked until he lost consciousness. The remains of this detainee were found in 1998 in the Tasovcici mass grave.

Andrun was also found guilty of the abuse of detainee Mirsad Omanovic.

In July 1993 Andrun took more than one detainee outside the camp, including Dzemal Topic, to pick pine needles and acorns. He then gave Topic over to a group of HVO soldiers who beat them with the pipe of a fire-extinguisher until he lost consciousness. Andrun stood to the side and watched this torture.

The court also found that in September 1993 Andrun took more than one detainee outside Gabela camp and ordered them to pick thorn-bushes with their bare hands, after which HVO soldiers beat them with a pick over their backs.

In August 1993 Andrun took Selim Gagula outside of the camp to the gate in front of the administration building, where members of HVO beat him while Andrun watched.

Andrun is also guilty of taking a group of Bosniaks to the “Silos” detention camp located near Capljina in order to prevent the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to register the civilians who were detained in Gabela.

The trial chamber acquitted Andrun on six counts of the indictment, including the murder of former teacher Himzija Dizdar, who was taken outside the camp and killed. His body was found in 1996 with a gunshot wound on the head.

Both the prosecution and the defence have announced that they will appeal the verdict.

This is the first verdict passed by the Bosnian court for crimes committed in Gabela detention camp in Herzegovina.

Processes are currently in place before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) against Jadranko Prlic, Bruno Stojic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoje Petkovic, ValentinCoric and Berislav Pusic who are, among other things, also charged in connection with Gabela.

According to this indictment, Gabela was formed in the former county military prison Gabela located nearby Capljina. The camp was officially founded on June 8, 1993. By the end of that year, around 1,200 Bosniak men were detained there in four storage sheds.