Lalovic and Skiljevic: Conscientious People

At the retrial of Radoje Lalovic and Soniboj Skiljevic, charged with crimes committed in “Kula”, Eastern Sarajevo, Defence witness Momcilo Mandic says that the indictees worked with him on the establishment of penal facilities in the then Serbian Republic.

Testifying before the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Momcilo Mandic, former Minister of Justice with the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that indictees Lalovic and Skiljevic were “conscientious people, who helped every person irrespective of the person’s ethnic affiliation”.

“Because of their experience, Lalovic and Skiljevic worked with me on the establishment of penal and correctional facilities. The two of them were my close associates when those institutions were set up. I never appointed Skiljevic as deputy manager of ‘Butmir’ Facility,” Mandic said.

Mandic said they worked with him as of May 1992.

In February 2010, the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina acquitted Mandic of the charges that he committed war crimes against civilians and crime against humanity, as well as the charges pertaining to the functioning of “Butmir” Facility.

In March 2010, the first instance Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina pronounced Lalovic and Skiljevic guilty of detaining civilians, some of whom died, in inhumane conditions in the “Butmir” Facility, known as “Kula”, and participation of Facility guards in the physical mistreatment of prisoners during the course of examinations.

The verdict says that Lalovic was Manager of “Butmir” Facility and responsible for its functioning from the end of June to mid December 1992, while Soniboj Skiljevic was considered responsible for the events that took place in that Facility from the end of December 1992 to the end of 1995.

Under the first instance verdict, Lalovic and Skiljevic were sentenced to five and eight years in prison. The parties appealed the verdict. The Appellate Chamber then ordered a retrial, which began on May 9 this year.

Mandic said that he did not know why the State prosecution mentioned him as a member of a joint criminal enterprise in the case of Lalovic and Skiljevic, knowing that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina acquitted him of the charges for crimes committed in “Kula”.

Explaining the role of the then Ministry of Justice, Mandic said that the Army and police had the biggest influence at the beginning of the war, adding that the Facility buildings belonged to them.

“The Army and police held their detainees. They were the only ones who could deal with them. When a military commander issued an order to send prisoners to work, the order had to be carried out,” Mandic said.

When asked by the Defence of the second indictee what happened to prisoners who had been brought from Kasindolska Street, Mandic said that he had got information that those persons were “killed by some members of paramilitary formations, which were active on the territory of the Serbian Republic”.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina alleges that 37 prisoners from Kasindolska Street were held in the Facility. It further alleges that they were taken away and killed in mid May 1992. Their bodies were found in a mass grave on Mount Romanija 15 years later.

Djordje Faladzic, former Deputy Manager of the “Kula” Facility, was examined as the second witness at this hearing. He said that he “does not feel guilty at all”, denying having participated in a joint criminal enterprise.

The trial is due to continue on June 2, when two Defence witnesses will be examined.

S.U.