Karadzic: Excesses and Tensions

In his written statement, which was included in the case file, Karabeg, former President of the municipal Government in Sanski Most, confirmed the allegation that Serb soldiers and policemen unlawfully detained, beat and abused hundreds of non-Serbs in the Betonirka and Manjaca detention centres.

Karabeg said that, although tensions existed in Sanski Most as early as September 1991, the situation in the town rapidly worsened in April 1992, when the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS started insisting on dividing the municipality into Serb and non-Serb parts.

“SDS made excesses in order to cause tensions. They wanted the conflict to happen by all means, because they were stronger and would win the conflict, which we avoided. They wanted to have their own police, their own municipality, their own streets…” Karabeg said.

Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska and SDS, is charged with the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats from 20 municipalities throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Sanski Most. Besides that, Karadzic is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war.

Karabeg said that non-Serb officials had to leave the Sanski Most Municipal Assembly building on April 19, 1992, when SDS leader and municipality president Nedjeljko Rasuo gave them an ultimatum and “threatened them by saying that they would be attacked”.

Karabeg further said that, after they had left the building, hand bombs were thrown inside the municipality building. “They occupied the entire Sanski Most municipality. They had the power and prevailed over Bosniaks and Croats,” the witness said.
Karabeg said that he was among 250 prominent non-Serbs who were arrested on May 25, 1992. He said he was detained and beaten up in the police station and then also in the Betonirka Factory and Manjaca.

“The policy of Serbs was to proclaim the 250 of us extremists. They said that, had it not been for us, they could have lived with Bosniaks and Croats. When they killed some of us and transferred the others to Betonirka and Manjaca, when we disappeared, they found 250 new extremists. It went on until May 1992,” Karabeg said.

After having been exchanged in October 1992, Karabeg met convoys of Bosniaks, who had been forced to leave Sanski Most, in Travnik until 1995.

“None of them said that they had left voluntarily. All of them cried…They used to say that pressure had been put on them to leave Sanski Most and they had to go, because freedom was freedom,” Karabeg said.

During the course of cross-examination Karadzic said that, as of August 1991 Bosniaks collected money for weapons and formed the Green Berets in Sanski Most. Responding to Karadzic’s suggestion that “the Bosniak Army” was formed, Karabeg said: “If we did all that, tell me how many Serbs were killed in Sanski Most and how many Bosniaks and Croats were arrested and killed. Why don’t you ask me that?”

Karadzic is due to continue cross-examining the witness on Wednesday, September 14 this year.

R.M.