Askraba: Detainees Beaten and Taken away

Protected witness J, former guard in “Barutni magacin” (“Gunpowder Depot”), said that indictee Askraba was “guard commander or distributor” in that detention camp, adding that his task was to deploy guards to their duties.

According to the witness, about 80 Bosniak detainees were held in “Barutni magacin” detention camp. He said that the detainees were occasionally taken to other locations to perform labour.

Witness J said that, one day in the summer of 1992 guards told him that indictee Askraba said that some soldiers from Foca would come to pick up the detainees and take them to the Foca prison.

“I was at the gate, when the trucks arrived. Three trucks came. All of the detainees were loaded onto them. The detainees were first taken outside the detention camp and tied. While they were standing in front of the camp, soldiers mistreated them, tied them and beat them with sticks and hands. They were literally beaten up…” witness J said, adding that, at that moment it became clear to him that those detainees would not be taken to the prison.

Witness J said that Djordjislav Askraba was on duty as a guard in “Barutni magacin”, when the unknown soldiers took the detainees away.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Askraba with having supervised the “Barutni magacin” detention camp from April 1992 to March 1993 and acted as a “deliberate participant” in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at Bosniaks from Kalinovik.

Under a first instance verdict pronounced in December 2009, Askraba was acquitted of the charges that he committed crimes in Kalinovik, but the Appellate Chamber revoked the verdict and ordered a retrial.

State Prosecution witness Djoko Andric testified at this hearing as well. He said that he stood guard in front of “Barutni magacin” for a few days in late July 1992. Andric said that “Djole” was Commander of guards in the detention camp in Kalinovik, adding that he found out, later on, that his last name was Askraba.

“Djole used to take all of the detainees out in order to give them water or cigarettes. The man looked after all of them…He was the only person, who had keys to those rooms,” Andric said.

Andric told the Court that three vehicles arrived in front of the detention camp one day, bringing many soldiers, who were unknown to him. He said that those soldiers started loading detainees onto the vehicles.

“They came and started banging on the detention camp door. They broke down the door. We ran to the guard box, where we saw Djole and asked him what was going on. He said that he did not know, asking us to hide. We then went behind the warehouse. We could only hear the vehicles leaving the place,” Andric said, adding that some time later they heard gunshots coming from a distance, so he assumed that the detainees were killed.

The retrial is due to continue on Monday, January 30 this year.