Macic: Reliable Description or Self-Defence

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina claims that witnesses reliably described Eso Macic’s participation in the killings of Scepo Gotovac and Milorad Kuljanin in the Celebici detention camp, and in the beating of prisoners, and therefore it believes that he should be pronounced guilty.

The Defence requested the acquittal of the indictee emphasising that in its verdict for the Celebici detention camp, which was pronounced in 2003, The Hague Tribunal concluded that Macic is not guilty of the murders. When it comes to beatings, the Defence also pointed out that the Prosecution witnesses said that he carried out the beatings under order, but even when he did it, he was lenient than the other guards.

Macic’s trial for crimes against the civilian population and prisoners of war in Konjic lasted one year and ten months, and more than thirty witnesses were brought to trial.

The first prisoners came to Celebici in April 1992, immediately after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina started. The majority of prisoners were captured during military operations in Bradina, Donje Selo and its surroundings. The complex in Celebici, which was composed of hangars and underground tunnels, and is where the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) stored liquid fuel, was turned into a detention camp.

Hangars “Six and Nine”

Prisoners of Serb ethnicity were mostly placed in hangars “Six and Nine”, where they were brutally beaten, and some were even killed.

At the trial prisoner Janko Glogovac recalled the beginning of June 1992, when, as he claims, Macic invited Kuljanin to come out in front of the hangar, and then fired at him.

“He was turned to him head on and then he fired at him into the chest then in the neck and face. That scene when the brain and the skull exploded…” said Glogovac.

Dragan Djordjic also testified about this, adding that the indictee first hit Kuljanin in the head and ribs, and then fired at him. “I saw that he was shot in the neck, face and chest,” said Dragan Djordjic.

Testifying in his favour, indictee Macic said that Kuljanin, while returning from the toilet, suddenly tried to seize his gun in front of the hangar, in which the bullet was in the barrel, after which it fired once.

“He fell, and I threw the gun. I was in shock,” said indictee Macic, pointing out that afterwards he went to a superior Hazim Delic and wrote a statement about what happened.

Testifying in favour of the indictee, Hazim Delic said that it was a matter of murder in self-defence. Delic, who was sentenced in The Hague Tribunal to 18 years in prison for crimes committed at Celebici, said that he was indicted for the Kuljanin’s murder by command responsibility. However, Delic said that The Hague Tribunal found that it was not an intentional murder.

After this event, Macic said that he did not come to the detention camp for two days, and when he returned, he began to work as a guard at the gate.

The remains of Kuljanin were found in the courtyard of the Orthodox Church in Bradina in 1998, and examinations of pathologist and ballistic showed that the bullet caused multiple fractures to the lower jaw.

Rooted to the Spot

Macic is also indicted for, along with unknown guards having beaten Scepo Gotovac, in mid-June 1992. Gotovac died because of the beating.

Witness Branko Sinikovic said that Hazim Delic, Esad Landzo, indictee Macic and other guards began to beat Gotovac in the hangar. Sinikovic said that they ordered him and another prisoner to take Gotovac out.

“The same team continued to hit him, but without Delic. They beat him until he ceased to give signs of life,” said Sinikovic, explaining that he and the other prisoner just stood rooted to the spot.

Pathologist Zeljko Karan found that Gotovac had a broken collarbone and several broken ribs.

The indictee Macic argues that he heard of Gotovac for the first time when the indictment was read to him.

Esad Landzo, a former guard at Celebici, was sentenced in The Hague Tribunal to 15 years in prison for crimes committed there in 2003.

Several former prisoners at Celebici described how they were brutally beaten in mid-August 1992. At the trial, Velibor Mrkajic said that he is one hundred per cent sure that he was beaten up by the indictee.

In a statement he gave in the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the investigation in 2010, Mrkajic was not sure regarding the participation of the indictee in the beating, which he explained by the fact that he later recalled everything.

Ranko Zuza also talked about the mass beatings of prisoners, stating that indictee kicked him in the kidneys. In the investigation, the witness did not say that he was beaten, explaining that he then spoke generally about the suffering of the Serb population in Bradina.

Mile Kuljanin said that the beating was carried out under Delic’s order, and that Macic’s kicks were milder in comparison to others.

Macic is also indicted for abuse of prisoners in the Musala hall, where he stood guard after having left Celebici. The indictee argues that he was transferred to Musala in the second half of June 1992.

During the trial, Novo Mojevic said that in March 1993, indictee Macic broke six of his teeth in the upper jaw.

“I was in the dressing room when Macic entered and cursed my mother, and then he hit me with his rifle in my mouth and broke my teeth,” said Mojevic, who was unable to identify the indictee in courtroom.

In a statement he gave during the investigation, witness Mojevic stated that the beating happened at a school in Parsovici village near Konjic, where he was imprisoned for two months before his arrival in the Musala. Asked about the difference between the statement and the testimony, the witness attributed it to his mistake.

Several Defence witnesses who were guards in the hall said that the prisoners were not mistreated. Senadin Tucakovic, former commander of security of that facility, said that he never received complaints that Mojevic was harassed.

Macic’s trial began in January last year and it is also the first trial before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for crimes committed at Celebici and Musala. During the whole duration of the trial, Macic defending himself while at liberty.

Amer Jahić is BIRN – Justice Report journalist. amer.jahic@ birn.eu.com. Justice Report is BIRN online weekly publication.