Worse than War

Ekrem Krkalic told the Court that he worked in “Viktor Bubanj” military barracks in mid-1992, adding that Besim Muderizovic was its Manager. When he arrived in the barracks, Ramiz Avdovic was already there. He said that guards called him commander. The witness was not able to confirm whether Avdovic actually performed that function.“Besim Muderizovic was a superior officer in the prison. He was in charge of everything,” Krkalic said, adding that Muderizovic distributed tasks to him as well, but he dismissed him later on.The witness said that detainees were brought to the military barracks and that his task was to fill out their personal data records.
“I was present when they brought detainees two or three times. They were accommodated in a room. They were sent to that room by a guard, who was at the gate,” he said, adding that he did not notice any injuries on them.Ramiz Avdovic and Iulian-Nicolae Vintila are on trial for crimes committed in the former “Viktor Bubanj” military barracks. They are charged with having participated, as members of a joint criminal enterprise, in the establishment and maintenance of a system for abuse of Serb civilians from the end of June to the end of November 1992.The indictment alleges that Avdovic was a Commander of guards on the fifth floor of the District Prison in Sarajevo and former “Viktor Bubanj” military barracks, while Vintila was a cook and guard in the former barracks. Muderizovic was charged under the same indictment, but he died in December last year.The witness said that Avdovic tried to secure order in the former military barracks, although the conditions were difficult at the time. Describing the conditions, he said that they were “worse than war”. He also said that he knew indictee Vintila, who used to work as a cook in “Viktor Bubanj”, but he did not see that the indictee beat anybody in that facility.Krkalic said that, prior to his arrival in the military barracks, he used to work at the Central Prison in Sarajevo. When asked by Prosecutor Dzevad Muratbegovic what Avdovic’s function in that Facility was, the witness said that he did not know at that time what the indictee did on the fifth floor of the District Prison. The Prosecutor reminded the witness that he said, during the investigation in 2009, that Avdovic was “Commander of the military prison located on the fifth floor”. When asked by the Trial Chamber to explain the difference, the witness said that he “adjusted the responses” while giving the mentioned statement.“They made some provocative questions. I was somewhat weak, so I may have adjusted my responses,” he explained, adding that he did not sufficiently understand the prosecutor’s questions at that time.The trial is due to continue on April 26.