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Witness Semsic considers that, had he refused such a request, “the Brigade Commander would have been dismissed from his duty”.
“The Commander was not present in the Brigade’s premises every day. I saw that other people too signed orders. I do not know whether the Commander gave his consent for that,” the witness said.
Semsic said that members of the Ninth Mountain Brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, guarded detainees in Silos, but they did not have the competencies for exchange of detainees. According to the witness’ testimony, civil authorities made decisions related to exchange of detainees.
“Commander Kazic was not able to render a decision about exchange as such decisions were made by a municipal commission. Each exchange had to be verified by the municipal commission,” the witness explained.
Responding to a question by the Defence of Mustafa Djelilovic, Semsic said that the problem of the existence of “Silos” could have neither been solved by civil authorities nor military bodies in Hadzici municipality.
The witness mentioned that, in the summer of 1994 President Alija Izetbegovic visited the Ninth Mountain Brigade and that he told him about the big problem called “Silos”. As he said, Izetbegovic responded by saying: “Do not take me to that hell”.
Izetbegovic, the first President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, died in 2003.
“He left these men, who are sitting on the bench of the accused, in that hell,” the witness said.
Besides Kazic, Mustafa Djelilovic, Fadil Covic, Mirsad Sabic, Becir Hujic, Halid Covic, Serif Mesanovic and Nermin Kalember are charged with crimes committed in “Silos”, “Krupa” military barracks and “9. maj” school building.
According to the charges, Hujic was Manager and Deputy Manager of “Silos”. Halid Covic performed those same functions. Mesanovic was one of the Deputy Managers of “Silos” and Manager of a detention camp in “Krupa” military barracks, while Kalember was a guard in “Silos”. The other indictees were members of civil, military and police authorities.
The witness explained that, in August 1993 he was a legal affairs officer and, in 1994, he became Assistant Commander for legal affairs with the Ninth Mountain Brigade.
As he said, at the beginning of the war, the witness was captured by Serb forces and brought to the sports hall in Hadzici, where he was beaten up. He said that, on June 22, 1992 he was transferred to the “Slavisa Vajner Cica” military barracks in Lukavica, from which 46 or 47 men were taken away on the second night of his detention. He said that their fate was still unknown.
Families of the missing persons requested that Serb detainees not be released from Silos until their 46 or 47 family members had been found.
The trial is due to continue on September 4.
