Defendant Abused Prisoners, Claims Protected Witness

Testifying for the prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Witness B said that on April 19 in 1993 he was arrested and taken to Mount Igrman, where he was put in a warehouse. He said that on that day he was beaten by a person he later learnt was named Nedzad Hodzic.
 
Asked by the prosecution whether this person beat him after that, the witness said that he did. He added that during his imprisonment he was scorched all over his body and wounded in the foot. The witness B said that Hodzic abused prisoners.
 
“One day he came to where we were held and started beating us. He beat me, then Witness C. He put Witness C next to a concrete pillar and beat him with a baton. When he beat us up, he drove us out so that everyone could see whether he did a good job,” said the witness.
 
Nedzad Hodzic and Dzevad Salcin are on trial, as members of the Zulfikar detachment of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for torturing, beating up and sexually abusing prisoners, cutting off parts of their bodies, intimidation and participation in other inhuman acts.
 
Witness B confirmed he was sexually abused during his imprisonment.
 
“One day he forced me and Witness C into oral sex. But that was quickly interrupted,” he said, specifying that Nedzad Hodzic forced him to do it.
 
Asked by the defence of the first defendant who was present in the warehouse when Witness B was beaten, the witness said that besides Hodzic there were some other soldiers there, but he did not know their names nor could he describe how they looked.
 
Describing Hodzic, the witness said he was of medium height, of strong build, had brown hair and a scar on the face. Asked by the defence where Hodzic’s scar was, Witness B said: “I think it was somewhere around the cheekbone, but I am not sure.”
 
Witness B testified via video-link from the District Court in Split. Because of the bad audio, parts of his testimony were indistinguishable in the courtroom gallery.
 
The trial will resume on Thursday, October 23.