Witnesses Testify on Alleged Detainment and Inhumane Treatment of Serb Civilians

“Absolutely all the Serb villages around Stupari were armed,” Kovacevic said, adding that “the Serb side planned to adjoin Kladanj to the autonomous Serb regions of Birac and Romanija.”

Kovacevic was invited to testify as a joint witness in the case of eight former members of Bosnian civil police, military police, as well as the Territorial Defence, accused of committing crimes against civilians during the Bosnian war.

The defendants are Ramiz Halilovic, Safet Mujcinovic, Selman Busnov, Zijad Hamzic, Nusret Muhic, Osman Gogic, Nedzad Hodzic and Kahro Vejzovic.

They have been charged with the unlawful detention of Serb civilians in the educational workers’ building in Stupari, Kladanj. They are also accused of the assault and inhumane treatment of those civilians.

Vasvija Vidovic, Ramiz Halilovic’s attorney, said that Kovacevic’s testimony was important in relation to the allegations of unlawful detention.

In his testimony, Kovacevic said that he heard rumours about crimes committed against Bosniaks in Vlasenica in April 1992. Kovacevic said that many Bosniak refugees from Eastern Bosnia came to Kladanj and spoke about crimes committed against them by Serb forces.

Kovacevic said that the Territorial Defence was established in Kladanj at the beginning of May 1992. When asked whether he knew what happened to the Serb population there after May 27, he said that he had heard that some of them were “ensconced in some buildings in Stupari.”

“[Bosniak] Refugees complained that the ensconced Serbs lived in better conditions than they did,” Kovacevic said.

In response to prosecutor Vedrana Mijovic, Kovacevic said that he heard about Serbs sheltering in buildings in Stupari near the end of 1992.

He did not accept the Mijovic’s allegation that the Serb population was detained, not “ensconced.”

When asked by Mijovic whether he knew that Serb villages in Stupari were searched with the aim of finding weapons, Kovacevic said, “I have information that a lot of weapons were found in that area.”

Responding to a question as to whether he had heard that Serb villages had been burned, Kovacevic said, “Well, yes, I heard some partial information.”

Himzo Praso, another joint witness for the defense, said that he was a member of the Commission for the Exchange of Prisoners of War in the summer of 1992.

Praso testified that there was a registry of the Serb population accommodated in Stupari. According to Praso, the prisoner exchange could have only been conducted by orders from the wartime presidency in Kladanj.

The trial is scheduled to continue on February 13.