Witnesses Describe Abuse at Hands of Batkovic Camp Guards

Gligor Begovic has been charged with beating civilians and prisoners in the Batkovic detention camp in the summer of 1992. He has also been charged with forcing two detainees to have sexual intercourse with one another.

“To me, Gligor is the most brutal executioner in this world, because he beat us with all sorts of objects – a baseball bat, the butt of a rifle, fists, legs, stones,” Alic said.

Alic said that on his first day of detention, he and three other men who had been brought to Batkovic were beaten. He said a soldier beat a detainee named Sejad on the nape of his neck with the butt of a rifle. He said Sejad died the following night.

“Sejad didn’t wake up any more. He was choking, breathing heavily. He lied on the concrete floor. He simply died after midnight,” Alic said.

Alic said Begovic beat him during his first two months of detention. He said Begovic once beat him with a blunt object, which caused a fracture in his skull.

Alic said he and twelve other detainees were singled out for abuse. He said they were beaten every day and were hidden in corn hangars during visits by the Red Cross.

The public was excluded during the part of his testimony which described events that took place in a blockhouse.

Alic identified Begovic in the courtroom, and said he was the person who beat him. When asked by the defense whether he had identified Begovic in photographs during the investigation phase of the case, Alic said he could not remember.

Defense attorney Aleksander Bogdanovic asked Alic if he was sure the person who had beaten him was in the courtroom.

“If he is on trial, I guess it’s him,” Alic said.

Witness Hasib Dzananovic also recognized Begovic in the courtroom, and said he had been beaten by him. He confirmed that he had identified the defendant in photographs during the investigation phase of the case.

Dzananovic, who was brought to the detention camp in Bijeljina from Vlasenica, said that Begovic and members of his unit once beat a group of detainees.

When prosecutor Miroslav Janjic reminded Dzananovic of his previous statement, he said that Begovic once appeared at the hangar where he was detained and ordered a group of prisoners to step outside.

“A group of soldiers was standing outside. They had batons, wooden sticks, water hoses. They began hitting us…I was unaware of my surroundings for two days after that. I fainted,” Dzananovic said. He said Begovic hit them with a water hose.

Janjic asked Dzananovic why he had said in 2008 that the two other detainees fainted, but he did not. Dzananovic said he doubted he said that in his statement.

The trial will continue on April 8.