Djelilovic Witness Says Hadzici Serbs Isolated Due to Weapons Possession

Mustafa Djelilovic, Fadil Covic, Mirsad Sabic, Nezir Kazic, Becir Hujic, Halid Covic, Serif Mesanovic and Nermin Kalember have been charged with the unlawful detention, inhumane treatment, physical and mental suffering and forced labour of detainees in Hadzici.

According to the charges, Djelilovic was the president of the municipal assembly, crisis committee and wartime presidency of the municipality of Hadzici, while the other defendants were members of military and police authorities and managers of detention camps. Kalember was a guard at the Silos detention facility.

Remzija Siljak, an investigator acting on behalf of defendant Mustafa Djelilovic, researched the broader theater of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the wartime presidency, the headquarters of the Territorial Defense, as well as the public safety station of Hadzici. At today’s hearing, Siljak said a large quantity of weapons was confiscated from the Serb population in Hadzici through searches conducted in 1992.

“I think the possession of weapons from people who failed to hand them over voluntarily, and had them confiscated during the search, was a justified reason for putting them in isolation for security reasons. All of them could have crossed to the other side and fought against the legal authorities,” Siljak said.

Siljak began testifying on September 10. In his previous testimony, he said the crisis committee of Hadzici executed a decision to of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina to make all weapons in the country available for the defense. He said the decision was followed by the confiscation of approximately 800 weapons in the area.

When asked by the prosecution who was responsible for the detention camp in the municipality of Hadzici, Siljak was unable to give a precise answer, sand said the police and the army managed the detention camps at different times.

The trial will continue on October 1.