Statements of Two Deceased Witnesses Read at Bosanska Krupa War Crimes Trial

The defendants have been charged with war crimes in Bosanska Krupa. The indictment alleges that Saran ordered the detention of civilians in the Jasenica concentration camp, and that guards who were under Sabic’s control guarded the civilians. According to the charges, the civilians were held in inhumane conditions and were taken to other locations to perform forced labour. It is further alleged that two children were among the detainees.

Zijad Kadic has also been charged with wounding prisoner Milka Curguz while she was performing forced labour.

The indictment alleges that Saran was the chief of the public safety station in Bosanska Krupa. Sabic was the commander of the police section in Jasenica. Kadic was a police officer.

A statement by Mika Pasic, who died in 2006, was read aloud in the courtroom. Pasic gave her statement to the Krupa police in 2005. Pasic said members of the Bosnian Army captured her in the summer of 1995. She said she was detained in her house in Jasenica in the municipality of Bosanska Krupa. She said she and others were guarded by civil police officers, who were under Samir Sabic’s command.

“We stayed there for 15 days. We were taken out in order to work every day. Men had to cut firewood, while women did the housework. The food was bad. We had one meal per day. Sabic and the police officers verbally harassed us every day. I saw them hit some of the men,” Pasic said in her statement.

Pasic said a police officer nicknamed Apica wounded a prisoner named Milka Curguz by shooting her in the leg while she was working.

The state prosecution also read a statement given by Pasic to the State Investigation and Protection Agency. In that statement, Pasic didn’t describe the mistreatment she related to the Krupa police. The defense said it would have asked Pasic why her statements were different.

A statement given by Stana Jelaca, who died in 2013, was also read aloud in the courtroom. Jelaca said she was detained in a house in Jasenica and that civilians were guarded by police officers.

“All of us had to work. The men prepared firewood, while the women did the cleaning. The food was bad. While we were in Jasenica, we were under the control of Samir Sabic, who insulted us every day. Apica, whose name was Zijad, I think, was the most important person. He beat a prisoner with a baton and wounded Milka Curguz,” Jelaca’s statement reads.

A statement Jelaca gave to the State Investigation and Protection Agency was also read out loud in the courtroom. In that statement, Jelaca said she heard about Milka Curguz being wounded, but didn’t personally witness it.

The defense teams pointed to the differences between the two statements.

The trial will continue on November 4.