Witness Describes Detention and Execution of His Brothers at Vrucinic Trial

Mirko Vrucinic, the former chief of the public safety station and member of the crisis committee in Sanski Most, has been charged with participating in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at persecuting the non-Serb population from April to December 1992. The indictment charges Vrucinic with acts of murder, forcible resettlement, unlawful detention and enforced disappearances.

State prosecution witness Nedim Biscevic said police officers and soldiers arrested and detained him, his father Faik, his mother, and brother in May 1992. His second brother was detained later on.

Biscevic said he was initially detained with his mother and brother in the Front school building. On June 3, 1992, he was transferred to a school gym in Sanski Most, where his second brother was brought as well.

Biscevic said that while he was detained in the gym, he heard his father Faik make an announcement on a radio station. His father was the first president of the Party for Democratic Action (SDA) in Sanski Most. In his announcement, Biscevic said, his father called on Bosniaks in the area to hand over their weapons and recognize Serb authority. Biscevic said he found out his father’s announcement had been prepared by the crisis committee of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS).

Biscevic said one of his brothers was transferred from the secondary school to the Manjaca detention camp. He said he saw his brother being beaten, before others told the assailants, “Hold him, that’s Faik Biscevic’s son.”

“They beat my brother Haris. His head was covered in blood,” Biscevic said. He said he was also beaten while being transferred and also in a stall in the Manjaca detention camp.

Biscevic said on one occasion, his brother Haris was separated and taken away with five other Bosniak detainees. He said he found out his brother was the last to be executed, with a gunshot to the nape of the neck.

Biscevic said his twin brother Edin had also been brought to the Manjaca detention camp. He said his brother offered assistance to detainees who were being suffocated during their transportation to the detention camp. According to the testimony of previous witnesses, 19 detainees suffocated to death while being transported to Manjaca.

“My brother poured water over the prisoners and performed CPR on them,” Biscevic said. He said he didn’t see his brother on the following day. He said he found out he was returned to the bodies of the men who had suffocated and was shot with five other people.

Biscevic said his father, now deceased, told him he was beaten in the village of Magarce. He said his father told him police officers threatened to kill him as well as his wife and sons.

Redzo Kurbegovic, the former president of the municipal branch of the Party for Democratic Action (SDA) in Sanski Most, was the second witness to testify at today’s hearing. Kurbegovic said he was arrested on May 25, 1992 , and held in a prison in the Sanski Most police station for 87 days. He was he was beaten and interrogated during his detention.

He said he also had to read an announcement on Radio Sana, calling on Bosniaks to hand over their weapons and reassuring them that they weren’t in danger.

He confirmed seeing Faik Biscevic in the police station prison. He said he was “shocked” when he saw Biscevic’s appearance.

The next hearing will be held on February 5, when the examination of witness Rasim Karabeg will continue.