Witness at Gašović trial: My father was beaten, burned, and cigarettes were put out in his face

"My father was mistreated, they beat him, burned him, put out cigarettes in his face, that's what they told me. My uncle also told me that the accused ordered the abuse of my father. He was the authority at the time, he was in charge in Hadžići in 1992. My uncle Salka "He mentioned to me a list from which 46 people were removed, including my father, and who were killed. Salko was one of those arrested, and to this day it is not known where their grave is," she said. Zehra Rizvo.

She said this at the Higher Court in Podgorica, where the trial continued today with the hearing of witnesses. Zoran Gašović, accused of crimes against humanity.

Witness Rizvo stated that she did not know Gašović, nor Ferida Murtic, whose husband Esad (28) and his two-year-old brother Huso MurtiThey disappeared in May 1992. Their bodies were never found.

Attorney Danilo Micovic, the defense attorney for the defendant Gašović, objected to their testimonies, stating that they were learned, stating that they should be prosecuted for false testimony.

Special prosecutor Tanja Čolan Deretic and the attorney for the injured parties Dalibor Tomović, assessed the defense's position as a campaign to intimidate future witnesses.

Rizvo stated that she learned indirectly, through family members, that Gašović participated in the torture of her father. Ahmet RizvaShe said that she Meho Music and uncle Ahmet Djelilovic They said that her father was mistreated, beaten and tortured, and that Uncle Ahmet told her that Gašović ordered the abuse, but also that he himself participated in the mistreatment.

She also stated that Salko told her that after they brought him to the infamous “garage,” he and the others were taken to a room with bloodstained walls. Her father was brought to the “garage” by Dragan Krstic, and then Gašović took him in. She added that her family fled and barely escaped alive, but that her father stayed in the family home in Hadžići, believing that no one would harm him.

She said that she had never seen the accused in her life, but that she had heard that he lived in the Vampirica building in Hadžići.

"I heard that Gašović beat my father. Meho told me that," the witness said.

When asked by lawyer Mićović how she only found out about Gašović three years ago from a neighbor she had known her entire life, she corrected herself and said that Meho had always talked about it.

She also stated that her uncle Ahmet died 12 years ago from a beating he received in 1992:

"He died from beatings. They drew crosses on his body. Gašović also beat my father. He was the authority in Hadžići. He committed crimes."

Mićović objected to her testimony, stating that she was an instructed witness.

"Her statement is useless in legal proceedings and the more untruths she tells, the better for my client," said Mićović.

Judge Simo Rašović he read her earlier statement, in which she stated that her father had been arrested Puppet maker, whose name she did not know. Regarding the differences in the testimonies, she said that she knew at the time that Gašović had beaten her father, but that she had failed to say it because she was in a hurry to get to work. She added that her father was arrested by Kukličar and Dragan Krstić.

Ferida Murtić testified about the disappearance of her husband and brother-in-law, who were taken from their home. She said that everything she knew came from the stories of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Her husband, she said, was 28 years old when he was taken. She was told that they were first taken to a high school in Hadžići, then to the Kula camp, and then to the Lukavica camp. She added that seven people had disappeared from her street, that some bodies had been found, while some were still missing.

She said she didn't know Gašović, but that she had heard that he was the organizer of everything.

"They would know best if living witnesses like Suno Dupovac"Suno was taking children and people off the spit. Gašović was the organizer of everything," she pointed out.

"My husband was a younger man. Our people were taken in their prime... We were searching for the truth about his body so we could bury him properly. I had no idea that until these years I would find out nothing about him," she said.

Lawyer Mićović also assessed her testimony as false, stating that the witness had never mentioned Gašović before.

Special prosecutor Tanja Čolan Deretic She said that the defense intimidates witnesses and that differences in testimony may be a result of stress, and that only the court can assess which testimony is correct.

The indictment alleges, among other things, that Gašović carried out the resettlement, enslavement of Bosnian Muslims and participated in the killings from June to December 1992, during a systematic attack by the Republika Srpska army and paramilitary formations. He is also charged with torturing and threatening several civilians, holding them in inhumane conditions, participating in the rape of a pregnant woman, and rounding up 49 Bosnian Muslims taken to the Lukavica barracks, 48 ​​of whom are missing.

According to the indictment, in December 1992 he also assisted in the forced relocation from Hadžići to Vogošća.

It is also alleged that he tortured Zaim Bećirović, Avda Hisović, Alija Basica, Adil Bećirović i Šefko Musica, that Ekrem Hasković threatened to kill him Muja Musica beat, and that Armin Bećirović On May 20, 1992, he locked him in a garage and beat him with a pistol, rifle and baton. The indictment alleges that he enslaved Suad Music without legal grounds, all on the basis of his religion and nationality.

They accuse him of being damaged. AK He put a knife to her throat, tore her shirt and raped her, who was pregnant.