In April 1992, a 19-year-old Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) soldier, Veselin Bojović from Žabljak, was arrested in Gabela near Čapljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
He was transferred with 11 other arrested members of the military to the "Lora" camp in Split, Croatia, where he spent four months in Block B.
The interview with Bojović, recorded on Friday, was broadcast tonight on the show Sunday in the Rearview Mirror on Television Vijesti.
"It's terrifying and terrifying, anyone who hasn't experienced Lora cannot know what was happening there. Chaos. The fight for life. Death. In those moments, death was better. There was nothing for a man to do, just to end the suffering. People begged to be killed, to end their suffering. The ones who came back from the battlefield were the ones who were the most brutal, their men got drunk, came, brought them, beat them all night, beat them. Then the guards, this Tomo Duić, he mistreated me the most, not because I was Montenegrin, I don't know why he hated me. I fainted, then I vomited. They bathed us with a fire hydrant, they took us out in a circle, they threw the fire hydrant at us. They lined us up, turned us against the wall naked," said Bojović.
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When asked if it was true that he had been subjected to electric torture, he said yes.
"It's induction, they make an improvised phone, tie it to your finger, pour water on your legs and spin you. It's like fainting. It's the most intense pain. If I answer the phone at home, they say, they'll take you to a room, it's horrible," said Bojović.
In the neighboring camp block C, according to the testimonies of surviving camp inmates, the prisoners were subjected to the most brutal physical and psychological torture. Members of the Nikšić-Šavnik group who did not survive the camp were housed there.
When asked what he knew about it, he said that there were loud moans and screams.
"I'm following Luka Adžić's story, he was with them, I heard when they were brought in, then there were the loudest moans, fights and screams from Block C. I think they were there for two, three nights, that they were held. Luka told me that they were guys from Šavnik. He also said that he knew some of them. He was in the cell with them. He told me what they did to them," said Bojović.
When asked what the late Luka Adžić had done to him, Bojović said that once they had taken out an eye, once an ear, and once they had cut off a sexual organ.
"I saw that too when I was scrubbing the hallway and the toilets in Block C. They took the two of us and we scrubbed it and I recognized the accent of our people - 'kill me, don't torture me, please, give me some water'. On the third night, I thought it was nothing more. I asked around, the guard said, there's nothing more, your compatriots are in the refrigerated truck," said Bojović.
Luka Adžić died a year after "Lora" from the consequences of torture.
"He was in a difficult mental and physical condition. He was beaten and beaten," said Bojović.
When asked if he would recognize his torturers today and who he remembers the most, he said that they were Tomo Duić, Emilije Bungur and Botić.
"They mistreated people the most," said Bojović.
Among the torturers was a woman.
"Tanja, Tom's wife, a girl. She was our people, she really wasn't me. I greeted, sang, I had to. She mistreated the reservists, Luka and Žarković, I saw it with my own eyes. Luka had to lick her shoes. She stood with her heel on her hand and said lick. Old Duvnjak from Livno was with us, 72 years old. She poured soap and shampoo into the sink, she slurped it up and had to drink it. She made the old man of 72 years old drink it," said Bojović.
Approximately 12 years ago, he gave a statement about his captivity in "Lora" to the Special Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica.
When asked what special prosecutor Lidija Vukčević told him at the time, Bojović said: "Lidija Vukčević, she literally told me then that she would see but it would be difficult. I gave my statement. At first she behaved, at first she accepted me, a bit like from the side, with some questions like 'when was I convicted'. When I jumped to go over the door, she said please come back. I am not the one accused. Why is she poking me with that question?"
When asked what she asked him, he said: "You know, Bojović, how difficult it is, even these people committed atrocities, our people. I gave a statement. After two, three months, nothing. I contacted them. In order for her to tell me in writing, cooperation with Croatian prosecutors is difficult, it's hard to do, you have to go all over Croatia, literally, almost nothing."
And nothing since then until the call he received on Thursday.
"Nothing until yesterday's call from the Special Prosecutor's Office, which asked me to report on February 13th at 12 noon," said Bojović.
When asked if this gives him hope that justice will be served in this case, he answered in the affirmative.
"After all, I am an active soldier, the only one from Montenegro who is a living witness who can help something, while I am still conscious," said Bojović.
When asked what would be satisfying for him, he said that they would call him and listen to him.
"It hurts me. I have two students. Little medical care. I can barely work anymore. To leave a little something for the children," said Bojović.
When asked if he felt that his country was with him, he replied that he did not.
"Everywhere the doors were closed to me," said Bojović.
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