The trial of Zoran Gašović, accused of crimes against humanity committed in 1992 in Hadžići (Bosnia and Herzegovina), continued on Thursday before the High Court in Podgorica. Of the thirteen witnesses summoned from Bosnia and Herzegovina, ten responded to the call, but only two were heard.

According to the indictment, Gašović is charged, among other things, with participating from May until the end of June 1992 in the unlawful detention, torture, and interrogation of civilians in the facilities known as the Garage and the Sports Hall in Hadžići, as well as in the forced relocation of around 280 civilians to the “Slaviša Vajner Čiča” barracks in Lukavica. He allegedly compiled a list of detainees, circling in red ink the names of 49 of them. On June 23, 1992, 48 of those individuals were taken to an unknown location and are still listed as missing.

Injured party and witness Nuh Hrnjić testified about his father, Avdo, who, as he stated, was detained in the Garage for about twenty days. He emphasized that the 48 men were “good and respected citizens of the municipality of Hadžići” and that none of them returned. He added that his father was the first highly educated person in the municipality of Hadžići and was 71 years old at the time of his capture.

Regarding Gašović’s role, he said he learned about it from statements of surviving witnesses.

Defense attorney Danilo Mićović asked the witness whether he or any of his family members had participated during the war in military or paramilitary formations, and in which formation, during what period, and in what capacity. Special Prosecutor Tanja Čolan Deretić objected to the question, stating that Avdo Hrnjić was a civilian and that questions about other persons were irrelevant.

Although the court allowed the question to be answered, the witness refused to respond.

The second witness heard was injured party Ferida Nišić, sister of the missing Mujo Musić, who gave a detailed account of events from May and June 1992, including the killing of their father and cousin, as well as the detention and abuse of her brother.

“My brother Mujo was in the notorious Garage from May 20 to June 23, 1992. They beat him with anything and everything. Living witnesses told me they cannot even describe the torture he endured,” she said.

She stated that her brother was among the 48 called from the list and that, according to survivors, their names had been circled in red pen.

She explained that on June 23, 1992, the 48 of them were taken from the Garage to Lukavac, where they went through an ordeal. Although Lukavac is only about 10 to 15 kilometers away, the transport took 6–7 hours because they stopped frequently to beat them. “Blankets were placed over the bus windows so they could not see where they were being taken.”

The witness also said she wishes to find her brother’s remains in order to bury him with dignity.

Nišić added that surviving witnesses confirmed to her that Gašović participated in beating her brother.

In response to the defense’s question about when her brother had joined the reserve police force, she said she did not know and that before the war he worked as a sheet metal worker.

The remaining witnesses were not heard because attorney Mićović stated that he had other previously scheduled hearings at 2:00 and 3:00 p.m.

Legal representative of the injured parties, Dalibor Tomović, proposed that witnesses be heard via video link in the future and that a standby defense attorney be appointed to avoid further postponements.

Mićović opposed this and left the courtroom at 2:00 p.m. due to other obligations. The presiding judge of the panel subsequently fined him €1,000 for leaving the courtroom without the court’s permission.

The Special Prosecutor in this case is Tanja Čolan Deretić, and the judicial panel is presided over by Judge Simo Rašović, with panel members Judges Ana Delić and Dragan Babović.

The next main hearing is scheduled for March 9.

Human Rights Action is providing support to the injured parties in this proceeding in cooperation with the Association for the Search for Captured and Missing Persons from Hadžići, with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy.