 |
Bosnian MP Begged for Decent Death at Omarska
Covered in Blood, Member of Bosnian Parliament
THE HAGUE, May 24 (Reuters) — A Bosnian Muslim parliamentarian told a U.N. war crimes trial on Friday how he pleaded with a Serb interrogator, agreeing to sign any confession in return for being allowed to die "a decent death." Mevludin Sejmenovic, 33, a Democratic Action Party (SDA) member of the Bosnian parliament in Sarajevo, was the 11th prosecution witness to testify in the trial of Bosnian Serb Dusan "Dusko" Tadic in The Hague.
Tadic, a former bar owner and police reservist, has denied charges of murder, torture and rape during visits to the Keraterm, Omarska and Trnopolje camps in the Prijedor region in northwestern Bosnia in 1992. His trial began on May 7th.
Sejmenovic told the court how Serbs had arrested him, taken him to Prijedor police station and severely beaten him. Accused of being a Muslim fundamentalist on the grounds that he possessed a four-year-old edition of "The Islamic Thought" magazine, Sejmenovic was held in a small cell with blood-spattered and bullet-riddled walls. "There was quite a lot of blood on the walls... and bullet holes. On the right-hand wall about one metre (yard) above the bed was an awful blood stain... the stain of brain. It was as if someone had taken mud of a reddish colour and smeared it all around. It was an indication that someone was shot at very close range," he told the three tribunal judges.
Sejmenovic was later transferred to the notorious Omarska camp where he was beaten, first by a Muslim prisoner and then by a string of Serbs who queued up to hit him. "I was completely bloody. I had fractured bones and it was
very painful to breathe," he said. Realising that brutal beatings were commonplace and often fatal, Sejmenovic recalled how he bargained with an interrogator saying he would sign anything in order to stop the beatings. "I said: 'Sir, we're alone now. I'm 30 years old and I know that my life is at its end. I'll sign anything. You can
write down that I killed 100 Serbs, but while you and I are alone don't force me to lie. While this lasts, please spare me from beatings. They are not necessary. You'll get whatever you want and, after that, let me die in a decent way.'"
"I did this so I could die in the least painful way," he told the court. Sejmenovic was later freed.
The Omarska camp achieved notoriety after television images of starving prisoners flashed around the world. It was quickly shut down in August, 1992.
Without mentioning specific charges against Tadic, the prosecution has used expert witnesses to show how his alleged
atrocities fitted a broader and systematic Serb policy of "ethnic cleansing" against Muslims and Croats. Tadic's is the first international war crimes trial since those held in Nuremburg and Tokyo following World War Two. The tribunal has indicted 57 suspected war criminals, and holds five, including Tadic, at its Hague detention centre.
|
Berserkistan, May 24 · Forced Rape at Omasrka in Tribunal Testimony
Berserkistan, May 21 · Tribunal Hears More Omarska Prison Camp Testimony
Berserkistan, May 15 · Beatings and Torture in Luka Camp Told at Tribunal
Berserkistan, May 20 · Serb Camps were 'Open House' for Torture
Berserkistan, May 15 · Girlfriend Listens as Muslim Leader is Beaten
Berserkistan, May 10 · First Muslim Before Tribunal Pleads Not Guilty
Berserkistan, May 9 · Historian Takes Stand for Second Day In Trial of Dusan Tadic
Berserkistan, May 8 · Historian Sets Context for Atrocities in Day 2 of Tadic Trial
Berserkistan, May 8 · Muslims in Sarajevo React to Tribunal Trial
Berserkistan, May 7 · Defense: Tadic Had No Role in Murder, Torture
Berserkistan, May 7 · On Trial's Eve, Tadic Claims Innocence
Key Facts about the War Crimes Tribunal
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia The United Nations
Coalition for International Justice
Major War Criminals/Suspects CalTech's Bosnia Site
Reports on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia CalTech's Bosnia Site
Berserkistan is a world news service of Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1995-1996, All Rights Reserved