ABUSED KAPO ARRIVES IN COURTROOM Katalina beat Sarajevo youths, today testifies against defense hero from 'Dobrovoljačka'!

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Ratko Katalina, head of security for the Command of the Second Military District of the JNA, specifically Milutin Kukanjac's assistant for security, testified today before the Court of BiH as a witness for the BiH Prosecutor's Office in the 'Dobrovoljačka' case. He arrived from Belgrade, where he lives.

In the audience sat Dino Kapo, whom Katalina himself, as an 18-year-old youth in 1992, beat and held captive first in the command building of the Second Military District, after which they transferred him to the "Viktor Bubanj" barracks, from where he was released without clothes.

Lawyer Mirna Avdibegović asked Katalina if he knew the name and surname Dino Kapo and everything he went through as a captured youth.

Katalina said that he did not beat anyone, but admitted that they apprehended, detained, and interrogated people in the building of the Second Military District.

"I could only give him coffee," Katalina said.

And here's what he actually gave him:

"The said Ratko Katalina hit me about 50 times. Me, as a child of 18. He called me various derogatory names, saying I would be tried in Niš, that I had deserted the JNA... 11 honorable people are on trial here, and he comes from Belgrade and they just let him go. They let him testify, tell lies, and leave. I can't believe this is the state of BiH, that this is the BiH Prosecutor's Office. I am bitter about all of this, I still have consequences today because of what I went through," Kapo told the media after the trial, even demonstrating how he had to stand with his head against the wall while they beat his legs.

Kapo demonstrates how he had to stand while Katalina beat him

Today, instead of testifying about the apprehension and mistreatment of people, Katalina spoke to the BiH Prosecutor's Office about how Alija Izetbegović was detained at Sarajevo Airport on May 2nd because it was assessed that his safety was endangered, as Sarajevo was "burning" that day.

Although at times during his testimony he sounded like a doorman rather than the second most important person in the barracks, the defense lawyers insisted that Katalina state what he was supposed to know in his capacity in 1992.

Lawyer Nermin Mulalić asked Katalina if he knew that the directive issued by the Territorial Defense of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was titled 'Directive for the Defense of Sovereign and Independent Bosnia and Herzegovina', which Katalina confirmed, just as he admitted that the JNA, after April 27th, was actually a foreign force on the territory of the recognized state of BiH.

"Theoretically, yes," Katalina said.

Mulalić asked Katalina to explain his words that "Alija was detained on our territory" and that "the Airport was held by Serbian forces."

"JNA soldiers controlled the Airport," Katalina said.

Katalina was not helped by the objections of prosecutor Mladen Vukojičić, who objected to the defense's questions, but the Trial Chamber also insisted that Katalina answer the ambiguities.

Thus, he was asked to answer the question about Alija Izetbegović's status after he was taken to Lukavica.

Katalina said it was Kukanjac's order, that he consulted the JNA General Staff in Belgrade, and that it was done to arrange the relocation of the JNA and the wounded and dead from Sarajevo.

"Alija got off the plane and no one from the Presidency was waiting for him. JNA soldiers took him and brought him to Lukavica, where Đurđevac was the commander," Katalina said.

He could not explain how it was possible for a corps commander to be superior to the supreme commander, as Alija Izetbegović was at that time.

To lawyer Lejla Čović, he admitted that the first negotiations conducted by General Aksentijević (who was not subordinate to Kukanjac) failed because Kukanjac refused to go to the Presidency building, nor to the UNPROFOR building where Alija Izetbegović was supposed to be brought, and that then Alija and Kukanjac negotiated directly.

"Kukanjac called Alija then, and it was agreed that Alija would come to the Second Military District. The Presidency was not further involved," Katalina explained.

He also said that during the meeting between Izetbegović and Kukanjac, a dispatch arrived from Belgrade containing an intercepted conversation in which individuals, under the code name "Bosna", were arranging an attack on the column.

He read that dispatch aloud, and Alija Izetbegović, according to Katalina, said that he was there to prevent it from happening.

Judge Darko Samardžić asked the witness if other conversations that day, for example, hearing 'attack now', would have been intercepted.

"Probably, if it exists, it's in the JNA archives in Belgrade," Katalina said.

Incidentally, Katalina was wounded in Dobrovoljačka Street, and after treatment, he went to Belgrade, where he lives today.

Given that the trial of Milorad Dodik was held today, the accused in this case, as well as their lawyers, were directed to a side entrance of the BiH Court building, by decision of the President of the BiH Court.

In this case, which has been concluded in The Hague, as well as in courts in London and Vienna, the BiH Prosecutor's Office is proving that the accused committed war crimes against JNA soldiers in Dobrovoljačka Street who were evacuating from the "Bistrik" barracks in Sarajevo under UNPROFOR escort.

In addition to Ejup Ganić, the indictment also charges Zaim Backović, Hamid Baht, Hasan Efendić, Fikret Muslimović, Jusuf Pušina, Bakir Alispahić, Enes Bezdrob, Ismet Dahić, and Mahir Žiško with attacking an undefended mixed column of soldiers and civilians employed by the former JNA on May 3, 1992, in Sarajevo, which was under the escort of UN peacekeepers.

Along with the indictment, the hearing of 277 witnesses and several experts was proposed, and more than 500 material evidence was attached.

The indictment was written by the current chief prosecutor Milanko Kajganić, and a good part of the indictment is in ekavian dialect, which indicates the adoption of parts from Serbian institutions.

The BiH Prosecutor's Office is proving in this proceeding that Alija Izetbegović was not a prisoner, and that the column was not a legitimate military target!