Trial begins for Dragoljub Kunarac for crimes in Foča

(Patria) - The trial of Dragoljub Kunarac for crimes against humanity in the Foča area committed in July 1992 began today at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the reading of the indictment and the opening statement of the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

According to the indictment, Kunarac, in his capacity as commander of the Republika Srpska Army's special unit called Žaga, participated with other members of the unit in the persecution, including the murder of at least six people, torture and infliction of severe physical and psychological suffering on captured civilians, as well as the deportation of the Bosniak civilian population.

The indictment charges Kunarac that on July 28, 1992, in the morning hours, he and members of his unit went from the village of Kobilja Ravan to the neighboring village of Luke, where they arrested several Bosniak civilians, then tied their hands with wire on the bridge over the river Ćehotina and threw them from the bridge into the river, causing two people to drown.

"When they arrived in the village of Luke, they unlawfully deprived the Bosniak civilian population of their liberty, while some civilians managed to escape after being captured.

The remaining unlawfully detained civilians were taken towards the village of Falovići, and after reaching the Ćehotina river, at the Potpeće location, some civilians were released, while several people were taken away," states the indictment read by prosecutor Remzija Smailagić.

According to the indictment, Kunarac and members of his unit killed several prisoners in other hamlets in Foča on July 28, while several civilians managed to escape into the surrounding forests.

The accused and members of the unit beat the remaining prisoners on the head and body, and Kunarac, with another soldier, killed a civilian.

"They set fire to houses, and the remaining captured Bosniak civilians were taken to one of the villages (...) Through military communication means, Kunarac arranged for a military truck to arrive, on which the captured Bosniak civilians were loaded, and then they were driven to the unit's headquarters in Foča, where they were taken in, interrogated, and beaten," the indictment reads.

Two people sustained severe bodily injuries on that occasion, and after interrogation, they were taken to the Foča Penal-Correctional Facility, from where one person was taken and killed, while the other was exchanged.

In her opening statement, Smailagić said that through subjective and objective evidence, she would be able to prove that the accused persecuted the Bosniak civilian population, in the course of which he participated in murders, torture, and deportation.

- We will prove Kunarac's role, which has remained in the collective memory of all witnesses - said prosecutor Smailagić.

The defense exercised its legal right not to present an opening statement at this stage of the proceedings.

The public was excluded from the part of the trial concerning the accused's medical condition.

Before the start of the main hearing, a status conference was held, at which the efficiency and dynamics of the trial were agreed upon.

Prosecutor Smailagić said that she would call 31 witnesses, read the statements of 14 witnesses who have since passed away, and propose 203 material pieces of evidence, and that this would take them 51.5 hours.

Kunarac was sentenced to 28 years in prison by the Hague Tribunal for multiple rapes and for the enslavement of two women, over whom he completely deprived them of control over their lives and treated them as his property.

The trial panel will later decide on the date for the continuation of the trial.