Foca Rape Trial Continues

Testifying before the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, protected witness C said she was living in Foca with her husband and two underage children when Serb forces seized control of the town in April 1992.

The witness said her husband and father-in-law were arrested and taken to the prison in Foca along with other non-Serb men.

In August 1992, according to witness C, two armed soldiers came to her house and took her, along with protected witness J, to a house in the village of Miljevina, and then to an apartment near the “Partizan” sports hall.   

“There they left us with three soldiers. One of them said his name was Jasko and that his father was Muslim. We talked about how Muslim women were raped and men killed. He said my husband might be dead,” witness C said.

The witness added that after an hour conversation, the man called Jasko took her into a separate room.

“He pushed me to the bed. I begged him, I said ‘no, don’t, don't'". He came in and out of the room several times, and finally said he had to do it. He took off my dress and raped me… The gun was next to the bed… He started kissing me but I could not… Then he did what he wanted”, witness C said. She added that Jasko then went to sleep while she sat all night, and heard witness J in the other room crying.

Jasko Gazdic, former member of the Army of Republika Srpska, was arrested in April last year, and has been held in custody since then. The indictment against him was raised in October 2011, and he pleaded not guilty to all counts a month later.

Gazdic's trial started on November 30 of last year, and since then, three prosecution witnesses gave testimony.  The Prosecution charges Gazdic with rape of several Bosniak women, who were detained in the “Partizan” sports hall in Foca, from the beginning of April 1992 to late March 1993.

The indictment alleges that Gazdic used to come to apartments and the “Partizan” sports hall, where civilians were detained, and, on several occasions, took females, including underage girls, away. According to the charges, Gazdic held a minor female in sexual slavery and raped other women, while threatening them with weapons, and allowed other individuals to rape them.

Witness C also testified that the day after the rape, Jasko and two soldiers told her to leave town, or else she would be killed. Together with her in-laws and children, she left for Montenegro, with the help of a Serb neighbor. The witness said she finally saw her husband two years later, after he was released from prison in 1994.

“I still have dreams, nightmares about the rape… always the rape…,” said C adding that she is still undergoing treatment for the shock she went through.

The trial will continue on February 8.