A man who was captured early in the Bosnian civil war three decades ago said he was terrorized by a man who fled Bosnia and landed in East Ridge.
Ibro Nuhanovic, testifying in Chattanooga Federal Court, said Sead Miljkovic beat him several times and hurled a heavy industrial tire down a hill toward him. He said the incidents happened while he was on a work detail at the medieval Stari Grad castle in northwest Bosnia.
Miljkovic is charged with three counts of inflicting torture on prisoners under his supervision as well as passport fraud. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.
Nuhanovic, who is now a construction worker in his home country, said he joined the Bosnian Army when it was fighting Serbia. He said the fighting spread when attempts were made to set up the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (APZB). Miljkovic had joined the APWB.
Nuhanovic said he was captured by the APZB on Dec. 9, 1994 and placed under "conditions meant for animals and not for humans." He and other prisoners were housed in agricultural buildings. He said they were made to sleep on the concrete floor and were beaten by guards.
He said, "We were transferred from one prison camp to another so the Red Cross could not locate us." Finally, he said he was able to gain a coveted Red Cross card after a site visit, and the conditions improved a little.
Nuhanovic said he and other Bosnian Army prisoners would be loaded on trucks and taken up to the castle, where Miljkovic appeared to be in charge of the guards. He said upon their first arrival "we were beaten - that was our welcome."
At the time, he said he had lost much weight, his long hair and beard were full of lice, and the clothing he still had on from when he was captured was coming apart. He said, "I was disgusting."
He said Miljkovic would require the prisoners to push wheelbarrows loaded with sandbags up a steep hill while running without tilting the load. He said, "It was impossible to do," and the weakened prisoners were beaten whenever they failed the task.
The witness said, "We were beaten on the arms, legs, face." He said he lost many teeth and had bruises all over. "I felt like a corpse," he told the jury.
He said Miljkovic, when he hurled the tire, told him to be sure to catch it. He said he got to one side and stopped the tire with his shoulder, injuring it. He said when the tire was coming, "I thought it's going to kill me. It could knock out a truck - let alone me."
He said a kind overseer found out about the incident and chided Miljkovic for it. He said he was given a visit by a doctor, who only gave him some pills. He said some of his fellow prisoners pulled the shoulder back into place.
Nuhanovic said Miljkovic would require the prisoners to fight one another. He said he always wound up facing a larger, stronger man. Once, he said he was put against "an absolute giant of a man. Even the guards were afraid of him." He said he was told to hit the giant first, and he hit him lightly. He said Miljkovic then gave him a blow, saying that is how it should be done.
At one point, the witness said he went into one of the houses by the castle and took some stale bread that had been thrown out. He said he was beaten again when caught with the bread.
He said when there was news of a battle that the APZB had lost, the prisoners were made to pay by being forced to lie on their stomachs and endure 20 strikes.
A man who was a former APZB prisoner and who has lived in the U.S. for 27 years told of being nearby when the first victim in the case was taken into a house by Miljkovic and two guards after Miljkovic had called him out. He said, "I could hear the screams coming out of that house. "
He added, "You hope and pray to God that your name will not be called next."
He said the prisoner who had been called into the house emerged with his face injured and bruises all over his body.