Bukovica engleski.qxd - Fond za humanitarno pravo

Bukovica engleski.qxd 15.3.2003 13:53 Page 43
5.5. November house searches
On 1 and 2 November, the Montenegrin police and VJ
reservists mounted a major operation to search Muslim
houses for concealed illegal weapons. Many people
were beaten and threatened with death unless they left
their homes.
5.5.1 The death of Himzo Stovrag
Humanitarian Law Center
Up to 1992, eight Muslim families lived in Vukšići village:
four with the last name Drkenda and four with the
last name Stovrag. In the early morning of 1 November
that year, a large group of police and military arrived.
Zlatija Stovraga 64 told the HLC that they demanded to
search the houses for weapons. She recognized among
them three police: Goran Zindović, Slaviša Svrkota and
one Šubarić, who was particularly brutal.
I was in a panic and didn’t know where I was. Then I
saw that they were beating my husband Himzo (born
1932). They kicked and punched him and beat him on
the head and all over with some kind of clubs. He fell to
the ground after the first few blows and they went on
beating him. I saw that he was covered in blood when
he got up. Then they ordered him to run around. He
tried but I think he couldn’t, and they beat him again. I
don’t know how long it all lasted but it was a terrible
thing they did to my husband. They started leaving after
a time and one of the policemen, I think it was Goran
Zindović, went to my husband and said: ‘If I find you
here tomorrow, you’ll get worse than you did today.’
When they had gone, I went to help my husband, wiped
the blood off him and helped him change. After a time
64 Statement by Zlatija Stovrag, October 2001, HLC documentation.
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