Minka Čehajić testifies in The Hague: the search for her husband Muhamed, from Keraterm and Omarska to the courtroom

A family from Prijedor

In 1992, Minka Čehajić was a pediatrician, a mother of two and the deputy director of the hospital in Prijedor. According to the portal genocid.ba, she was 50 years old at the time. Her husband Muhamed Čehajić (SDA) was the elected president of the Prijedor municipality, and his deputy was Milomir Stakić (SDS).

The takeover of power, 30 April 1992

On 30 April 1992, Serb forces took over power in Prijedor, and Milomir Stakić replaced Muhamed Čehajić at the head of the municipality. According to Minka Čehajić's testimony, that morning an SDS flag was flying in front of the hospital, and soldiers and guards were standing at the entrance.

The detention of Muhamed Čehajić

In May 1992, Muhamed Čehajić was detained by the police. According to his wife's testimony, this happened on the afternoon of 23 May: he was taken from his home to the police for questioning and was never released. The next day, as she testified, she was at first not allowed to see him; according to her testimony, a visit was made possible only by Milan Kovačević, a physician and SDS official in Prijedor, later indicted before the ICTY.

According to her testimony, she saw her husband for the last time on 25 May 1992. On that occasion he refused the glasses she had brought him. Soon afterwards she also lost her job at the hospital: according to her testimony, Serbs were allowed to go to work, while Bosniaks and Croats were sent home.

Keraterm and Omarska

Muhamed Čehajić was held in the Keraterm camp and then in the Omarska camp. According to Minka Čehajić's testimony, at the end of July 1992 he and other detainees were called out at night and taken away by bus in an unknown direction. He has not returned since. As she testified, representatives of the authorities in Prijedor told her that several detainees, among them Muhamed, had escaped from Omarska during a power outage on 27 July 1992.

According to her testimony, Minka Čehajić left Prijedor in September 1992. She tried to talk to Stakić, but did not manage to reach him.

The search after the war

According to genocid.ba, after the war she took part in exhumations throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the hope that her husband's remains would be identified through DNA analysis. The fate of Muhamed Čehajić has still not been clarified.

Testimony in The Hague

From 14 to 16 May 2002, Minka Čehajić testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the case against Milomir Stakić, the man who took over her husband's office. Over three days she described how she had searched for Muhamed and how she had learned nothing about him. She also addressed the fact that Stakić had denied the existence of Omarska on the radio: "How can he tell his people that there is no Omarska," she said. According to genocid.ba, she asked the judges for an impartial assessment and for the punishment of those responsible.