LIVE Bloody borders testimonies (1)

from Croatia to Bosnia,

The main respondent is a 60-year-old man from Turkey. According to the respondent, he was traveling with 2 other Turkish companions, being in the mid 20s- early 30s. According to him, on the night of November 14th, the three members of the transit group were in the forest of Croatia. The respondent reports that while crossing through the forested area, they passed a point that was clearly a popular path for refugees. The respondent believes that the police watched the places they passed using thermal cameras that were wedged into the trees along the path they were on. He recalls as well that while they were crossing through the forest a drone was detected by the members of the group. At first, the respondent recalls believing that the drone was a duck flying, but the steadiness of the noise and location made him quickly realise it was a drone and that he and his friends were detected. The respondent claims that there were devices released from the drone to detect their locations. Most of these claims are based on hearing rather than seeing. It was dark and clouded that night, as the respondent describes, but he could hear the technology being used around him. “The drone saw us, we hid, they came, they searched for us, they scanned for us”. The respondent reports that when some uniformed individuals arrived they did not find him or his friends. He recalls hearing them using a radio to tell that they “could not find the migrants”. The respondent recalls then the drone returning to drop what he believes was a “location receiver device”. He reports that three individuals wearing official uniforms, that could match with those usually worn by the Croatian Border Police, arrived to where he and his companions were.
The respondent states that he made sure to raise his hands, in hope that the officers would not hurt them. He reports that while being bent on his knees with his hands in the air, one of the police officers kicked him intensely in the ribs. He describes that the shoes this officer was wearing were “iron boots” used to walk in heavy terrain. According to the respondent, one of his companions was kicked and slapped and stepped on by the police officers, while the other companion was hit on the back of the legs with a police baton and flashlight. “As soon as they arrived, they entered, kicked and hit the friend’s hand, without even saying anything. Well, his fingers were swollen, they hit him in the face, the other friend was the same way.” After being found by the police, the respondent reports that he and his companions were placed in a vehicle, which according to the respondent, was like an ice cream truck, because of the level of air conditioning used. They drove them for an hour, while according to the respondent, they were not very far from the Bosnian-Croatian border. According to the respondent, the use of air conditioning and the prolonged drive had “the purpose to torture, we need to think like this, it is very sad that the people, like the country of Croatia, which has suffered from a civil war, depict such gestapo style attitude”. According to the respondent, they were then driven to a field, specifically a blackberry field, to cross the border back into Bosnia from Croatia. He recalls the field being incredibly thorny. According to him, the police vehicle stayed behind and watched the group while they were going down a hill, to enter Bosnia.