Kevin took out his and Nihudian’s appointment papers from the Tribunal. He handed them to the man. The man looked at them briefly and threw them on the ground. He yelled something at Nihudian.
“He can’t read these papers in English,” Nihudian said. “He wants to see our passports.”
Kevin pulled out his American passport and Nihudian produced his Bosnian driver’s license. The man looked at Nihudian’s license. “A Turk?” the man asked scornfully. He said something in Serbian that Nihudian did not translate.
He looked at Kevin’s passport, then barked a command to the two soldiers with him. One man grabbed Kevin’s arm and the other Nihudian’s and began leading them toward the front door.
“What’s going on?” Kevin asked.
The man unleashed a tirade in Serbian. “He says he has no knowledge of this and we are to be put in a cell until he finds out what this is all about,” Nihudian translated.
“Oh, for Christ sake. Tell him to get someone to read these papers to him.”
Nihudian tried to speak to the man, but he and Kevin were hustled out the door. The soldiers led them next door to a small police station. They spoke to the police officer at the desk, who handed them a set of keys. The soldiers led Kevin and Nihudian behind some bars, down a hallway, and finally opened a steel door with one of the keys. One soldier told Nihudian to get inside and locked the door. At the next cell, the officer threw Kevin inside and slammed the door behind him.
Kevin found himself in a small stone cell with only a bench attached to one wall. But he did not feel as frightened as he had been at the police station in Sarajevo. He was, after all, working for one of the Serbs. Once the Army guy verified this, Kevin felt confident that they would help him, or at the worst send them on their way back to Sarajevo. Kevin wished he had thought fast enough to tell the officer that he could call Zoran Vacinovic at the Embassy in The Hague for verification.
Kevin walked over to the wall nearest to Nihudian’s cell. “Nihudian,” he called. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” Nihudian replied. The sound was muffled, but audible.
“I’m really sorry about this. But I think it will get straightened out.”
Nihudian was silent for a moment. “I hope so.”
Kevin sat on the bench, suddenly feeling tired. What a day! They had been arrested by two separate governments. But if he could just get the information from the tailor, he could go home in the morning and it would all be worth it.
Kevin waited for about thirty minutes, making small talk with Nihudian through the wall from time to time. Then he heard voices in the corridor and the jingle of keys. He walked over to the door and could see some soldiers opening Nihudian’s cell. Kevin stepped back, expecting his to be opened as well.
He heard sounds of the officers raised voices saying something in Serbian, then heard Nihudian cry out. Kevin felt a wave of panic as he heard a thumping noise and Nihudian shouting and moaning.
“Hey,” Kevin yelled. “What’s going on? Leave him alone! We work for Draga.”
Kevin had a feeling of helplessness as the shouting and moaning continued. He banged on his door and yelled for the soldiers. They were probably coming for him next, he thought, and he began to get scared. Would he be able to survive their beating?
After what seemed like an eternity, there was an eerie silence from the next cell. Kevin looked out his window and saw some of the soldiers backing out of Nihudian’s cell. Then, a single shot rang out like a firecracker exploding.
“Oh my God!” Kevin cried.
His heart was racing as he saw the soldiers come out of Nihudian’s cell. They pointed in the direction of Kevin’s cell, and spoke among themselves. Then, they turned around and headed in the other direction, leaving Nihudian’s cell door open.
“Nihudian!” Kevin yelled racing to the wall separating their cells. He called Nihudian’s name several times, and put his ear to the stone wall, but could hear no reply.
Kevin paced around his cell. His first instinct was to bang on his cell door, but he decided that calling the soldiers to his cell was not a good idea. His shirt was soaked with sweat as he paced around the cell, alternately looking out the window of the door and calling Nihudian’s name.
Kevin heard nothing for the next five hours. He was exhausted with worry for Nihudian. Had the men taken Nihudian out of his cell without Kevin seeing it, or had they shot and killed him? Kevin prayed that Nihudian was alive.
Finally, Kevin’s cell door was opened before Kevin even heard anyone approaching. A tall, handsome soldier with neatly combed dark hair appeared alone in the doorway. Kevin jumped up from his bench.
“Mr. Anderson,” the officer said. “I am Major Nikolic, the Corps Communication officer. I speak English, so they called me down here to speak with you.”
Kevin let out a breath and relaxed a bit. The man did not look like he was about to beat Kevin. “What’s going on? What happened to my interpreter?” Kevin asked.
“You were very foolish to show up here without making arrangements. The Corps Commander is very upset.”
“I’m sorry. I thought the Army would be able to help Draga. I was in a hurry because I have to return to The Hague in the morning. Where’s my interpreter?”
Major Nikolic ignored the question. “I’ve translated your documents for the Commander. We’ve determined that you are Draga’s lawyer, but we cannot help you. You will need to leave here immediately.”
The major handed Kevin the documents from the Tribunal.
“Okay,” Kevin said, taking the papers. “I’m very sorry.”
Major Nikolic handed Kevin a set of keys. “Here are the keys to your car.” He turned and walked out of the cell.
“But what about my interpreter?” Kevin asked as he followed the Major out of his cell. “Where is he?”
“I’m afraid there has been a misunderstanding,” Major Nikolic replied as he walked down the corridor past Nihudian’s cell.
Kevin followed, and then looked inside the cell.
Nihudian lay on the floor in a pool of blood.
Kevin ran into Nihudian’s cell. He knelt down by Nihudian’s head and looked at his face. It was chalky white and lifeless. “Nihudian!” He reached for his arm to check his pulse. There was no pulse.
Kevin’s body shook as he put his head in his hands.
“You’ve killed him!”
“It was an unfortunate mistake,” Major Nikolic said from the corridor. “I assure you that those involved will be severely punished.”
Kevin looked numbly at the smooth-talking Major. He was too shocked to speak at that moment, and his brain was processing a flurry of thoughts at once.
“I can identify the men who did this,” Kevin finally said. “I saw them.”
“That won’t be necessary. We’ll be conducting a full investigation, and we will notify the family of the deceased immediately. I am sorry.”
Kevin stood, and walked numbly out of the building.
Although he would not remember the drive, he somehow found his way to the Sarajevo airport and took the first flight out for The Netherlands.
CHAPTER 14
At home, Diane insisted in desperation that Kevin quit the case.
After Nihudian’s death, he felt as if he was in a constant daze. He had been the one who insisted on going to Sokolaz, despite Nihudian’s reservations. Now, because of him, two little girls in Sarajevo had lost their father. While Kevin didn’t have the will to resist Diane’s stance, neither did he do anything to take himself off the case. He was stuck in limbo, as if he had become a numb caricature of whom he had once been.
Slowly, after a few days and some long jogs through the Wassenaar dunes, Kevin’s instinct to fight began coming back. If he quit now, Nihudian’s death would have been for nothing. Even if he lost, at least if he saw Draga’s case through, he would vindicate the principle that even war criminals should receive a vigorous and effective defense. A Muslim man had died while trying to obtain favorable evidence for an accused at the Tribunal. The least he could do, Kevin decided, was to continue the pursuit of that evidence.