Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Page 9170

 1                          Wednesday, 29 May 2002

 2                          [Open session]

 3                          [The accused entered court]

 4                          --- Upon commencing at 2.20 p.m

 5            JUDGE ORIE:  Madam Registrar, would you please call the case.

 6            THE REGISTRAR: Case Number IT-98-29-T, the Prosecutor versus

 7    Stanislav Galic.

 8            JUDGE ORIE:  Thank you very much, Madam Registrar.

 9            Good afternoon to everyone in and around the courtroom.

10            If I am looking -- you are standing on both sides.

11            Mr. Piletta-Zanin.

12            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Thank you, Mr. President.

13    Good day to you, Mr. President.  The Defence wishes to raise some issues

14    with regard to what is called WY, or is it vice versa?   It is a request

15    by the Prosecution of May 24th, 1992 -- 2002.  The Defence would like to

16    respond.  The Defence would like to remind the Chamber that, as far as it

17    knows, the Prosecution has never asked for the possibility to add the two

18    witnesses to its list.  So now we are in a situation where the Prosecution

19    -- I don't think I have seen this, but the Prosecution is asking for

20    protective measures for two new witnesses, and as far as I know, we

21    haven't known -- we don't know about these two names.  I may be wrong.

22            We would like to respond in written form.

23            JUDGE ORIE:  [Previous translation continues]...written response

24    given.

25            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Mr. President, we could do it


Page 9171

 1    quite quickly.  During this week, we can respond.

 2            JUDGE ORIE:  I would highly appreciate it if you would do it this

 3    week.  Since you are mentioning this week yourself, we only too gladly

 4    accept that position.

 5            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] I could do it later, but we

 6    could do it this week also.

 7            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Ierace.

 8            MR. IERACE:  Mr. President, yes, first of all, I will respond to

 9    my friend's concern.  Indeed, both of those witnesses were on the original

10    witness list filed by the Prosecution pursuant to Rule 65 ter of the Rules

11    of Procedure and Evidence.  They were referred to by their pseudonyms, so

12    they are not new witnesses.  Witness W is being called next Tuesday so,

13    naturally, it is essential that a decision be made as soon as possible.

14            Mr. President, there are a few other matters that I would like to

15    raise from the Prosecution side.  Firstly, in relation to the course of

16    today's proceedings and the proceedings for tomorrow and Friday.  Mr.

17    President, I am not aware of any notice problem that the Defence might

18    have in relation to their preparedness to cross-examine Mr. O'Keefe.  I

19    think that we have complied with all of the timetables.  I would therefore

20    respectfully submit that it would be appropriate for that witness to be

21    dealt with today.  I anticipate that he could be finished today entirely.

22            I am aware that my friend has sought an adjournment in order to

23    prepare himself, the Defence to prepare itself, for cross-examination of

24    Mr. Thomas.  The Prosecution would also benefit from a short adjournment

25    before he is taken in chief.  Might I, therefore, respectfully submit that


Page 9172

 1    once O'Keeffe is finished today, if that is the course that the Trial

 2    Chamber takes, we then adjourn until tomorrow afternoon, at which time the

 3    Prosecution would deal with Thomas in chief.

 4            If, by the end of his evidence in chief, the Defence reasonably

 5    requires further time, then that could be dealt with at that point.  I

 6    think there are some documents or portions of documents which have not

 7    been served by the Prosecution on the Defence pursuant to the timetable.

 8    So the Prosecution accepts that there may be a problem with Thomas.

 9            Mr. President, as I have said, over the last two days, we have

10    done what we could to fill any gap this week with other witnesses, and we

11    have been unable to do that.  Whilst the witness O'Keeffe is likely to be

12    relatively brief in chief, and therefore in cross-examination I expect

13    that the witness Thomas will take some time, therefore, any shortfall

14    in the timetable this week may not be as great as I earlier feared.

15            Mr. President, yesterday, on other matter, I indicated that the

16    Prosecution intends to not call the witness Southwell, or "Southall" as it

17    is properly pronounced.  There are some exhibits which were to be tendered

18    through him.  We will seek to add some of those exhibits to a future

19    witness for the relevant period.

20            Mr. President, having dropped that witness, the Prosecution would

21    like to retrieve one of the witnesses which I indicated a week ago we

22    would drop; that is Pierce Tucker.  I hasten to add that his evidence

23    will be short.  There are three or four relevant parts.

24            There is a problem also with the Prosecution timetable for

25    Wednesday and Thursday next week.  I don't know that it is necessary for


Page 9173

 1    me to explain the detail of those problems.  Perhaps it is sufficient to

 2    say that international witnesses, by their nature, are not easily

 3    marshalled.  I, therefore, have in mind, if it is acceptable to the Trial

 4    Chamber, to call Pierce Tucker next Wednesday and to ensure that the

 5    Defence has by tomorrow morning a copy of his statement with the relevant

 6    parts translated, and in addition, the relevant parts of his statement

 7    indicated by me to the Defence as being the parts about which he will give

 8    evidence.

 9            Mr. Tucker has given a lengthy statement recently to the Office

10    of the Prosecutor.  Much of it has nothing to do with Sarajevo.  To give

11    an example, I think there are some ten pages which relate to events in

12    Srebrenica.  Therefore, we would exercise maximum flexibility to ensure

13    that the Defence is not prejudiced by this proposed timetable.  If,

14    however, Mr. President and Your Honours, you think that that would be

15    unfair to the Defence, then at this stage we would simply seek to retrieve

16    him onto the witness list and call him at a later point.

17            There may be, as I have said, a problem mid next week.  We propose

18    to call David Harland on Thursday.  Again, there are some difficulties,

19    but we expect that we will be able to produce him on Thursday to give

20    evidence.  I do not expect any problem with the witness we have allocated

21    for Friday, nor do I expect any problem with Mr. Mole for Monday and

22    Witness W on Tuesday.  Mr. Mole on Monday may be a lengthy witness, and if

23    we have not finished his evidence by Tuesday morning, I would seek to

24    interpose Witness W.  He is only available to give evidence on that day,

25    or at least I should say, given his commitments, he and the relevant


Page 9174

 1    government would appreciate him leaving by that day, the end of that day.

 2            That, Mr. President, is the situation.  I do apologise for these

 3    changes.  I assure you that the changes do not reflect any lack of

 4    diligence on the part of the Prosecution, rather, if I could use the

 5    vernacular, it is the nature of the beast.  International witnesses by

 6    definition are difficult to organise.  Thank you, Mr. President.

 7            JUDGE ORIE:  Thank you.

 8            Mr. Piletta-Zanin, you may respond, but I would say rather briefly

 9    at this very moment because we first, of course, will have to see what

10    happens.

11            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Yes, Mr. President.  It will

12    be very brief.  I believe the Prosecution has been showing flexibility,

13    but things seem to be inversed.  The calendars are totally changed,

14    witnesses that we have known nothing about are being proposed, and this is

15    not acceptable.  It is not possible for the Defence within a period of few

16    hours to prepare for cross-examination of witnesses in such a short period

17    of time we don't have time to reflect on these matters.  And we don't have

18    the possibility of contacting the accused on these matters.

19            If this is not a violation of the rights of the Defence, I don't

20    know what it is.

21            JUDGE ORIE:  Of course, we will have to consider the -- yes,

22    Ms. Pilipovic.

23            MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Yes, thank you, Your Honour.  The

24    Defence would like to inform the Chamber that while preparing the

25    cross-examination of Mr. O'Keeffe, we didn't have time enough to have the


Page 9175

 1    disclosed 23 documents, to inform General Galic about them, and this is a

 2    problem which the Defence is faced with.  We expect that we might be able

 3    to ask for your leave to have Mr. O'Keeffe re-invited to come or to have a

 4    shorter period of time to have -- to acquaint the General with the

 5    information.  We have gone through the material this morning.  We have

 6    come to the trial now and we were not able to show the General these

 7    documents.

 8            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, I do understand that you had considerable

 9    problems in preparing, especially in conferring with your client.

10            Would Mr. O'Keeffe still be available tomorrow?

11            MR. IERACE:  Yes, Mr. President.

12            JUDGE ORIE:  Okay.  Wouldn't it be a wise thing that decisions to

13    be taken at this very moment is perhaps not the best thing to do but at

14    least, during the examination-in-chief of Mr. O'Keeffe, that you give, in

15    one way or the other, just an indication to the Bench when you deal with

16    those documents that had only been recently provided to the Defence, that

17    the Chamber is better able to assess to what extent the

18    examination-in-chief deals with these documents.  Of course, we haven't

19    seen them, but that we don't have to guess later on which was new and what

20    was already known before to the Defence.

21            MR. IERACE:  Mr. President, firstly, Mr. O'Keeffe will be taken by

22    Mr. Mundis, but let me say this:  There are no fresh documents with Mr.

23    O'Keeffe.

24            JUDGE ORIE:  No, but there are documents which were not translated

25    at an earlier date and of which the Defence has told us that they were not


Page 9176

 1    able to discuss them with General Galic.  So we would like to know, for

 2    example, in order to know what portion of the evidence is related to these

 3    documents, so that we have at least a clue and that we will, in a later

 4    stage, better be able to take into consideration all circumstances in all

 5    details.  Yes.

 6            Then, Mr. Mundis --

 7            MR. IERACE:  Might I be excused, Mr. President?

 8            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, Mr. Ierace.

 9                          [Prosecution counsel confer]

10            MR. MUNDIS:  Prosecution calls Mr. Donough O'Keeffe.

11            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, Mr. Usher, would you please assist in escorting

12    Mr. O'Keeffe into the courtroom.

13                          [The witness entered court]

14                          WITNESS: DONOUGH EMANUEL ^ O'KEEFFE

15            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. O'Keeffe, may I take it that you can hear me in a

16    language you understand?

17            THE WITNESS:  Correct.

18            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. O'Keeffe, before giving testimony in this court,

19    the Rules of Procedure and Evidence require you to make a solemn

20    declaration that you will speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing

21    but the truth.  The text of the declaration will be handed out to you now

22    by the usher.  May I invite you to make that declaration.

23            THE WITNESS:  I solemnly declare that I will speak the truth, the

24    whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

25            JUDGE ORIE:  Thank you very much.  Please be seated, Mr. O'Keeffe.


Page 9177

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Page 9178

 1            Mr. O'Keeffe, counsel for the Prosecution will start to examine

 2    you.

 3            Mr. Mundis, please proceed.

 4            MR. MUNDIS:  Thank you, Mr. President.

 5                          Examined by Mr. Mundis:

 6       Q.   For the record, sir, can you please state your full name and spell

 7    your last name, please.

 8       A.   My full name is Donough O'Keeffe.  My last name is spelled Oscar

 9    Kilo Echo Echo Foxtrot Foxtrot Echo.

10       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, are you a currently a member of the Irish Defence

11    Forces?

12       A.   Correct.

13       Q.   What is your current rank?

14       A.   My rank is commandant, which would be the equivalent of major in

15    other armies.

16       Q.   Sir, how long have you been a member of the Irish Defence Forces?

17       A.   For 38 years.

18       Q.   What branch or specialization in the Irish Defence Forces are you

19    a member of?

20       A.   I am a member of the Infantry Corps.

21       Q.   Did there come a time, sir, when you were posted to the city of

22    Sarajevo?

23       A.   Correct.

24       Q.   What was your assignment in Sarajevo?

25       A.   Senior Military observer, Sector Sarajevo.


Page 9179

 1       Q.   Approximately, what date did you report for duty in Sarajevo?

 2       A.   Approximately the 16th of March, but I am not sure.  I am not sure

 3    of that date.

 4       Q.   And which year was that, sir?

 5       A.   1993.

 6       Q.   For how long did you remain senior military observer in Sarajevo?

 7       A.   Approximately three and a half months.

 8       Q.   Do you recall the approximate date that you departed Sarajevo?

 9       A.   It was after the 16th of June.  I know it was sometime just after

10    the 16th of June.

11       Q.   Do you recall whom you relieved as senior military observer in

12    Sarajevo?

13       A.   Yes.  Jim Cutler, a New Zealander.

14       Q.   Sir, when you departed Sarajevo in June 1993, who was your

15    successor?

16       A.   Jorma Kukkola was my successor.

17       Q.   What were your primary duties and responsibilities as Senior

18    Military Observer, Sector Sarajevo?

19       A.   The security of my UNMOs was paramount.  My mission there was to

20    monitor the ceasefire, to monitor the heavy weapons around Sarajevo, to

21    assist in the humanitarian convoys, and to report as a military observer

22    to my superior.

23       Q.   In what form did the reports to your military superiors take?

24       A.   Each day, we wrote a report at the end of the day.  Also -- sorry.

25    This report went to the senior military observer of UNPROFOR and it also


Page 9180

 1    went to the sector commander of UNPROFOR in Sarajevo Sector.  We

 2    also submitted logs - I mean daily logsheets - of events that happened

 3    during the day to the sector commander of Sarajevo.

 4       Q.   The information that was contained in the daily reports, how did

 5    you receive that information?

 6       A.   I had military observers on what we called the Lima side which was

 7    monitors on the Serbian side of the front line.  We had Papa observers

 8    inside the city.  These observers made their reports during the day.

 9    These reports were compiled into a full report by my staff and we would

10    submit this report at the end of the day.

11       Q.   During the time you were senior military observer in Sarajevo, do

12    you recall approximately how many UN military observers you had on the

13    Papa side?

14       A.   I am not sure.  The total number of UNMOs varied from

15    approximately 40 to 70 during my time.

16            As far as I recollect, we had less than half of the UNMOs in the

17    Papa side.  So, at times, it could be between 10 to 15 UNMOs.

18       Q.   On the Papa side?

19       A.   Correct.

20       Q.   With the remainder on the Lima side?

21       A.   Correct.  Except those -- except the observers working at the

22    headquarters.

23       Q.   Do you recall during the time that you were senior military

24    observer in Sarajevo, how many Papa observation posts were in existence?

25       A.   I think approximately five.  I am not sure how many exactly.


Page 9181

 1       Q.   How many observation posts on the Lima side?

 2       A.   As far as I remember, there were more -- more than the Papa side,

 3    but I could not say.

 4       Q.   Did your responsibilities as senior military observer include

 5    lodging formal protests or complaints with either of the warring sides?

 6       A.   Yes.    We, on the Papa side and on the Lima side, they -- both

 7    the senior observers, they both lodged complaints.  I, at the beginning,

 8    lodged complaints, but very shortly after I taking over, all formal

 9    protests had to be made through sector commander Sarajevo.

10       Q.   During the time you were in Sarajevo, who was the sector

11    commander Sarajevo?

12       A.   Colonel Valentin, a French officer.

13       Q.   Do you recall the approximate date or time period in which the

14    sector commander Sarajevo assumed responsibility for making formal

15    protests?

16       A.   I could not -- I could not be sure, but I think approximately

17    early April.

18       Q.   Prior to that period, did you personally make any formal protests

19    to the Bosnian Serb army side?

20       A.   Yes.  I personally protested against the targeting of one of our

21    observation posts on the Papa side.

22       Q.   Do you recall the approximate date that you made this protest?

23       A.   It was during April.  I don't know -- I don't know.  I couldn't

24    say which date.

25       Q.   Do you recall whom you met with on the Bosnian Serb army side when


Page 9182

 1    making this protest?

 2       A.   I met Colonel Galic.

 3       Q.   Was that the first instance that you met with him?

 4       A.   No.

 5       Q.   When was the first time you met with Colonel Galic?

 6       A.   When I was taking over from Colonel Cutler, he was giving me a

 7    briefing of the situation in Sarajevo, and I attended a meeting with him

 8    in Colonel Galic's office during my first week.

 9       Q.   Where was this office located?

10       A.   In the barracks in Lukavica.

11       Q.   Was this also an opportunity for Colonel Cutler to introduce you

12    to the corps commander?

13       A.   Yes.

14       Q.   Did you take part in any of the substantive discussions at that

15    time?

16       A.   You mean, during the meeting?

17       Q.   Yes.

18       A.   I was there during the meeting, all the time during the meeting,

19    yes.

20       Q.   Did you personally say anything to Colonel Galic at that time?

21       A.   Yes.  I introduced myself as an officer of the Defence Forces of

22    Ireland.  I explained to him that I had been sent here by my government to

23    assist him in their crisis.  I assured him that I would be totally

24    impartial during my time as senior military observer and I expected him to

25    treat the military observers with the respect that was due to them.


Page 9183

 1       Q.   Do you recall approximately how long this meeting lasted?

 2       A.   No, I don't.  I couldn't say.

 3       Q.   Did the situation with respect to the observation post that was

 4    the subject of this discussion improve following this meeting?

 5       A.   Can you phrase that again, please?

 6       Q.   Certainly.  Let me backtrack one question.  Do you recall which

 7    observation post was the subject matter of the discussion with Colonel

 8    Galic on that day?

 9       A.   It was Papa 5, as far as I remember.

10       Q.   Following the meeting with Colonel Galic, did the situation with

11    respect to Papa 5 improve?

12       A.   No.  Because during my time, Papa 5 was targeted again, and I

13    witnessed the explosion when I witnessed the explosion at our observation

14    post from a distance.

15       Q.   Do you recall the approximate time period that you witnessed an

16    explosion at Papa 5?

17       A.   I couldn't say which day at this time.  Sometime in April, is the

18    best I could say.

19       Q.   And what steps did you take after you witnessed this explosion?

20       A.   You mean, what progress I made?

21       Q.   Yes.

22       A.   I arranged a meeting with Colonel Galic as soon as possible after

23    this incident, and I protested to him about it.

24       Q.   Do you recall during this second meeting with Colonel Galic, what

25    you told him?


Page 9184

 1       A.   I told him that we were trying to find another position where we

 2    could have an observation post, but I was not successful in finding a

 3    position up to that date.

 4       Q.   Do you recall whether you discussed any other issues with Colonel

 5    Galic at that meeting, other than Papa 5?

 6       A.   I don't recall discussing anything in particular, but I would have

 7    made the normal protest about the issues going on at the time, if I had a

 8    meeting with Colonel Galic.

 9       Q.   When you say, "the normal protest about the issues going on at the

10    time," what are you referring to?

11       A.   I would be referring to the treatment of my UNMOs, the sniping

12    that has been carried out and the indiscriminate shelling, and the

13    stopping of humanitarian aid coming into the city.

14       Q.   What do you mean when you say "the indiscriminate shelling"?

15       A.   I considered a lot of the shelling was not -- was not targeted on

16    military targets, that shells were landing in all areas.  And I could not

17    understand these to be military targets.

18       Q.   Upon what did you base this conclusion that you held?

19       A.   Basically, from my previous experiences with UN missions, and I

20    could see no military purpose in a lot of the shelling that has been

21    carried out.

22       Q.   Did you convey these concerns to General Galic?

23       A.   Yes, I did.

24       Q.   Do you recall what, if anything, he said to you in response?

25            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, Mr. Piletta-Zanin.


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Page 9186

 1            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Yes.  Having reflected a bit,

 2    I have to intervene because of the interpretation.  According to the

 3    interpretation with regard to the -- to most of the shelling, this is not

 4    what the witness said.  He didn't say "for the most part," he

 5    said "numerous shelling."  I think it is necessary to distinguish this.

 6            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, certainly proper attention will be taken in

 7    respect of your observation.

 8            Please proceed, Mr. Mundis.

 9            MR. MUNDIS:

10       Q.   Commandant O'Keeffe, let me repeat the question:  Do you recall

11    what, if anything, he said to you in response?

12       A.   I only remember one particular phrase that comes to mind, and he

13    said that he was going to make this area safe for his children's children.

14       Q.   Other than these two instances that you have described for us, did

15    you ever meet with General Galic on any other occasion?

16       A.   Yes.  I cannot say exactly how many times, but when I was visiting

17    the UNMOs on the Lima side, I would always call to the UNMO headquarters

18    which was situated in Lukavica barracks.  And I almost every time asked to

19    see Colonel Galic or the gentleman that was known as the liaison officer

20    during my visit.

21       Q.   You said you cannot say exactly how many times.  Are you in a

22    position to say approximately how many times you saw Colonel Galic?

23       A.   I think maybe eight or nine times, but I am not sure.

24       Q.   Would it be fair to characterise these visits with General Galic

25    or Colonel Galic at that time as being examples of military courtesy or


Page 9187

 1    protocol?

 2       A.   Affirmative, yes.

 3       Q.   Do you recall on any of these eight or nine occasions if you had

 4    any substantive discussions with him?

 5       A.   I cannot recall these meetings as such and what was stated at

 6    these meetings.

 7       Q.   Would it be fair to characterise these brief meetings as simply

 8    an opportunity for you to inform the corps commander that you were in his

 9    headquarters building?

10       A.   Not really.  I would have -- I would have discussed -- I would

11    have discussed certain ongoing issues with him.  It would be normal for

12    me to do this.

13       Q.   Can you give us some examples of these ongoing issues?

14       A.   Well, I don't -- I don't recall speaking to him about any

15    particular issues during these meetings as such.  So I would be wrong to

16    say -- I couldn't -- sorry.  I can't say that I discussed any particular

17    issue with him during these meetings.

18       Q.   Do you recall approximately how many times you met with the

19    liaison officer at Lukavica barracks?

20       A.   I would think approximately eight or nine times.

21       Q.   Do you recall the name of the liaison officer that you met with at

22    Lukavica barracks?

23       A.   No.

24       Q.   Do you recall what issues you discussed with the liaison officer

25    at Lukavica barracks?


Page 9188

 1       A.   No, I don't recall.  I am not good with names and -- because I

 2    don't even recall the senior military observer's name who was at Lukavica

 3    barracks at that time.

 4       Q.   When you say, "the senior military observer at Lukavica," do you

 5    mean the liaison officer?

 6       A.   Yes.  He was the liaison officer and also the senior military

 7    observer on the Lima side.

 8       Q.   This would be the senior UNMO on the Lima side; is that correct?

 9       A.   Correct.

10       Q.   Commandant O'Keeffe, upon your arrival or shortly after your

11    arrival in Sarajevo, did you have the opportunity to travel around the

12    various Lima observation posts?

13       A.   In my first week, I travelled all -- to all the Lima positions.

14       Q.   Was this part of an orientation programme to familiarise you with

15    the Lima OPs?

16       A.   Correct.

17       Q.   During the time you were on this orientation tour, did you have

18    the opportunity to visit any of the Bosnian Serb army gun locations?

19       A.   Yes, I visited some locations.

20       Q.   Do you recall approximately how many locations you visited?

21       A.   Maybe two or three.  I am not sure.

22       Q.   During the orientation tour while you were at these gun

23    locations, did you see any of the Bosnian Serb army guns being fired?

24       A.   Yes.  I witnessed at one position a large -- a large amount of

25    rounds being fired.


Page 9189

 1       Q.   Do you recall the approximate location of these gun positions?

 2       A.   No, I couldn't -- I couldn't say where it was.

 3       Q.   Do you recall approximately how many rounds were fired?

 4       A.   My impression is that up to about 500 rounds were fired during the

 5    time when I was at this position.

 6       Q.   Do you recall witnessing or seeing where those rounds were

 7    landing?

 8       A.   No, I couldn't see from the gun position where they landed.

 9       Q.   Do you recall any of the details, any other details, about what

10    you saw on that day at that location?

11       A.   No, I don't recall any other details.

12       Q.   Do you recall at any other time during your tenure in Sarajevo,

13    being at a Bosnian Serb army gun line when guns were being fired?

14       A.   Yes.  I was visiting one Lima position on a certain day and I was

15    brought to one or the gun positions, and they were firing from that

16    position on that day.

17       Q.   Do you recall approximately how many rounds were fired on that

18    day?

19       A.   I think roughly around 200 rounds is what I recall.

20       Q.   Do you recall being at Bosnian Serb army gun lines at any time

21    when a gunner was being trained?

22       A.   Yes.  The incident I am referring to, I was told that one of the

23    gunners was being trained that day.

24       Q.   What do you recall that you witnessed with respect to that

25    incident?


Page 9190

 1       A.   I recall, in particular, the amount of ammunition that was placed

 2    near the guns at the site because it amazed me that there was so much

 3    ammunition out in the open, ready to be fired.

 4       Q.   Do you recall approximately how much ammunition you saw?

 5       A.   I couldn't put a figure on it, but I can picture a heap of

 6    ammunition, which would be approximately, maybe, 6 metres long by 4 metres

 7    high -- sorry, 3 metres high.  6 metres long, 3 metres high and 3 metres

 8    wide, which to me was a lot of ammunition at the gun site.

 9       Q.   Did you have any discussions with any of the UNMOs with respect

10    to the amounts of ammunition near Bosnian Serb army guns?

11       A.   My lasting impression was that there was absolutely no problem at

12    any time about the amount of ammunition that was available to all the

13    weapons on the Bosnian Serb side.

14       Q.   Thank you, Commandant O'Keeffe.

15            MR. MUNDIS:  Prosecution has no further questions, Mr. President.

16            JUDGE ORIE:  Thank you, Mr. Mundis.

17            I never heard you anywhere indicate that you were referring to any

18    newly translated.  Is that --

19            MR. MUNDIS:  That is correct, Mr. President.

20            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Piletta-Zanin, could you, under the present

21    circumstances, tell us whether you are or whether you would be within a

22    reasonable time, ready to cross-examine the witness?

23            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Mr. President, I have to tell

24    you the truth.  I don't know.  I don't know because we haven't had the

25    time to have a look at the documents and to confer with General Galic.  As


Page 9191

 1    a result, I don't know.

 2            JUDGE ORIE:  Would it be of any assistance to have a break at this

 3    moment, perhaps a break which lasts a bit longer than usual, so that

 4    you would have an opportunity to discuss the present situation with

 5    General Galic and then inform the Chamber where we are?

 6            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Mr. President, I thank you for

 7    that.  We also respect this witness who shouldn't be kept here for too

 8    long.  I think an extended pause would be interesting, but I don't think

 9    that it would suffice for us to see what all the problems are.  But

10    if we could advance a bit and take this break and perhaps start with

11    cross-examining this witness, and we have seen in addition that he can't

12    remember much, why not?

13            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  I would prefer that you would refrain from

14    commenting on --

15            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] I apologise.

16                          [Trial Chamber confers]

17            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Mundis.

18            MR. MUNDIS:  Mr. President, before we break, if in fact we are

19    going to break at this time, if the Chamber is able to provide any

20    clarification with respect to the next witness, the Prosecution would be

21    grateful so that we could notify the Victims and Witnesses Unit in respect

22    to whether that witness will be testifying today or tomorrow.

23            JUDGE ORIE:  Well, we were informed that the next witness would be

24    Mr. Thomas, but that the Prosecution would need further time to prepare

25    the examination-in-chief.  So perhaps I should ask a similar question to


Page 9192

 1    you, that during the break, to consider whether you would be prepared to

 2    start the examination of the next witness.

 3            MR. MUNDIS:  As you correctly stated, Mr. President, Mr. Thomas

 4    is the next witness.  We would be prepared to start with him in

 5    examination-in-chief tomorrow at 1415 hours, the regularly scheduled time

 6    tomorrow.

 7            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  That means that you would have no other witness

 8    for today?

 9            MR. MUNDIS:  That is correct, Mr. President.

10            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  Of course, it highly depends on what happens in

11    the rest of this afternoon.  It is very difficult for us at this moment to

12    give you an indication.

13            Mr. Piletta-Zanin, should any special measures be taken in order

14    to make the full time for the next break available to you to confer with

15    General Galic or is that just a matter of routine?

16            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] What do you mean by "special

17    measures," Mr. President?

18            JUDGE ORIE:  I don't know whether -- for whatever security reasons

19    or organisational reasons, if you would adjourn now, would you be in a

20    position to confer with General Galic?

21            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] To the extent that I will be

22    permitted to take my computer to the room, and documents, then I will do

23    so, Mr. President.

24            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  Is there any security issues in taking

25    computers to the conference room?


Page 9193

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Page 9194

 1            We will adjourn until 4.00.  If there is any specific problem in

 2    that respect, the Chamber would like to be informed about it right away.

 3    So not after the break but even during the break, whenever it comes up, so

 4    that we can see whether there will be a solution for that.  But let me

 5    just first listen to the always wise words of Madam Registrar.

 6                         [Trial Chamber and registrar confer]

 7            JUDGE ORIE:  I am informed, Mr. Piletta-Zanin, that taking your

 8    computer to the room where you confer with General Galic will not be a

 9    problem.  And the documents, I take it that is similar, yes.

10            Then we will adjourn until 4.00.

11                          --- Break taken at 3.16 p.m

12                          --- On resuming at 4.05 p.m.

13            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Piletta-Zanin, could you inform the Chamber

14    about the position the Defence takes at this very moment.

15            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Yes, thank you, Mr. President.

16    Defence counsel has used the time of this break, and we thank you for

17    that, and we have tried to confer with General Galic and we arrived at the

18    following conclusion:  What we will do, if the Trial Chamber allows us to

19    do so, is to cross-examine in tandem, so both of us will examine this

20    witness.  And we would like to point out that if it seems to be necessary

21    at the end of this hearing to call the witness back, we will ask the

22    permission of the Trial Chamber to do so.  But, for the moment, we will do

23    everything we can on the basis of the few extra minutes we have had in

24    order to prepare this.

25            JUDGE ORIE:  Thank you very much.


Page 9195

 1            Before giving you the opportunity to do so, Mr. Mundis, may I ask

 2    you, since at the beginning of the examination-in-chief I asked the

 3    Prosecution to indicate where it would refer to these, well, let's say,

 4    newly translated lines:  When did you inform the Defence that you would

 5    not do so or was it just did it come up in your mind during

 6    examination-in-chief?

 7            MR. MUNDIS:  Mr. President, are you referring to using the

 8    documents that had been listed as exhibits?

 9            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, but also those documents provided to the Defence

10    indicating which lines you might confront the witness with and giving a

11    translation of these lines.  That is what I understood it happened.

12            MR. MUNDIS:  The decision was taken during the course of the

13    examination not to confront the witness with any of the documents.

14            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, because if you would have taken the decision

15    prior to starting the examination-in-chief, of course, it would have been

16    proper to inform the Defence.

17            MR. MUNDIS:  Absolutely.

18            JUDGE ORIE:  Because they are, I take it, very much concentrating

19    on these documents and spending a lot of time on it.  It is a bit of

20    unlucky course of events first providing them with, well, at least an

21    indication of what you might use.  I mean, otherwise, you might not have

22    taken the effort to have those parts translated.  I appreciate that it was

23    in the mind of the Prosecution to assist the Defence.  But they are shaken

24    from one point to another, and that takes a lot of energy in preparing for

25    cross-examination as well.


Page 9196

 1            MR. MUNDIS:  Absolutely, Mr. President.  I understand.

 2            JUDGE ORIE:  So I just wanted to make that clear to start with so

 3    that, with a clear and open mind, we could now ask the usher again to --

 4    ask the usher to -- yes, Mr. Piletta-Zanin.

 5            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Yes, Mr. President.  In order

 6    to be -- to respect the practice of the parties, we made use of this

 7    witness and had a cassette viewed.  This decision was taken in the cell,

 8    if I may say so, after what we were able to decide.  We have a copy here,

 9    one for the Prosecution, one for the Registry, of course, but we weren't

10    able to inform of this 24 hours in advance.  We were put in a spot, in a

11    certain sense.

12            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  You heard, Mr. Mundis, that Mr. Piletta-Zanin

13    just announced that they will have a videocassette, that is what I

14    understand, being shown to the witness, that they will have a

15    videocassette shown to the witness and that they decided only during this

16    break to do so.

17            MR. MUNDIS:  I understand what Mr. Piletta-Zanin has said,

18    Mr. President.  I certainly have not seen this tape.

19            JUDGE ORIE:  Shall we follow the same procedure, that is, that we

20    discuss the issues at the very moment where we know exactly what the issue

21    is about.  If it is a videotape that you are viewing five times a week, it

22    might not be necessary to ask for further preparation time.

23            MR. MUNDIS:  If I could, Mr. President, if this is a tape that

24    has been disclosed by the Prosecution, if my learned friend could so

25    indicate, perhaps we could then --


Page 9197

 1            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] No, no.  It is a personal --

 2    personal tape, a personal production, Mr. Mundis.

 3            JUDGE ORIE:  Has it been disclosed to the Prosecution before?

 4            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] No, Mr. President, since we

 5    thought we would use it for another witness, but given what we have found

 6    out, no, no.

 7            JUDGE ORIE:  Isn't there is reciprocal disclosure among the

 8    parties which would entitle the Prosecution to inspect?  So it is on the

 9    list of those objects to be inspected by the Prosecution.

10            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] No, Mr. President, because we

11    never tendered it.  We have never offered it to the Prosecution until

12    now.  The decision was just taken.  We have these documents in another

13    cupboard, and we suddenly took this decision.

14            JUDGE ORIE:  Let me just try to make it clear.  Is it not the case

15    that the reciprocal of this disclosure has been triggered by the Defence

16    itself under Rule - I see that my colleague is just trying to find the

17    rule of reciprocal disclosure - under Rule 67.

18            If the Defence makes a request pursuant to Rule 66(B), and as far

19    as I understand such a request has been made, but please correct me if I

20    am wrong, then the Prosecutor shall be entitled to inspect any books,

21    documents, photographs or tangible objects which are within the custody or

22    control of the Defence and which it intends to use as evidence.

23            You say you only now decided -- when did you decide that, during

24    the break?

25            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Mr. President, we decided it


Page 9198

 1    during the break, given our conference with General Galic.  So it served a

 2    purpose, that meeting.  And we didn't have the time to prepare it with the

 3    appropriate numbers and things.  It is something that we had in one of our

 4    cupboards.  What we can do is provide the Prosecution with a cassette this

 5    evening and then ask the witness to come back, but I don't think we will

 6    gain much time.  Given the urgency of the matter, we had to act in that

 7    way.

 8            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, Mr. Ierace.

 9            MR. IERACE:  Mr. President, I don't think my learned colleague

10    has answered the question that you have asked.  There is a broader issue

11    here, and I don't seek to derail these proceedings.  I appreciate that Mr.

12    O'Keeffe is waiting.  Could I simply identify an issue, and at some later

13    stage in the week, having identified it, there could be further discussion

14    of this issue.

15            Approximately two weeks ago, I asked the Defence, in relation to

16    this Rule, if they had provided us with all of the material which they

17    were required to do under this Rule.  And I was informed that I would be

18    advised in due course.  I am yet to receive an answer.

19            Secondly, I specifically asked the Defence if I could inspect the

20    originals of the various orders and of the documents which appear to have

21    come from the archives of the Sarajevo Romanija Corps, and I was told I

22    would be advised about that.  We still have not heard from the Defence in

23    relation to this tape, why it has not been disclosed to us.

24            Mr. President, perhaps at some appropriate time when we run out of

25    witnesses, either later today or tomorrow or Friday, we could revisit this


Page 9199

 1    issue.  Thank you.

 2            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, perhaps it is not the proper time at this very

 3    moment.  I notice that request for inspection of originals have been made

 4    several times by the Defence.  I now hear that the Prosecution is asking

 5    originals from the Defence.  I think this is not a proper moment to

 6    discuss that in rather general terms.  I suggest that we first proceed

 7    with the cross-examination of Mr. O'Keeffe and that the Prosecution will

 8    have an opportunity on -- to see what the Prosecution would need after we

 9    have seen the video.  I do understand that it is new video.  Is it in a

10    form to which it can be played?  And you have copies for everyone?

11            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] We have the original here for

12    the usher and we have the same for the Prosecution, Your Honour.

13            JUDGE ORIE:  You have a copy for the Prosecution already?

14            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Yes, we do.

15            JUDGE ORIE:  It was very fortunate that, when we took the

16    decision, there was at least copies for the other party as well.

17            MR. IERACE:  Mr. President, one remaining matter.  Might Mr.

18    Thomas be excused for the remainder of this session?  We could contact the

19    Victims and Witnesses Unit if you thought it appropriate.

20            JUDGE ORIE:  I was informed by Mr. Mundis that he could not be

21    examined today.  So we accepted that, perhaps not specifically, but we did

22    not oppose against the observation of Mr. Mundis that he would not be

23    available to testify today.

24            MR. IERACE:  Thank you, Mr. President.

25                          [Trial Chamber and registrar confer]


Page 9200

 1            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Piletta-Zanin, the video, do you want portions

 2    to be played or do you want the whole video to be played?  The video you

 3    prepared.

 4            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] I apologise.  I was talking

 5    with my colleague.  It is rather brief in duration, 2 minutes 25, so we

 6    will show it in its entirety.

 7            JUDGE ORIE:  It is not more than two minutes, okay.  Perhaps you

 8    already give it to the booth that they could already put it on the --

 9            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] I will give it -- I will

10    provide the booth with it now.

11            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  And I see that Madam Registrar is now

12    performing all essential functions in this courtroom.

13            We will wait until the usher returns and then ask him to escort

14    Mr. O'Keeffe in the courtroom.

15                          [Trial Chamber confers]

16            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, Mr. Usher.

17            Mr. O'Keeffe, we apologise for having you to wait so long.

18            THE WITNESS:  No problem, sir.

19            JUDGE ORIE:  But, as usual, lawyers have their procedural issues

20    they want to discuss.

21            Mr. O'Keeffe, you will now be cross-examined, at least,

22    cross-examining will start and you will be cross-examined by counsel for

23    the Defence.

24            Mr. Piletta-Zanin, please proceed.

25            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Thank you, Mr. President.


Page 9201

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Page 9202

 1                          Cross-examined by Mr. Piletta-Zanin:

 2       Q.   [Interpretation] Commandant, good day.

 3       A.   Yes.

 4       Q.   Commandant, I will ask questions in French.  Can you hear me?

 5       A.   Yes, I can.

 6       Q.   As we say in our profession, five-to-five?

 7       A.   I don't understand "five-to-five."

 8       Q.   That usually means loud and clear, perfectly.  Can you hear me

 9    loud and clear?

10       A.   Affirmative.

11       Q.   Just to be clear.  Commandant, have you made a written statement

12    to the Prosecution?

13       A.   Yes, I have.

14       Q.   Would you tell us what the date was?

15       A.   I don't remember.  It was about three years ago when I made the

16    statement.

17       Q.   With the assistance of the usher, I would like to provide you with

18    the text of your statement and I would like you to confirm simply that

19    this is your signature on the document, if you please.  If the Chamber

20    allows me.

21       A.   Yes, that is my signature.

22       Q.   Commandant, would you agree with me that your statement was made

23    on May 12, 13, and 14, 1998?

24       A.   If that is the date that the -- that is written on the document

25    that I signed, then I accept that as the correct date.


Page 9203

 1       Q.   Good.  Sir, you spent a certain amount of time in Sarajevo.  Do

 2    you know whether it was usual for the observers, the military observers,

 3    to devote more than three or four months of time in that town?

 4       A.   It was the normal practice at -- before I went to Sarajevo for the

 5    UNMOs to have a rotation system every three months.

 6       Q.   In other words, Colonel, you are saying that, as a rule, the MOs,

 7    military observers of the United Nations, did not stay longer than three

 8    or four months in Sarajevo?  As a rule, in principle, that is what I am

 9    trying to ask you.

10       A.   Correct.

11       Q.   Thank you for your answer.

12            Sir, is it correct to say that for reasons of protocol, the rule

13    in use was that one would address a colonel as a colonel and a major as a

14    major and a general -- to a general of equal rank; is that correct?

15       A.   I am not sure what you are getting at.

16       Q.   I shall rephrase my question.

17            When there was discussion, for instance, between representatives

18    of the UN and representatives of the belligerent side, whatever side it

19    may be, was it a rule that discussion would take place between officers of

20    the same rank?

21       A.   Negative.  The senior military observer, it had no rank structure.

22    I was a commandant rank, however, I had some colonels from different

23    nationalities under my control.

24       Q.   Sir, thank you for your answer.  My question did not relate to

25    internal matters.  Was it usual that the UN -- the forces of the UN would


Page 9204

 1    have contacts with -- contacts with the belligerent side of this same

 2    rank?  And I am referring here to protocol, to the usages in practice in

 3    the protocol sense.

 4       A.   No.  At different team sites, it would be the team leader who

 5    would be making a protest to the local commander.  Rank did not enter into

 6    protocol with the UN military observers.

 7       Q.   Sir, are you trying to tell me that perhaps a lieutenant could

 8    discuss with a general, discuss matters with a general?

 9       A.   It is possible.  Highly unlikely, but it is possible, yes.

10       Q.   Why "highly improbable"?

11       A.   It would be highly improbable that a lieutenant would be in a

12    position that he would have to discuss items with a general.

13       Q.   Sir, as far as you know, do you think that given the situation on

14    the ground, that a general, a corps commander, would accept to discuss

15    with -- matters with a lieutenant?

16       A.   It depended -- it depended on the appointment the lieutenant had

17    at the particular time.

18       Q.   Thank you for your answer, Commandant.

19            You spent about four months in Sarajevo.  I would like to ask you

20    a series of questions and to which I would like you to answer by "yes" or

21    "no" because they call for such answers, "yes" or "no."  Commandant, do

22    you know what was and where was -- what was Zetra and where it was

23    located?

24       A.   "Do you know what was and where was..."  Sorry?

25       Q.   What was Zetra.  Z-e-t-r-a, Zetra?


Page 9205

 1       A.   No.

 2       Q.   You don't know where it was located, consequently?

 3       A.   Zetra doesn't ring a bell to me.

 4       Q.   Very well.  Commandant --

 5            JUDGE ORIE:  Just to assist you, would it be possible, if you

 6    would have similar questions, to ask one general question to the witness

 7    and ask him to respond, for example, in the positive, if he knows

 8    anything about it; and if you get no response, that it is in the negative.

 9    That might be very efficient.  It is just a suggestion.

10            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] I am -- of course, I agree.

11       Q.   Witness, do you know, Witness, where Zica was?

12       A.   Can you spell it, please?

13       Q.   Z-i "c" with an accent "a".

14       A.   No.

15       Q.   Commandant, could you please tell me if you know how many brigades

16    were located in Sarajevo during your stay there, brigades, 1st Corps of

17    the BH army?

18       A.   No.

19       Q.   Can you tell me or you do not know?

20       A.   I cannot recollect.  It was ten years ago.  I cannot recollect.  I

21    have been on three different missions since that mission, and I just don't

22    recollect.

23       Q.   Commandant, have you prepared this testimony with the

24    representatives of the Prosecution?

25       A.   Yes.


Page 9206

 1       Q.   Have you re-read your statement?

 2       A.   Yes.

 3       Q.   Did that refresh your recollection?

 4       A.   Yes.

 5       Q.   Commandant, do you know how many brigades or -- were located in

 6    Sarajevo at the time?

 7       A.   No, I do not recollect.  I don't think in my statement I mentioned

 8    a number of brigades.

 9       Q.   No, that is true, you did not mention the number.  Therefore,

10    Commandant, is it true that you cannot tell us either how many

11    commandments of posts, command and control posts of the battalions, not

12    the brigades?  Is that true?

13       A.   Yes, that is correct.

14       Q.   When you say it is correct, that means, "I cannot tell you."  Is

15    that what it means?

16       A.   Yes.

17       Q.   Commandant, the same -- the same applies to the command post of

18    the companies?

19       A.   Correct.

20       Q.   We have testimony that speak of the existence of mobile military

21    targets.  The question is:  Have you ever seen such mobile military

22    objectives or targets in Sarajevo?

23       A.   No, I have not.

24       Q.   Commandant, were you aware of the fact that there were such

25    military objectives in Sarajevo?


Page 9207

 1       A.   Yes, I was aware.

 2       Q.   Could you tell us what these objectives were?

 3       A.   I heard that there were one or two mobile mortar platforms within

 4    Sarajevo.

 5       Q.   Commandant, what are you calling "mortar platforms" and what were

 6    their calibres?

 7       A.   What I am calling is a vehicle with mortars mounted on the back of

 8    the vehicle.

 9       Q.   You are saying "mortars."  Are you referring to several mortars, a

10    large number of mortars?

11       A.   I am referring to a vehicle with a mortar or mortars mounted on

12    the vehicle.

13       Q.   Thank you, Commandant.  Commandant, no information about the

14    calibre of those heavy weapon?

15       A.   No, I had no information on this.

16       Q.   Commandant, where did you get your information from regarding

17    these mobile military objectives?

18       A.   It had been said to me that these were being used in Sarajevo.  I

19    cannot remember who said it to me.

20       Q.   If I tell you that that information comes from the information

21    service, would you say that this was acceptable?

22       A.   What information service are you referring to?

23       Q.   Well, it is a question of translation.  "Secret service" is what I

24    had wanted to say.

25       A.   I am not aware of any secret service in Sarajevo.


Page 9208

 1       Q.   Do you know of any other mobile targets?  We are referring here to

 2    vehicles, private vehicles, passenger cars, that could be used for

 3    transporting mortars.

 4       A.   I did not know of any.  I didn't know of any particular ones

 5    during my time.

 6       Q.   Commandant, do you know whether the forces of Sarajevo or the BH

 7    army, whether they had tanks, and if so, how many?

 8       A.   I know they had some tanks because at the time these tanks were

 9    kept in a compound and if the tanks -- I believe there were only a few,

10    maybe two or three, and if these tanks were not in the compound when our

11    UNMOs visited, they reported it.

12       Q.   Consequently, General, you are saying that these tanks could move

13    and that they actually moved?

14       A.   Yes, that is correct.  That if they were not in the compound,

15    obviously, they had moved in the city.

16       Q.   I apologise for calling you "General," but you didn't react, but I

17    apologise anyway.

18            Have you, yourself, seen them open fire?

19       A.   No.

20       Q.   Commandant, do you know whether the -- if the forces of the BH

21    army had the following weapons:  Mortar batteries of 120 millimetres?

22       A.   I couldn't definitely say.  I didn't observe the weapons.

23    However, if our UNMOs reported that there had been outgoing fire of

24    120-millimetre mortars, then they had those.  They had those mortars if

25    our UNMOs reported this fire.


Page 9209

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Page 9210

 1       Q.   But as far as you know personally, you do not know?

 2       A.   I didn't see them.

 3       Q.   All right.  But do you know whether there were such weapons?

 4       A.   I really don't remember.  If -- there are plenty written reports

 5    during the UNMOs' time.  If they reported outgoing 120-millimetre mortars,

 6    then the Bosnian army had these weapons.

 7       Q.   Witness, if I understood you correctly -- I understood you

 8    correctly, but your knowledge of the reports that existed are not perhaps

 9    those that we have in this Chamber.  That is why I am saying, "as far as

10    you know," not whether you have seen them.  Whether the Muslim forces had

11    these 120-millimetre weapons, if so, answer, yes; if not, no.

12       A.   I really cannot answer that question.  I have answered it already,

13    saying that if we reported 120-millimetre mortars outgoing fire, which

14    there is plenty evidence I am sure of, then they had --

15       Q.   Very well, Commandant I'll interrupt you.  Thank you.  I think I

16    have your answer.

17            Commandant, the same question for 80-millimetre mortars:  Do you

18    remember anything about that?    82 millimetres, I apologise.

19       A.   We had a reporting system, and if those weapons were there, the

20    outgoing fire would have been reported and the number of rounds that were

21    fired.  I -- the different types of mortars, I couldn't be sure in my

22    memory at this stage.

23       Q.   Very well.  Let's forget about the mortars since you can't

24    remember about that, and I understand you.  Could you reply to the same

25    question but with regard to what are called Howitzers?  105 millimetres.


Page 9211

 1       A.   I regret to say that I have to give the same answer.

 2       Q.   Thank you.  I accept that answer, Commandant, thank you.

 3            Commandant, if I ask you about the Kacusas, what we call multiple

 4    rocket launchers, would the answer be the same?

 5       A.   No, it wouldn't be the same.

 6       Q.   Why?

 7       A.   I cannot remember Kacusas as such being fired from the Bosnian

 8    side.

 9       Q.   Commandant, I would like to ask you the same question with regard

10    to the triple-A guns, the anti-aircraft guns.

11            THE INTERPRETER:  Could Defence please repeat the calibres.

12            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation]

13       Q.   From 30 to 12.7 millimetres.  It seems we have a problem with

14    interpretation.

15            JUDGE ORIE:  It might not have been a translation problem, but you

16    pronounced the calibres quite quickly.  It now reads on the transcript

17    "from 30 to 12.7 millimetres."

18            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] That is correct.

19            JUDGE ORIE:  So the question is about anti-aircraft guns from 30

20    to 12.7 millimetres, Mr. O'Keeffe.

21            THE WITNESS:  Yes, I believe that these weapons were in Sarajevo.

22            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation]

23       Q.   Thank you for that answer, Commandant.

24            Sir, do you know whether the forces in Sarajevo had any sniper

25    units, too?


Page 9212

 1       A.   I know that there was sniping being carried out from inside the

 2    city, yes.

 3       Q.   So the incidents -- these would be incidents that caused loss of

 4    life, wounded people, et cetera?

 5       A.   I cannot remember specific incidents, but I was aware that there

 6    was sniping being carried out from inside the city, if I can refer to it

 7    that way.

 8       Q.   These sniper shots came from the city and did they target people

 9    in the city as well?

10       A.   My UNMOs would have reported sniping being carried on in certain

11    areas and those reports would have been sent to our headquarters.  I would

12    not be referring to particular sniping incidents.  I would be looking at

13    the overall view of how the sniping -- of how much sniping was being

14    carried on at a particular time.

15       Q.   Very well, Commandant.  So I will ask you this question in a

16    general manner:  Do you know whether in this global view of the things

17    that you had, and you have mentioned about the existence of snipers,

18    sniper shots coming from within the city, do you know whether there were

19    any cases of shots from -- coming from the city and directed at the city?

20       A.   No, I don't know of any incidents.

21       Q.   Commandant, do you know where the front lines were located?

22       A.   I didn't know exactly but we had our map, and our maps were drawn

23    which indicated the front line at the time.  And I passed through the

24    front line every time I went to Lukavica.  And the front lines, as we saw

25    them, changed a little quite frequently.


Page 9213

 1       Q.   Commandant, during your stay, were you aware of the fact that a

 2    tunnel was being dug under the airport tarmac?

 3       A.   Yes, I was aware.  Without it having been confirmed, I believed

 4    that there was a tunnel being dug under the tarmac.

 5       Q.   Sir, a while ago you mentioned the shelling of Sarajevo.  Do you

 6    remember that?

 7       A.   What particular shelling of Sarajevo?

 8       Q.   You spoke in general terms about shelling and I think that you

 9    mentioned the shelling of an observation post in the centre of Sarajevo.

10    Do you remember that?

11       A.   I mentioned the -- an explosion at one of our observation posts,

12    but this was a tank round that hit the observation post.

13       Q.   Very well.  With regard to this incident, could you remind us of

14    the date of this incident?

15       A.   No, but I am sure it is in the records somewhere, but I do not

16    have a record of this incident.

17       Q.   Sir, with regard to this particular incident, could you confirm

18    that at the time of the explosion that you mentioned, operations were in

19    progress, that is to say, there was fighting in the surroundings of

20    Sarajevo?

21       A.   Yes, there was an attack being carried out at that time.

22       Q.   Thank you for that answer.

23            When you say, "an attack," if that comes from a commandant, if a

24    commandant talks about an attack, it is not just a simple skirmish; isn't

25    that right?


Page 9214

 1       A.   Yes.

 2       Q.   Sir, a while ago, you said that civilian zones were shelled.  You

 3    mentioned this in general terms.  Do you remember talking about this?

 4       A.   I don't think I remember civilians.  I didn't say "civilian zones"

 5    at any time.

 6       Q.   Very well, Commandant.  So civilian zones were never shelled in

 7    Sarajevo, according to you?

 8       A.   I never mentioned civilian zones.  To me --

 9       Q.   Commandant, I will ask you the following question:  In your

10    opinion, were civilian zones in Sarajevo shelled?

11       A.   Yes, civilian zones in Sarajevo were shelled, in my opinion.

12       Q.   Very well.  Commandant, first of all, I will put to you the

13    following question:  When you insist that there was shelling, how do you

14    define what would be a civilian zone in Sarajevo and what would not be a

15    civilian zone in Sarajevo?

16       A.   Civilians, what I am referring to is basically a non-military

17    target, that it was areas -- areas where normal life was going on, and I

18    did not believe that there was military activities in those areas

19    justifying the shelling that was going on.

20       Q.   Very well, Commandant.  You used the terms, you said, "I don't

21    think so," but what are the means, or what were the means, of being

22    certain that there were no military targets, mobile military targets, when

23    this shelling took place?

24       A.   When our monitors were observing, they reported on incoming

25    rounds landing in particular areas.  And they reported to me that there


Page 9215

 1    was no military activity, to their knowledge, going on in these particular

 2    areas.

 3       Q.   Commandant, if we agree that there were military targets which

 4    existed, how can one be absolutely certain that in an area that was

 5    shelled which you say was a civilian area, how can one be certain that

 6    there wasn't a mobile military target there, whatever the nature of this

 7    target?  And I am asking how can one be certain of this.

 8       A.   It depends on what you consider a military target.  Because of

 9    the fact one person with a pistol is carrying a pistol and you say that

10    this person is a military target, or one small vehicle has one -- you

11    believe to have one mortar in it, this does not justify firing 1.55 -- 155

12    ^ shells, numerous 155 shells into a particular area.

13       Q.   Commandant, what did you know about the uniforms that were worn by

14    the BH army at the time of your stay?

15       A.   Absolutely nothing.

16       Q.   Commandant, are you telling me that you didn't know whether the

17    army wore uniforms or what sort of uniforms they had?

18       A.   No, I am not saying that.  But I did not pay a particular interest

19    to the uniforms that -- uniforms in the city at that particular time.  I

20    was very much more interested in meeting people who had influence and who

21    could do something about the crisis situation.

22       Q.   Commandant, in your own mind, you gave us a definition of civilian

23    zones.  Would you agree with me in saying that the Presidency could be

24    described as a military target?

25       A.   No, I wouldn't.  I wouldn't consider that.


Page 9216

 1       Q.   Is it exact, is it true to say that the Presidency was the abode

 2    of the supreme commander of the army?

 3       A.   As far as I knew, yes.

 4       Q.   Commandant, a building in which the supreme commander is located

 5    is, in your opinion, not a military target?

 6       A.   Not as far as this situation.

 7       Q.   Commandant, I didn't mention a ceasefire, never mentioned a

 8    ceasefire.  Please answer my question.  Don't you consider that the place

 9    where the supreme chief of the army is staying, do you think that this is

10    not a military target?  I would like things to be clear.  Please answer

11    the question.

12       A.   Yes, it would be a military target.

13       Q.   Very well.  Thank you very much for this answer.

14            Commandant, I would like to put the same question to you for

15    vital, important telecommunications centres.

16       A.   Yes, I would say it.

17       Q.   Thank you.  Sir, I would like to ask you the same question with

18    regard to important communication centres, and by that I mean the ground

19    centres, both the road networks and the railway network.

20       A.   Yes, I would have to agree, yes.

21       Q.   Than you.  Commandant, is it true that command posts, what is

22    usually called command and control posts, are these what we could call

23    legitimate military targets?

24       A.   Yes.

25       Q.   Sir, is it true that the operational means, military operational


Page 9217

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Page 9218

 1    equipment, that this, too, is a legitimate military target?

 2       A.   Sorry, can you -- can you say that again, please?

 3       Q.   When I say, "military operational equipment," I am talking about

 4    mobile equipment such as tanks, transporters, other mobile operational

 5    equipment that is used by an army.

 6       A.   Yes.

 7       Q.   Sir, groups of soldiers going into operation, in your opinion, are

 8    such groups legitimate military targets?

 9       A.   Yes.

10       Q.   Sir, if many soldiers in Sarajevo did not have regular uniforms,

11    how could military observers of the UN categorically exclude the presence

12    of such groups when there was shelling, the presence of such groups going

13    into operation but people who didn't wear or who weren't wearing a

14    uniform?

15       A.   Of course, the UN military observers couldn't categorically

16    exclude what as -- from my experience, you are trying to say that every

17    person in Sarajevo was --

18       Q.   No, sir, I have to interrupt you.  I can't allow that.  I can't

19    allow you to interpret what I said.  I am just asking you a question,

20    that's all.

21            If there is something that categorically allowed UN officers to

22    exclude this possibility, say so.  If not, say so as well.

23       A.   Naturally, categorically, they couldn't say this, but in their

24    experience, they would be able to say it.

25       Q.   Very well.  You say that on the basis of experience, they could


Page 9219

 1    have known that.  How could they have known whether a group of 10, 15 or

 2    20 people passed through there, how could they have known that if there

 3    was no way of distinguishing these men from the remainder of the

 4    population?  How would this have been possible for them to know?

 5       A.   Basically, this would -- they would rely on their experience and

 6    training, making these observations.

 7       Q.   Sir, if a troop is present just before a shell and then disappear

 8    into thin air, how can UN observers be aware of this fact?  There is such

 9    thing as experience but, technically speaking, how could they have known

10    this?

11       A.   If they didn't observe it, they wouldn't have known it.

12       Q.   Very well.  Thank you very much.

13            Commandant --

14            JUDGE ORIE:  Whether you would change to another subject, you

15    said you would split up the time between you and Ms. Pilipovic.  I just

16    noticed that you took already more than the examination-in-chief, so I

17    don't know what there is still to be split up.  On the other hand, I also

18    noticed that the examination-in-chief was very brief compared to what was

19    indicated before.  But I would like to have an indication of you now about

20    the time.

21            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Mr. President, we have a few

22    questions that have to do with humanitarian issues, a cassette which takes

23    2 minutes and 25 seconds, and then a few brief questions that will be put

24    by Ms. Pilipovic.

25            JUDGE ORIE:  Ten minutes, would that be fair?  I am asking you


Page 9220

 1    that because I notice now and then that if a certain limited time is given

 2    to you, that the efficiency raises greatly.

 3            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Since you say to me -- are you

 4    speaking to me personally?  Is it the "vous" which is singular in French

 5    or the "vous" which is plural?

 6            JUDGE ORIE:  [Previous translation continues]... to use the

 7    English language; it makes no distinction.  If 10 minutes would not be

 8    enough -- would 10 minutes for you be enough, Mr. Piletta-Zanin?

 9            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Ten minutes for me, that would

10    be necessary and sufficient.

11            JUDGE ORIE:  I expect that Ms. Pilipovic takes over at quarter

12    past 5.00.

13            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation]

14       Q.   Commandant, a while ago, you spoke about brigades.  Do you know

15    whether at that time there was a brigade, a Mujahedin Brigade in Sarajevo?

16       A.   No, I didn't know of --

17       Q.   Thank you, sir.

18            Do you know whether there was a brigade which consisted also of

19    women?

20       A.   No.

21       Q.   Sir, you said that one of the missions of the UN observers was to

22    verify the transport of humanitarian aid; is that correct?

23       A.   No, it was to assist in the humanitarian aid convoys as such.

24       Q.   Very well.  So to assist the convoys.  Were there UNHCR convoys

25    among these convoys?


Page 9221

 1       A.   Yes, as far as I am aware, yes, there were UNHCR convoys.

 2       Q.   Sir, is it true to say that in the statement that we referred to

 3    earlier on that you made a few years ago, is it true to say that you told

 4    the Serbs that you would do everything you could to ensure that

 5    humanitarian convoys were also sent over to the Serbians to solve problems

 6    of poverty and misfortune?

 7       A.   I put the UNHCR in contact with people on the Serbian side.

 8            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Mr. President, I think that

 9    this would be a good time to have a look at the cassette.  I hope that we

10    won't have any problems with showing it because I know that, in the past,

11    we have had such problems.  So I would just like to say that I hope there

12    won't be any problems.

13            JUDGE ORIE:  Let's see what happens when we ask the technical

14    booth to play the video.  But perhaps first, Mr. Mundis.

15            MR. IERACE:  Mr. President, in his absence, Mr. Ierace has

16    reviewed the videotape and has e-mailed me with respect to the tape.  I

17    would like to query Mr. Piletta-Zanin whether he is planning on having the

18    audio portion of the tape played as well, or simply the video?

19            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Both, both.

20            MR. MUNDIS:  The Prosecution would object to the audio portion of

21    the tape being played, for reasons which I can elaborate on, if you wish.

22            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  Would it be wise to do it in the presence of

23    the witness or should we do it in the absence of the witness?

24            MR. MUNDIS:  I would ask that it be done in the absence of the

25    witness, please.


Page 9222

 1            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  Mr. O'Keeffe, since there is a certain

 2    objection against what is going to be played to you, we would rather

 3    discuss it in your absence.  I hope you don't mind, and I hope you do

 4    understand.

 5            So, Mr. Usher, would you please escort Mr. O'Keeffe out of the

 6    courtroom.

 7                          [The witness stands downs]

 8            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Mundis.

 9            MR. MUNDIS:  Mr. President, it appears from the information I

10    received via e-mail that the videotape is a Bosnian Serb television

11    report having to do with humanitarian aid convoys.  It appears to be a

12    news report, and it includes a voice-over and an interview of someone in

13    Serbian.  And the reason we would object to that would be a couple of

14    reasons, first of all, whether or not this witness would have seen this

15    news report.  I believe, if this witness were to be asked, he would inform

16    the Trial Chamber that he does not in fact speak, nor understand, the

17    Serbian language.  So for us, our position would be that the audio that is

18    contained on this news report would have little or no probative value, nor

19    relevance to the proceedings.

20            If the intent is simply to show him the video of what is contained

21    on the videotape and to ask him if he has seen these things or if he can

22    comment or elaborate on them, we have no objection.  But with respect to

23    playing a news report in a language that the witness doesn't understand,

24    would seem, to the Prosecution, to have little or no probative value and

25    no relevance.


Page 9223

 1            JUDGE ORIE:  Apart from whether there is a translation available

 2    for the Bench and for the Prosecution to understand what -- you prepared

 3    it.

 4            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Mr. President, it is in fact

 5    the text, the entire text, of what is said on that tape, and what we

 6    suggest is that we provide the booths with the text so that they can

 7    verify what is said and perhaps translate what is said on the tape.  A

 8    cassette without text seems to be a little truncated.  I think there are

 9    important translations here.

10            Now I have to admit that I failed to do so, I omitted it, because

11    I thought that the translation could be done immediately in the Office of

12    the Prosecutor.  They have a lot of translators there

13            JUDGE ORIE:  [Previous translation continues]...unfortunate that

14    you had a translation prepared.

15            One moment, please.

16                          [Trial Chamber confers]

17            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Piletta-Zanin, the Chamber finds that you should

18    first provide now the translation to the Prosecution, that the Prosecution

19    is in a position just to read what is said.  It cannot be more than two

20    minutes, so it cannot be a very long text.  As far as we understand,

21    Mr. Ierace, you have at least seen the video.  You will now be provided by

22    a written translation of the text, and not show it before the Prosecution

23    has had an opportunity to at least to read what text is used in the video.

24    Then we will see -- after they have had an opportunity to do so, we will

25    see whether we could proceed in playing the video to the witness or


Page 9224

 1    whatever could happen.

 2            Perhaps, in order to give some time, we could have an early break

 3    since we might not end very late today.  So if we would take our

 4    relatively short break now for 20 minutes, that would mean that we would

 5    resume at 25 minutes to 6.00.  Then, Mr. Ierace, you will have an

 6    opportunity to read the text and confer with Mr. Mundis, and then we could

 7    continue afterward.

 8            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Thank you, Mr. President.  On

 9    page 49, line 2 of the transcript, it is not --

10            JUDGE ORIE:  [Previous translation continues]...a translation had

11    been prepared so that we can at least proceed at this very moment and we

12    are not dependent on provisional translations to be made.

13            We will adjourn for 20 minutes.  Could please Mr. O'Keeffe be

14    informed?   I don't know who is taking care.  Could you please, Mr. Usher,

15    inform Mr. O'Keeffe that we take the opportunity to have a break until 5

16    minutes past -- no, I have to say 25 minutes to 6.00.

17                          --- Break taken at 5.15 p.m.

18                          --- On resuming at 5.39 p.m.

19            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Ierace, I see you are on your feet so I take it

20    that you have read the translation.

21            MR. IERACE:  I have, Mr. President, and I have made some copies of

22    the English transcript which Mr. Piletta-Zanin gave me, if you or the

23    other members of the Bench wish a copy.

24            JUDGE ORIE:  Well, it depends on if the video will be played.  I

25    think the first ones who need a copy are the interpreters.  If they have a


Page 9225

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Page 9226

 1    copy, I might do without, but if there are any other copies, the Chamber

 2    would be glad to have them.

 3            MR. IERACE:  Yes, I will hand over the English translation.

 4            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Piletta-Zanin.

 5            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] The Defence has copies.  They

 6    can make them available.

 7            JUDGE ORIE:  I would like to have for the Chamber four copies, two

 8    of the Defence and two of the Prosecution.

 9            May I take it that the interpreters' booth have been provided with

10    copies?  Yes.

11            Two more copies for the Prosecution.  Thank you.  Is there

12    anything else you would like to --

13            MR. IERACE:  Yes, Mr. President.  I would like to amplify my

14    objection to not only the playing of the audio, but more fundamentally,

15    the playing of the video altogether.  Firstly, having regard to the

16    transcript, it is confirmed that this tape purports to be a copy of a

17    television, presumably, news transmission --

18            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.

19            MR. IERACE:  -- in relation to an incident at Ilidza, undated -

20    which is important - where apparently arms in the form of ammunition were

21    smuggled into -- attempted to be smuggled into Sarajevo from Split.  Now

22    that is according to the transcript.

23            My first point is that given it is undated, it is therefore

24    entirely unclear whether this is an incident which took place during the

25    time that the witness was in Sarajevo.


Page 9227

 1            My second point is that assuming it is an incident which occurred

 2    during the tenure of the witness in Sarajevo, the appropriate course is

 3    simply to put to the witness:  Are you aware of an incident when

 4    ammunition was discovered, concealed within a humanitarian aid shipment?

 5    If the witness says he is not, then that is the end of the matter.

 6    Showing the video then has no relevance at all.

 7            Thirdly, in relation to the voice-over, once you have had an

 8    opportunity to read the transcript, it will become apparent that it

 9    contains the opinions of someone, presumably the reporter or whoever wrote

10    the text, beyond that, a comment from herself and a person whom she

11    interviewed who purported to be some sort of security officer or police

12    officer.

13            Mr. President, there is a more fundamental objection.  What is the

14    relevance of this to the Defence case?  Is the Defence saying that

15    ammunition was smuggled into Sarajevo in United Nations' convoys or other

16    humanitarian aid convoys and, therefore, the United Nations' vehicles or

17    humanitarian aid vehicles or United Nations personnel became legitimate

18    military targets?   This needs to be spelled out.

19            If that is not what the Defence is saying, then in what way is

20    this relevant, assuming that it is true.  Thank you, Mr. President.

21            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  Let's first ask Mr. Piletta-Zanin what he seeks

22    to establish by showing this video to the witness and ask the witness

23    questions about it.

24            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Yes, Mr. President.  I would

25    agree with Mr. Ierace concerning the audio part and when he says that it


Page 9228

 1    expresses the opinion of a journalist.  But, since it is something that we

 2    have re-copied, we wish to re-copy it in its entirety, both audio and the

 3    images, so as not to be blamed for concealing something.  What we wish to

 4    seek to establish is that, very often, the Prosecution indicates that

 5    there may have been problems with vehicles which were of an interest to

 6    the UN forces.  This, we could see yesterday.

 7            Now, whatever the decision may be, and without wishing to say that

 8    this or that object bearing the UN designation, the Defence nevertheless

 9    wishes to show that there may have been some case of nervousness among

10    some, and that at levels inferior to General Galic, and there may have

11    been aggressive action.  And this is something that we have to establish

12    during the general proceedings because the Prosecution has mentioned that

13    the witness has said certain things, and we wish to strike a balance that

14    there have been serious cases where the staff, the personnel that the tape

15    deals with, was involved in trafficking of arms, and I think we should not

16    omit mentioning this.

17            JUDGE ORIE:  [Previous translation continues]...what divides you

18    and Mr. Ierace at this time is what the truth is.  Of course, it cannot be

19    circumvented.  I think -- but I am just trying to understand the positions

20    of the parties.  I didn't hear Mr. Ierace say that no evidence should be

21    produced in respect of, as you called it, very serious events which might

22    have invoked certain reactions, without saying that UN personnel was ever

23    attacked.

24            I think what we are dealing with is the way of introducing such

25    evidence.  It might be that the witness knows something about it.  I have


Page 9229

 1    no idea.  But do I understand you well, Mr. Ierace, that you are saying,

 2    well, produce this evidence but not through a witness who might not know

 3    anything about it?

 4            MR. IERACE:  Yes, subject to the issue of relevance.  But the

 5    threshold question, Mr. President, if you are of the view that it does

 6    have relevance, is firstly, to enquire of the Defence what is the evidence

 7    that this incident happened in the period that Mr. O'Keeffe was in

 8    Sarajevo.  Or at least, if my friend doesn't know that, to simply ask the

 9    witness whether he is aware of such an incident.

10            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.

11            MR. IERACE:  Could I just add one further point, Mr. President?

12            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.

13            MR. IERACE:  What I seek is nothing more than what the Prosecution

14    has committed itself to.  You will recall that during my opening, we

15    showed a collage of video clips.  The evidence will be in relation to

16    those video clips from Mr. Lesic, Zoran Lesic, that most of those clips

17    came from television stations, and you will recall that there were

18    no voice-overs from commentators on those clips.  All of those

19    voice-overs- there were some initially- were cleaned off because, clearly,

20    what a commentator says is not evidence.  And so I merely seek to hold the

21    Defence to what the Prosecution regards as the proper aspects of such

22    sources of such material.  Thank you.

23            JUDGE ORIE:  Perhaps to make one observation, because the Chamber

24    has given it some thought as well.  The opinion of journalists is, of

25    course -- is very dangerous, especially in a jury trial, for professional


Page 9230

 1    judges who have seen television on from when it started to appear in our

 2    houses.  And I am still the youngest.  And whoever read newspapers since

 3    they could read.  Is not perhaps that -- it is not that fragile, I would

 4    say, in a Bench trial as it is in a jury trial.  I hope that you will

 5    understand that so that we might be a bit more liberal on that issue.

 6            Could you inform us, Mr. Piletta-Zanin, of the dates of the

 7    events, whether this was within the period of --

 8            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Yes, Mr. President, I will ask

 9    the question -- I ask the question about the date to Madam Pilipovic, but

10    as a point of relevance, I would like to state the following:  The

11    pictures that we will see will be the pictures that have to do with arms

12    trafficking.  And we can see at a certain moment the ammunition that was

13    concealed there.  And this witness stated that he could not remember

14    exactly what sort of weapons the BH army had during his stay there, and I

15    am almost sure that if we show, through this video, the ammunition and we

16    show it to this military person, he can say it will be 12.7 calibre

17    millimetres.  We can conclude that if such ammunition is delivered, it is

18    delivered to be used and not to be stashed away.

19            As regards the date, I will ask about it.  Mr. President, as you

20    have noted, where we had decided to use it on this part, we believe it to

21    be a date that corresponds to the date of this stay of the witness in

22    Sarajevo.  We don't have the information here and now.  We can look for

23    them later on but, at any rate, since the Defence is indicating this, that

24    these are events that have reoccurred, we wanted to ask the witness to

25    find out whether he was aware of the fact that such problems were noticed


Page 9231

 1    and had indeed occurred.

 2            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Ierace.

 3            MR. IERACE:  Mr. President, nothing that my learned colleague has

 4    said has been responsive to the issues that I have raised.  Most

 5    significantly, it is not suggested by the Defence that Mr. O'Keeffe was

 6    present when this convoy was allegedly found to contain ammunition on its

 7    way on a route destined to Sarajevo.  There is no reason why the course

 8    that I have proposed should not be adopted.  It is the proper course.  The

 9    witness should simply be asked if he is aware of such an incident, and

10    that is assuming that it has some probative value.  And if he is not, that

11    is the end of it, because if he is not, what possible probative value is

12    there in playing him a series of images of an incident of which he has no

13    awareness?   Thank you.

14                          [Trial Chamber confers]

15            JUDGE NIETO-NAVIA:  What the Trial Chamber confirms,

16    Mr. Piletta-Zanin, did I hear you saying that it is not your intention to

17    say that the UN vehicles are a legitimate military target?  You said that?

18            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] I will be very clear.  The

19    Defence has never said or nor has the intention of saying that, in its

20    view, that the UN troops were a legitimate military target.  I will check

21    on the transcript.

22            JUDGE NIETO-NAVIA:  [Previous translation continues]...transcript

23    is not --

24            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN:  Thank you for your observation, sir, but what

25    I will say is that it was not definitely.  I hope it's clear.  Thanks very


Page 9232

 1    much.

 2            JUDGE ORIE:  This gives the opportunity to just to read the

 3    transcript of the last one minute.

 4            JUDGE NIETO-NAVIA:  I said, "are not" again.

 5                          [Trial Chamber confers]

 6            JUDGE ORIE:  The Chamber finds it proper to start, at least, with

 7    a question to the witness, whether he knows about this incident or these

 8    kind of incidents.  Once we know the answer to that question, then of

 9    course we have to see what the next step will be.

10            May I make one observation, Mr. Piletta-Zanin?   Where you at

11    least suggested several times that what was on the video was more or less

12    an undeniable fact, this Chamber never would assume on the mere basis of

13    looking at the video that it was an undeniable fact what was shown on the

14    video.  This Chamber has also seen movies for some 50 years.

15            But, of course, a lot of things are true which is shown on

16    videos, but just in order to make clear what the position of the Chamber

17    will be anyhow, that whatever we see on a video, we will have to establish

18    whether this video reflects the truth or does not reflect the truth.  That

19    is not only for videos of the Defence but is similarly true for whatever

20    video is shown by the Prosecution.

21            So, then, please could Mr. O'Keeffe be brought into the courtroom

22    again, and would you start with the question indicated?

23            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Thank you, Mr. President.

24    The Defence hopes not to practice excessively anamorphose.

25            JUDGE ORIE:  Our witness is now and then suffering under


Page 9233

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Page 9234

 1    procedural issues we deal with in their absence, but we now continue.

 2            Mr. Piletta-Zanin.

 3            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Yes, I will ask the question,

 4    but I want to repeat this for the transcript.  "Anamorphose," for the

 5    English transcript, in order to clarify matters.

 6       Q.   Commandant, good day again.  I would like to ask you the

 7    following question:  While you were in Sarajevo, did you hear any protests

 8    relating to the fact that one or the other of the warring factions -- did

 9    you hear any protests coming from one or the other of the warring

10    factions?

11       A.   I don't understand the question.

12            JUDGE ORIE:  Is that not a bit -- very unspecific, one of the

13    parties protesting?

14            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Very well.

15            JUDGE ORIE:  About what, for example?

16            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Yes, I understand in general,

17    but --

18       Q.   Sir, did you ever hear the Serb party involved in the conflict

19    complaining about the existence of certain illegitimate trafficking, for

20    example, of weapons in the direction of Sarajevo?

21       A.   I don't remember any formal protest that was made by the Serbian

22    side in relation to this.

23       Q.   I appreciate your answer, sir, but it is necessary to be very

24    precise.  You say you don't remember any formal complaints.  I am not

25    referring to formal complaints, but did you ever hear, and I don't mean a


Page 9235

 1    formal complaint, any protest of a general nature that the Serbian side

 2    might have made with this respect, in this respect?

 3       A.   With regard to what specific --

 4       Q.   For example, with regard to the trafficking or illegal importing

 5    of arms into Sarajevo.

 6       A.   I heard of complaints made about people and weapons being brought

 7    in, in relation to the tunnel in the airport situation.

 8       Q.   Can I stop you here, Witness.

 9            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Mr. President, given this

10    answer, may I show the cassette or do I have to continue?

11            JUDGE ORIE:  Continue, Mr. Piletta-Zanin, because it wasn't very

12    specific.

13            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Very well.

14       Q.   Witness, did you hear whether, apart from imports that came

15    through the tunnel, were there any other imports, were any other weapons

16    transported, brought in to Sarajevo?

17       A.   I didn't hear of any rumours or hear of rumours or it wasn't --

18    it was not reported to me of any such situation.

19       Q.   Sir, you never heard anyone mentioning the Operation Oxygen?

20       A.   No, definitely not.  I never heard of that operation.

21       Q.   Sir, you never heard the Containers Operation being referred to?

22       A.   I don't understand what you mean by "Containers Operation."

23       Q.   Sir, it is the name.  It is a code.  It is the name of an

24    operation which was called "Containers."

25       A.   No, I never heard of it.


Page 9236

 1       Q.   Sir, have you ever heard a rumour or a complaint made by the

 2    Serbian party according to which certain UNHCR vehicles were allegedly

 3    used to take to the city of Sarajevo things that were not humanitarian

 4    aid?

 5       A.   No, I did not.  Sorry, could I -- Your Honour, I am getting no

 6    picture on my screen as regard to questions at the moment.

 7            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes, and I notice that you appreciate to, apart from

 8    hearing, also to read what is written.  It does appear now on your screen?

 9            THE WITNESS:  Yes.  Thank you, Your Honour.

10            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Very well.  Mr. President,

11    given that this witness has no knowledge of this transport of weapons

12    above ground but only knowledge of transport of weapons under ground, I

13    don't think it is necessary to show him the cassette.  But Ms. Pilipovic

14    has a few questions to ask within the period of time that has been given

15    to her.

16            JUDGE ORIE:  I hope you do not misunderstand the position of the

17    Chamber, that this would be an, under all circumstances, irrelevant video

18    of not containing aspects of the conflicts that might be important for the

19    Defence to produce.  It is just the technical issues we are just dealing

20    with at this moment, and I just hope that there is no misunderstanding

21    about it.

22            MR. PILETTA-ZANIN: [Interpretation] Mr. President, the Defence

23    takes into account your remark.  We understand it.  I don't think you have

24    misunderstood me, certainly not.

25                          [Trial Chamber confers]


Page 9237

 1            JUDGE ORIE:  Ms. Pilipovic, please proceed.

 2            MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

 3                          Cross-examined by Ms. Pilipovic:

 4       Q.   [Interpretation] Good day, Mr. O'Keeffe.

 5            Mr. O'Keeffe, you told us and confirmed that you had given a

 6    statement to investigators of the Prosecution and that you read that

 7    statement and refreshed your memory with regard to the period during

 8    which you were in Sarajevo; is that correct?

 9       A.   Correct, yes.

10       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, I will remind you of something on page 6 of your

11    statement.  You spoke about the tactics used by the Bosnians and you

12    called this the mosquito tactics.  Do you remember saying this?

13       A.   Yes, I do.

14       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, could you clarify this matter for us.  When you

15    mentioned the mosquito tactics, what did you mean by that?  What sort of

16    tactics are involved?

17       A.   It means where a small force is operating against a big force,

18    that they make an attack which is really not an attack to overcome the big

19    force but it irritates the larger force.  That is what I mean by

20    a "mosquito attack."

21       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, would you agree that in situations where such

22    tactics are employed, it is difficult to know what the real and final

23    objective of such tactics is?

24       A.   Yes, it would be difficult, yes.

25       Q.   Would you agree with me that in such a situation, the stronger


Page 9238

 1    side, as you say, was not in a position, was not able to know, the real

 2    and final objective of such tactics?

 3       A.   Yes, that would be correct.

 4       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, in your opinion, is it the legitimate right of the

 5    side that is attacked to defend itself and use all the means it has at

 6    its disposal to do so?

 7       A.   Yes, to defend itself, yes.

 8       Q.   Thank you, Mr. O'Keeffe.  On page 6, you also said that it was

 9    very difficult at night to determine whether shots were coming from

10    weapons from one kilometre or from further away; is that correct?

11       A.   Yes, correct.

12       Q.   Does that mean that in such cases the UN observers were not able

13    to be precise, they might have made random estimates as to where the shell

14    came from?

15       A.   It would have depended again on the situation at the particular

16    time.  I think I was referring to shelling that the observers were not

17    close to.

18       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, can you tell us whether the -- whether in Sarajevo

19    and its surroundings was such that it might have not been possible for the

20    observers to be precise?  And I am thinking in particular of fog.

21       A.   I had impressed on my observers that if they had ever any doubt,

22    that they should not report items, that they should be very definite in

23    their reporting.

24       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, on page 7 of your statement you said, and I shall

25    read this to you, it is just one line:  "The Bosnians had the entire world


Page 9239

 1    press on their side so that these reprisals were sometimes used in order

 2    to create an unfavourable image of the Serbs."

 3            Is that something that you stated?

 4       A.   Yes, that is correct.

 5       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, in your opinion, did the reports from UN observers

 6    also contribute to portraying the Serbs in a negative light?

 7       A.   Yes, the reports would have contributed.

 8            MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.  The

 9    Defence has no further questions.

10            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Mundis, is there any need to re-examine the

11    witness?

12            MR. MUNDIS:  One question, Mr. President.

13            JUDGE ORIE:  Please proceed.

14                          Re-examined by Mr. Mundis:

15       Q.   Commandant O'Keeffe, if a captain was the senior officer, senior

16    UNMO officer, on the Lima side at Lukavica barracks, would that captain

17    occasionally be called upon to meet with the corps commander as part of

18    his duties, such as to present a protest or lodge a complaint?

19       A.   Yes, it would have been part of his duties.

20       Q.   Thank you.

21            MR. MUNDIS:  No further questions, Mr. President.

22            JUDGE ORIE:  Judge El Mahdi has a question for you.

23            JUDGE EL MAHDI: [Interpretation] Thank you, Mr. President.

24                          Questioned by the Court:

25            JUDGE EL MAHDI: [Interpretation] I would like to ask you if you


Page 9240

 1    could clarify a matter which appears in your statement.  In your statement

 2    you mentioned the issue, the nature of the protest that you lodged with

 3    regard to -- with regard to a shelling, and I quote you:

 4    [In English] "That I could not understand to be military targets."

 5            [Interpretation] And you mentioned that as a response you

 6    received the following response, and I quote: [In English] "He was going

 7    to make this area safe for his children's children."

 8            This reply, was it in response to your complaint, to your protest,

 9    or was it a sentence in the course of your conversation, as far as you can

10    remember, to the best of your recollection of this meeting?

11       A.   In my recollection, it was in a conversation at the end of the

12    meeting, when I asked a question like, "What do you really want in this

13    crisis?"

14            JUDGE EL MAHDI: [Interpretation] Thank you.

15            JUDGE ORIE:  Colonel O'Keeffe, I also have a question for you.

16            You have told us about several meetings you had with General

17    Galic.  The first meeting you described, which was not your first meeting

18    - that was, at least, not when you first met General Galic - was about

19    the Papa 5 having been fired at.  You told us that, apart from this

20    specific issue, the normal protests about the situation were communicated.

21    You then explained to us that the normal protest was about sniping,

22    shelling, not specifically to Papa 5.

23            When you told us about later meetings with General Galic, you said

24    that you do not remember specific subjects being discussed during these

25    meetings.  Would that mean that it is not in your recollection what the


Page 9241

 1    specific reasons for your visits were or the specific subjects, or that

 2    the, as you called them, the normal protest, I think you said, would not

 3    have been discussed during these meetings either?  Have you no

 4    recollection at all or just not on specific issues other than normal

 5    issues?

 6       A.   I really have no recollection of what in particular we discussed

 7    at these meetings, that I couldn't refer to any one incident during these

 8    meetings.

 9            JUDGE ORIE:  Yes.  Normal or particular?  None?

10       A.   What I am saying is I would have, at these meetings, in the normal

11    course of events, I would have again objected to the sniping, the

12    indiscriminate firing, the breaking of local -- the breaking of

13    ceasefires, items like that that were continuously ongoing every day, with

14    the result that I am not able to remember, you know, any specific one to

15    be brought up at one particular time.  It would have been normal for me to

16    say, "Well, why don't you stop the sniping?"  "Why don't you stop the

17    shelling?"  "Why won't you let the convoys through?"   "Why won't you let

18    the airplanes come in?"  These are the types of things I would have been

19    saying.  What I cannot remember -- you know, I would have been doing this

20    so frequently that I cannot refer to any specific one at any particular

21    time, Your Honour.

22            JUDGE ORIE:  Do I understand you well that you said these were the

23    kind of subjects that we discussed also during the other meetings, but

24    whether on the 5th or the 6th or the 7th, we mentioned sniping or we

25    didn't mention sniping specifically, I've got no -- but sniping and


Page 9242

 1    shelling have been discussed at one or more of these other meetings; is

 2    that how I am to understand you?

 3       A.   Yes.

 4            JUDGE ORIE:  That makes it clearer for me.

 5            Commandant O'Keeffe, you have answered all the questions of both

 6    parties and of the Bench.  I thank you very much for having come to The

 7    Hague and giving your testimony in this Court.

 8            Ms. Pilipovic, would you -- Ms. Pilipovic knows that --

 9            MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Yes, Your Honour.

10            JUDGE ORIE:  -- that in speaking these words, that the witness

11    will usually be out of the courtroom in one or two minutes.  So since she

12    stands, I will first give her the opportunity to interrupt me.

13            Yes, Ms. Pilipovic.

14            MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

15       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe --

16            JUDGE ORIE:  You would have another question?

17            MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Yes.  Yes.

18            JUDGE ORIE:  It is a bit unusual.  Is there any reason, Ms.

19    Pilipovic, or you have just have one question, five questions?

20            MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honour, I will be very brief.

21    The questions have to do with the meeting, and since during the

22    examination-in-chief the Prosecution didn't ask these questions, the

23    Defence thought that it was not necessary to put these questions to the

24    witness.

25                          Further cross-examination by Ms. Pilipovic:


Page 9243

 1       Q.   [Interpretation] Mr. O'Keeffe, could you tell us how long these

 2    meetings lasted?

 3            JUDGE ORIE:  May I first just explain, usually if the Bench has

 4    raised a certain issue, then the parties have an additional opportunity to

 5    ask additional questions to these questions.

 6            Please proceed, Ms. Pilipovic.

 7            THE WITNESS:  I couldn't recall how long these meetings took

 8    place.

 9            MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation]

10       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, you said that you had mentioned sniping incidents

11    and shelling incidents.  Could you please tell us of one meeting, a

12    particular meeting, which you mentioned to General Galic at one of those

13    meetings that you had?

14       A.   No, I cannot -- this is what I explained before, and that I cannot

15    specifically say at one particular meeting that I said these things.  But

16    during my meetings with him, I would have invariably brought up these

17    items.  I am not saying that there was one specific one that I brought it

18    up or not.

19       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, could you tell us what else you spoke about at these

20    meetings, apart from this subject?

21       A.   I cannot remember any other items that we discussed at the

22    meeting.

23       Q.   One more question, Mr. O'Keeffe:  When, as you said, you went to

24    the meetings, whether formal or informal, could you tell us whether you

25    had a translator, an interpreter?


Page 9244

 1       A.   I do not think so.  I think that the translator was -- there was a

 2    translator provided by General Galic or -- I am not sure, but I think the

 3    liaison officers -- liaison officer would have translated from time to

 4    time, but I think there was an interpreter there at most meetings.

 5       Q.   When you say, "I think at most of the meetings," do you mean to

 6    say that at some of the meetings there was no interpreter?

 7       A.   No.  What I am saying is that, as far as I recollect, a person

 8    speaking English was always, naturally enough, at the meeting because I

 9    could not understand any other language.  So somebody had to interpret or

10    explain to me what was happening at the meeting or what I said.  But I

11    cannot specifically say whether it was the liaison officer, another

12    officer or an interpreter.  But there was somebody there who translated at

13    the meetings.

14       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, the translations you would receive from the

15    interpreters who were present there, were the translations always clear

16    and could you always understand them?

17       A.   Yes, of course.  If I had difficulty, I would have asked the

18    question again at the time.

19       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, you told us that the first time you had a meeting

20    with Mr. Galic, Mr. Cutler was present with you; is that correct, during

21    the transfer of duties?  Is that correct?

22       A.   Yes, that is correct.

23       Q.   Mr. O'Keeffe, I am going to show you Mr. Cutler's statement which

24    he gave to the investigators of the Prosecutor on the 13th of January,

25    1997, and 18th of March, 1998.


Page 9245

 1            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Mundis.

 2            MR. MUNDIS:  Mr. President, the Prosecution will object first of

 3    all in showing the statement, but as a more general proposition, we

 4    would object that this has gone beyond the scope of questions put to the

 5    witness from the Bench.  And these would have been properly -- could have

 6    been properly asked of the witness following the examination-in-chief.

 7                          [Trial Chamber confers]

 8            JUDGE ORIE:  The objection is sustained.

 9            Is there any other question specifically related -- well, this is

10    already a question you indicated --

11            MS. PILIPOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour, no.

12            JUDGE ORIE: -- four questions before that that would be your last

13    one.

14            Commandant O'Keeffe, when I said to you that you answered all the

15    questions of the parties, that was not true, because there were still some

16    questions remaining.  But, now you have.  Perhaps not all, but all the

17    questions being put to you have been answered by now.  May I thank you

18    very much for having come to The Hague, and may I wish you a safe trip

19    home again.

20            THE WITNESS:  Thank you very much.

21            JUDGE ORIE:  Mr. Usher, could you please escort Mr. O'Keeffe out

22    of the courtroom.

23                          [The witness withdrew]

24            JUDGE ORIE:  Madam Registrar, we have no documents to be admitted.

25    That means that we will adjourn until tomorrow, quarter past 2.00 in the


Page 9246

 1    afternoon.

 2            I take it then, Mr. Mundis, that you will start with the

 3    examination-in-chief of Mr. Thomas?

 4            MR. MUNDIS:  That is correct, Mr. President, yes.

 5            JUDGE ORIE:  We will adjourn until then.

 6                          --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at

 7                          6.34 p.m., to be reconvened on Thursday,

 8                          the 29th day of May, 2002, at 2.15 p.m.

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