120926ED

Page 3043

1 answering that question in accordance with the truth you might reveal

2 your identity, please do not hesitate to ask me that we go into private

3 session.

4 Is that clear?

5 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

6 JUDGE ORIE: Then you'll now be examined first by Ms. Hasan.

7 Ms. Hasan is counsel for the Prosecution. Carefully listen to her

8 questions.

9 Ms. Hasan, you may proceed.

10 Examination by Ms. Hasan:

11 Q. Good morning, witness.

12 A. Good morning.

13 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, just for the record we are relying on

14 certain adjudicated facts in relation to this witness and have redacted

15 portions of his statement accordingly. I won't mention the specific

16 adjudicated facts as -- out of an abundance of caution and for the

17 witness's protection, unless you wish me to do so and we can enter into

18 private session.

19 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. And we've seen the numbers do appear in the

20 confidential exhibits, which I take it you'll send us soon a statement of

21 the witness.

22 MS. HASAN: Correct.

23 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Please proceed.

24 MS. HASAN: May we have 65 ter 28423 displayed on the screens but

25 not broadcast.

Page 3044

1 Q. Witness, I trust that you see something in a hard copy or on the

2 screen before you? And if I may ask you, without reading anything out

3 loud, to please confirm whether it is your name and your date of birth

4 that is recorded on this paper under RM145?

5 A. Yes.

6 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, I'd offer 65 ter 28423 into evidence

7 under seal.

8 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Registrar.

9 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honour, 65 ter 28423 shall be assigned P254,

10 under seal. Thank you.

11 JUDGE ORIE: P254 is admitted under seal.

12 MS. HASAN: May we now have the first page of 65 ter 28422

13 displayed on our screens. And, again, not broadcast for the public.

14 Q. Witness, do you recall having met with the Office of the

15 Prosecutor on the 14th of February in 2011 when an amalgamated statement

16 that comprised your prior statements and your prior testimony, as well as

17 additional information, was read to you in your language. Do you recall

18 that?

19 A. Yes.

20 Q. Please take a look at this first page. Do you see your name on

21 it?

22 A. Yes.

23 Q. Do you recognise the signature that is on the bottom right-hand

24 side of the English version of this document?

25 A. Yes.

Page 3045

1 Q. And can you tell me whose signature that is?

2 A. It is my signature.

3 Q. Have you recently --

4 MS. HASAN: If we can actually now turn to page 16 in e-court.

5 Q. And this is the last page of the document. Do you recognise the

6 signature on this page?

7 A. Yes.

8 Q. Is that your --

9 A. It is my signature.

10 Q. Thank you. Have you recently had the opportunity to read this

11 amalgamated statement of your evidence from 14th February 2011 in your

12 language?

13 A. Yes.

14 Q. Yesterday we spoke and you informed me that there were three

15 changes you wished to make to your statement, and I will take you through

16 the changes that you spoke to me about. The first one was to

17 paragraph 16 of the B/C/S version, and you wished to replace the word --

18 the B/C/S word for the English word "nephew" to "tetic" as opposed to

19 "necak"?

20 A. Yes.

21 Q. And you told me that this more accurately reflected your

22 relationship to the named individual in that paragraph; is that correct?

23 A. Yes, yes.

24 Q. In addition to that there were two changes you wished to make to

25 paragraph 51 of your statement. The first was that the bus that you were

Page 3046

1 on that stopped in Sokolina had the driver, Zuti, plus two guards on it

2 and not three guards, as the statement currently provides. Is that a

3 change you wish to make?

4 A. Yes, yes. Yes.

5 Q. Finally, in relation to that same paragraph, you wanted to

6 correct the statement that there were 50 to 55 of you crammed onto the

7 bus. And you wished to correct that --

8 A. Yes. 55 would be the correct number.

9 Q. Thank you. Are there any other changes or corrections that you

10 wish to make to the statement?

11 A. No. The rest is fine.

12 Q. Taking into account these changes, these corrections that we have

13 just made, if you were asked the same questions, would you provide in

14 substance the same answers of the evidence contained in your statement?

15 A. Yes.

16 [Trial Chamber and Registrar confer]

17 MS. HASAN:

18 Q. And now that you have taken the solemn declaration, do you affirm

19 the accuracy and truthfulness of this statement, as corrected?

20 A. Yes.

21 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, I'd offer into evidence the witness's

22 amalgamated statement of 14th February 2011, which is 65 ter 28422, under

23 seal.

24 JUDGE ORIE: Since I see that Mr. Stojanovic has no objections,

25 Mr. Registrar, the number would be.

Page 3047

1 THE REGISTRAR: 65 ter number 28422 shall be assigned

2 Exhibit P255.

3 JUDGE ORIE: P255 is admitted under seal.

4 Ms. Hasan, may I ask you one -- seek clarification of one small

5 matter.

6 If you would look together with me at page 9, the question

7 starting at line 14, second line where you said "that comprised your

8 prior statements and ..." and there followed two words. I'm trying to

9 reconcile that with ...

10 [Trial Chamber confers]

11 JUDGE ORIE: I think I -- I understand already the matter that

12 was on my mind due to the help of my colleague, so it is a matter of

13 timing of taking the statement in 2011, which is a while ago, and the

14 present situation. Therefore, there's no need for further clarification.

15 Please proceed.

16 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, with your leave I'll now read a

17 summary of the witness's evidence.

18 JUDGE ORIE: Please do so.

19 MS. HASAN: In 1992, RM145 resided in the Novi Grad municipality.

20 In late May, the witness's village was attacked. The attack was led by

21 Jovan Tintor, Nikola Stanisic, and others. Approximately 30 men,

22 including RM145, attempted to escape, and after being ambushed,

23 surrendered. The Serb forces separated RM145 and 13 others from the rest

24 of the group. Jovan Tintor ordered that they be taken to the barracks at

25 Bojnik. On the way, the Serb forces beat, abused, and threatened to kill

Page 3048

1 the Muslim men. Upon their arrival at Bojnik, RM145 saw other prisoners

2 there who had been captured from other villages in the area. The

3 detainees, including RM145, were severely beaten.

4 The Muslim men were then taken to the army fuel depot in

5 Rajlovac. RM145, together with 85 to 90 other Muslim prisoners, were

6 detained in an empty fuel cistern, or reservoir. Mile Stojanovic

7 introduced him as the commander of the camp. RM145's evidence addresses

8 scheduled incident B 10.1. After nine or ten days of his detention in

9 these -- in this fuel cistern which involved repeated beatings and

10 interrogations, RM145 saw Zuti, the driver of Jovan Tintor, and four

11 armed men take out ten prisoners who were told they were going to be

12 exchanged but never returned to the cistern. The next day Zuti returned

13 and called out the name of an additional 15 or 16 men. These men were

14 taken out of the cistern and were also never seen again.

15 Finally, the witness's evidence addresses scheduled incident B

16 10.2. He describes how on the 14th of 1992, 55 of the prisoners detained

17 in the fuel cistern were put on a bus and told they were being taken to

18 be exchanged in Kobilja Glava. They were escorted by eight men in

19 camouflage uniforms, and two vehicle -- four vehicles; two at the front

20 of the bus and two at the rear.

21 Instead of going to Kobilja Glava, the bus drove in the direction

22 of Semizovac and stopped in a place named Sokolina. The driver and

23 guards got off the bus and moments later the bus was fired at. Those who

24 attempted to escape the bus were shot. Forty seven of the Muslim men on

25 the bus were killed. RM145 sustained an injury to his left arm and is

Page 3049

1 one of the few survivors of this massacre.

2 That concludes the summary.

3 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Ms. Hasan. Please proceed.

4 MS. HASAN: May we have 65 ter 05391 displayed on the screens.

5 This is a photograph.

6 Q. And I'd ask you, Witness, if you could tell us what this

7 photograph depicts?

8 (redacted)

9 (redacted)

10 (redacted)

11 Q. Which of these two cisterns, the one on the right before you, or

12 the left, were you detained in?

13 A. I was detained in the left smaller tank, which used to contain

14 petrol. The bigger one contained some 130 men. I don't know why they

15 were in the bigger tank. Later on, they were exchanged at the same time

16 they put us on the buses to be massacred.

17 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, I'd seek the admission of this

18 photograph, 65 ter 03591.

19 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I observe that earlier, page 14, line 5, that

20 the 65 ter number, for whatever reason, is not correct. But 03591, the

21 photograph we just looked at, will receive, Mr. Registrar, number.

22 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honour, 03591 shall be assigned

23 Exhibit P256. Thank you.

24 JUDGE ORIE: P256 is admitted into evidence.

25 MS. HASAN:

Page 3050

1 Q. Witness, how long were you held captive in this fuel cistern?

2 A. We were there for a fortnight. Or, rather, 13 days. Because the

3 day before the massacre, they had taken us in cooler trucks. They drove

4 us all around Eastern Bosnia, Sokolac, Koran, Rogatica, and then they

5 returned us to Pale. Most probably they did that in order to remove us

6 from that site when the other detainees and women and children were being

7 exchanged on the 13th. On that day, in the evening, they brought us

8 back. So I would say that I was there -- that I was detained there for

9 13 days, and then on day 14 we were taken to be massacred.

10 Q. At paragraphs 41 and 44 of your amalgamated statement, you give

11 evidence about a man nicknamed Zuti who came to the fuel cistern and

12 called the names of a number of men who you said you heard were to be

13 exchanged. These men were taken away. Could you clarify for us on how

14 many occasions during your detention did this take place?

15 A. Twice. Zuti came twice. As far as I can remember, on the 9th or

16 the 10th of June, 1992, he came and he took away ten men including

17 Brailovic and some others whose names I can't remember. Allegedly, they

18 were being taken to Ilidza to be exchanged. However, I never saw those

19 men again after the war. Some were found in the Vlahovo cemetery in

20 Blazuj. The second time he came, he took away 15 or 16 men from Bioce in

21 the direction of Ilijas, and those men were never seen again either.

22 MS. HASAN: May we now have a video-clip played, and it bears 65

23 ter number 22388E.

24 [Video-clip played]

25 MS. HASAN:

Page 3051

1 Q. Witness, did you -- do you recognise what was on this clip?

2 A. Yes, I did.

3 Q. Please tell us what you saw.

4 A. That was a bus of the transport company on to which we were

5 loaded from the Rajlovac camp. We had two vehicles escorting us. There

6 were two guards in each of them and Zuti was the driver, and they brought

7 us to the place where you can see the buses, the place is Sokolina. They

8 carried out an all-out attack from all the infantry weapons that they

9 had. They used those against the detainees.

10 Q. In your statement, amalgamated statement, at paragraph 60, you

11 state that a photographer by the name of Ibrahim filmed the entire

12 massacre. Could you clarify whether the video we just saw is the video

13 that you were referring to in your statement?

14 A. Yes.

15 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, I'd now seek the admission of 65 ter

16 22388E.

17 [Trial Chamber confers]

18 JUDGE ORIE: The Chamber would like to have it replayed and have

19 certain portions, if need be, to be stopped so that we have a still.

20 Judge Moloto will indicate where he would like to have the still.

21 JUDGE MOLOTO: At the stage where we can see the bus closest.

22 MS. HASAN: Certainly.

23 [Video-clip played]

24 JUDGE MOLOTO: [Microphone not activated] Thank you so much.

25 JUDGE ORIE: There's no need to --

Page 3052

1 JUDGE MOLOTO: Thank you very much.

2 JUDGE ORIE: We further continue.

3 [Trial Chamber confers]

4 JUDGE ORIE: I hear of no objections.

5 Mr. Registrar --

6 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] No, Your Honour. I -- with your

7 leave, we would have an objection.

8 JUDGE ORIE: Please.

9 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] The reason for our objection to

10 admitting this part of the video-clip is the following. Or rather, there

11 are several reasons. First of all, we do not have a relevant enough

12 confirmation of the authenticity of the clip.

13 Secondly, the clip is so ambiguous in terms of the vehicle, in

14 terms of the place where the -- we can see the vehicle, as well as in

15 terms of the damage that may be seen on the vehicle possibly.

16 Thirdly, this video-clip, at least according to what we can see

17 as regards the date and the time, is not a contemporaneous video-clip.

18 Actually, it was taken after the tragic event.

19 So it is not a video-clip of the massacre. This is a not a

20 video-clip of the massacre. And it does not serve the purpose for which

21 it has been tendered. That is why we are of the opinion that this part

22 of the video-clip should not be admitted into evidence.

23 JUDGE ORIE: You say "this part." I do not know whether there is

24 a broader video-clip. You suggest so, Mr. Stojanovic. Could you tell us

25 what your understanding is of any remainder we have not seen?

Page 3053

1 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honour, in our preparations

2 for today's session, I had an occasion to look at the video-clip which is

3 a compilation of several video-clips, it's rather lengthy. And it

4 doesn't comprise only the depiction of this bus but also the journey to

5 the place as well as the burial of the people killed there, and there are

6 also some other portions which are separate from this particular event.

7 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I would like to ask one or two questions to

8 the witness before we proceed.

9 Witness, could you tell us when the bus was shot at, when most of

10 the persons on board of this bus were killed, was it dark, was it light?

11 What time of the day was it?

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It was sometime around half past

13 6.00 or 7.00 in the afternoon. It was still daylight.

14 JUDGE ORIE: It was still daylight.

15 My next question is, you said this video depicts the massacre.

16 Now, from this video I did not observe anything of shooting which would

17 result, perhaps, in breaking glass or whatever. I do not see any of

18 that. How do I have to understand your testimony? That this depicts the

19 bus on which you were when you were massacred; or that this actually

20 depicts the shooting at the bus when --

21 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] The massacre was carried out. I

22 wish to say something. The massacre was carried out on the 14th of June,

23 1992, late in the afternoon. After the massacre was carried out, I and

24 my neighbours and friends managed to pull through, and I crawled through

25 the area until I reached a Muslim village sometime in the morning. I had

Page 3054

1 been walking through a forest all night.

2 When I arrived at that village, we were received by the

3 villagers, and then the Territorial Defence took two tractors in order to

4 pull out those massacred men, and it was then when the video-clip was

5 taken depicting the bus, the people on the bus, those who had been

6 massacred, and then those people were pulled out from the bus.

7 Dragan Ekanovic came to that place, together with the Chetnik escorts,

8 and he said that he had not seen anything on the bus when the bus passed

9 by him.

10 JUDGE ORIE: Were you present -- could I ask you the following

11 question --

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] And a little --

13 JUDGE ORIE: Could I ask you, were you present when this video

14 was taken the next morning?

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I was present when the bodies were

16 being pulled out from the bus and when they were brought to the grave

17 where they were buried. The Territorial Defence and its chief,

18 Dzafer Heric, did not allow me and my uncle to go down there. They

19 feared for our safety.

20 JUDGE ORIE: Now, did you, that next morning, did you see the bus

21 again, which you had left that night before?

22 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, no. I was up there. We were

23 up there recovering and all that. All day on the third day of my stay in

24 Vukasevic village where I was being treated by the villagers, there was a

25 doctor there as well. On the third day, that bus was set on fire by

Page 3055

1 Chetniks.

2 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Could I ask you --

3 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] What I wish to say is --

4 JUDGE ORIE: Could I ask you to focus your answers very much to

5 my questions.

6 You said the day after the massacre, the video was taken. I

7 asked you whether you were present when that video was taken. That

8 means: Were you in the vicinity of the bus, and could you see the bus?

9 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No.

10 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you.

11 One second, please. First of all, Ms. Hasan, would you like to

12 respond to the objections to the video being admitted?

13 MS. HASAN: Yes, Mr. President.

14 The statement in the amalgamated statement that a particular

15 videographer or photographer filmed this video, and it does state there

16 that it is a video of the massacre, which we've always understood it to

17 be a video that was taken the day after the massacre of the bus, and

18 there's another clip we will be showing. These are just excerpts of the

19 entire video which is somewhat lengthy, that we selected, to be displaced

20 here.

21 In terms of -- so in that respect, and on the basis of the

22 witness's evidence, that he recognises the bus that's on the video as the

23 bus that he was in, there is sufficient foundation for its admission. In

24 terms of the place and the damage to the vehicle and what can be seen, it

25 is -- the video is what it is. And it does have the dates -- date stamp

Page 3056

1 there. In terms of -- so there's no disagreement that it is not

2 depicting the actual shooting of the bus from our point of view.

3 And so the purpose of it is to -- the purpose of this clip that

4 we're tendering is to simply see which is what the witness has stated,

5 that this is, in fact, the bus that he recognises as the one he was in.

6 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Yes. Now I think the objection was twofold.

7 First authenticity; second, the place and the identity and the

8 circumstance of all that; and it not being contemporaneous.

9 The latter matter has been dealt with to some extent. Do you

10 know who took the video? Is there information about who took the video,

11 any statement or any?

12 MS. HASAN: We'd have to dig in a little bit on that. I have --

13 I know it was seized in 2002, but I'll have to look a little bit closer

14 into from whom. I know what this witness has said, which it was a

15 photographer called Ibrahim who was present the day after on the

16 massacre -- the day after the massacre.

17 [Trial Chamber confers]

18 JUDGE ORIE: The Chamber has decided that it will MFI the video

19 for the time being but we may have some additional questions on it

20 anyhow.

21 But, first, a number to be assigned to this video for purposes of

22 it being MFI'd, Mr. Registrar, will be.

23 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honours, 65 ter 22388E shall be assigned

24 P257. Thank you.

25 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Mr. Registrar. It will keep the status

Page 3057

1 of marked for identification.

2 Judge Fluegge would have one or more questions for the witness.

3 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Indeed, Mr. Witness.

4 Can you tell us a little bit more about the photographer who took

5 the video, according to your testimony. You called him Ibrahim. Can you

6 tell us, do you know this man personally --

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

8 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Have you seen him while he was taking this video?

9 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I met him when he returned after he

10 had taken this video. He resided in Vogosca. He hails from Donje Selo,

11 a village not far from the one where I ended up after the massacre.

12 Since he could not stay in Vogosca, he returned to his native village.

13 He is a photographer by profession. He had a camera on him. He had

14 video cassettes, and he could use that to record the crime.

15 When I set out towards the free territory, I had that video

16 cassette on me. And I would like to say one more thing: That bus is

17 still on that day when -- where -- to this very day, this bus is on the

18 place where the massacre was carried out in Sokolina. Anybody can see

19 it. You can see the damage on the buses, and there's also a

20 commemorative plate which was placed there.

21 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you for that answer.

22 What is the family name of this photographer, Ibrahim?

23 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] As far as I can remember, I believe

24 that it is either Dzafic or Heric. I wouldn't know. It was a long time

25 ago. I don't recall. I know that his first name is Ibrahim.

Page 3058

1 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Yes. And what did he tell you at that day how he

2 got there and how he was able to film this event?

3 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] A Territorial Defence unit had

4 already been set up in that village. It had its commander and its

5 members and he was one of them. There was also a doctor there who helped

6 us who had been wounded. He treated us. Dzafer Heric, the then-chief of

7 the regional Territorial Defence, hired him to record what had happened,

8 to record that crime. The Territorial Defence members took two tractors

9 and went down there in order to pull out the bodies.

10 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you for that.

11 One final question. How did that happen, that you received this

12 video from this photographer? Why did he hand it over to you?

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, so that I could testify to

14 the crimes committed by those Chetniks against the Muslims, just as I'm

15 testifying here today.

16 JUDGE ORIE: I think we have a technical problem with the

17 videolink.

18 [Trial Chamber and Registrar confer]

19 JUDGE ORIE: It looks as if the videolink has been restored.

20 Could that be confirmed from the other side of the videolink.

21 THE REGISTRAR: [Via videolink] Yes, Your Honours.

22 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you.

23 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Let me ask one final question, another final

24 question.

25 Did this photographer, Ibrahim, hand this video over to you that

Page 3059

1 day or at a later stage?

2 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It was on that day when I went to

3 Olovo with my relative in Vares, Visoko, in the direction of Sarajevo.

4 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Did you hand this over to the Prosecution or any

5 other institution for the investigation of a crime; and, if so, when?

6 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes. About the 28th of December,

7 1992 I arrived in Hrasnica, and the army in Hrasnica took that cassette

8 from me. When I was to cross over the track at the airport, UNPROFOR

9 would take it and they would return it when they arrived in Sarajevo,

10 when they went to Sarajevo.

11 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you very much.

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I would also like to add that when

13 they came from the Hrasnica press centre to the television in Sarajevo,

14 they called me and returned the tape, but I was told that the tape had

15 been sent to other places abroad.

16 [Trial Chamber confers]

17 JUDGE ORIE: I also have one more question.

18 I was a bit uncertain about your answer on when you received this

19 video. You said you received it on the day you entered free territory

20 and, later on, when asked by Judge Fluegge, you said:

21 "It was on that day when I went to Olovo with my relative ..."

22 Now, when was that? Was that immediately after the event? Or

23 was it a week after or a month after? Could you please clarify.

24 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It was 11 days after the massacre.

25 We were recovering in the village of Vukasovici for 11 days. After an

Page 3060

1 11-day period, when we set off to Olovo -- well, in fact, after five days

2 Ibrahim gave me the tape because we said we were going to Sarajevo and

3 that we would like to have that tape. Five days later, he gave it to us.

4 After he had shot the footage. And on the 11th day, we left the village

5 of Vukasovici and went in the direction of Olovo and further on to

6 Sarajevo. I took that tape with me as far as Hrasnica, which is located

7 in the surroundings of Sarajevo, and it is there that the army said that

8 if I took it over the tarmac, because there was no other way to reach

9 Sarajevo, you had to cross the tarmac, the army said that in that case,

10 the UNPROFOR -- UNPROFOR take it from me. They had some secret routes

11 that they used, and they would use those routes to take it with them, and

12 they would return it to me when I came to Sarajevo. I received that tape

13 at a later date.

14 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Well, would you please focus on my questions

15 only. And if I need more information, I'll certainly ask you for it.

16 What I'd like to know is when he gave you the tape after five

17 days, did you already look at the tape at that time? So did you watch

18 what was on the tape?

19 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No.

20 JUDGE ORIE: So when, for the first time, did you watch what was

21 on the tape you had received from Ibrahim?

22 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] When I arrived in Visoko.

23 JUDGE ORIE: And when --

24 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] There was a man who took me in

25 there --

Page 3061

1 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. You said in Visoko. When was that?

2 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That was around the 30th of June.

3 JUDGE ORIE: Which means that some -- close to ten days after you

4 received the video, you watched its content.

5 Is that correctly understood?

6 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

7 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you for those answers.

8 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] About 10 or 15 days later.

9 [Trial Chamber confers]

10 JUDGE ORIE: The Chamber will further wait for further

11 information to receive from the Prosecution.

12 Any further questions, Ms. Hasan? Because we interrupted, more

13 or less -- when you tendered the video, we interrupted your

14 examination-in-chief.

15 MS. HASAN: Yes, I do, Mr. President. A few more questions.

16 In fact, I was going to play another clip from this same video.

17 It's 65 ter 22388G.

18 JUDGE ORIE: Please play the other video.

19 [Video-clip played]

20 MS. HASAN:

21 Q. Witness, what, if anything, can you tell us about the scenes that

22 we just saw on that video-clip?

23 A. The video-clip shows the locals performing an exhumation of a

24 mass grave, and they used two tractors to transport the locals of the

25 village of Ahatovici who had been killed. The cemetery they were buried in,

Page 3062

1 the grave they were buried in, is at Ravno in the village of Vukasovici,

2 and that grave is still located there.

3 Q. Were you present that day when the massacred bodies were buried,

4 as shown on this video?

5 A. Yes, I was there, as well as my uncle, and we had to identify all

6 those who had been massacred. However, there were no documents. They

7 confiscated the documents when we were taken captive, so it was only on

8 the basis of their clothing, on the basis of their footwear that we could

9 identify them. On occasion, we identified someone on the basis of that

10 person's features or face, but this was rarely possible, in fact, as the

11 faces were not always intact.

12 Q. Were any of the persons on the video familiar to you?

13 A. Yes.

14 Q. Was this clip of the video, was this part of the video footage

15 taken by Ibrahim which was subsequently given to you?

16 A. Yes.

17 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, I would also seek the admission of

18 this video. It comes from the same source as the first one, and we will

19 endeavour to provide also additional information.

20 JUDGE ORIE: It will be marked for identification.

21 Mr. Registrar, the number would be.

22 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honour, 65 ter 22388G shall be assigned

23 P258, marked for identification. Thank you.

24 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. And it will keep that status for the time

25 being.

Page 3063

1 I would, nevertheless, have a few questions again also on this

2 video.

3 Witness, you said -- and could we have -- could we have it played

4 just in the beginning and then have a still.

5 [Video-clip played]

6 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, could we have a still here.

7 Yes. Witness, you told us that the video-clip shows the locals

8 performing an exhumation of a mass grave. First of all, you were not

9 present when this happened, or were you?

10 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I was.

11 JUDGE ORIE: Now, was it an exhumation? I see that there is a

12 date on this video, which is the 15th of June, in the early afternoon --

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, it was.

14 JUDGE ORIE: Was it --

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That's when the work was coming to

16 an end, roughly speaking.

17 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Was it an exhumation? Because if I remember

18 well, the -- what was it -- if it was --

19 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, no.

20 JUDGE ORIE: -- was no exhumation?

21 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] The massacred bodies had been taken

22 and a grave was, in fact, dug, and they were buried.

23 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. And you were present when this happened?

24 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, I was.

25 JUDGE ORIE: Do you recognise what you just saw in the video as

Page 3064

1 reflecting what you saw at the time?

2 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] The grave is to the left-hand side,

3 in my direction. That's where the grave is located.

4 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. But you recognise the scenery and persons and

5 the event --

6 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That's the entrance to the houses,

7 yes.

8 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Now, my last question would be: You said you

9 received the videotape, and you watched it approximately ten days after

10 you received it. Was this footage on that same videotape you had

11 received?

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

13 JUDGE ORIE: And was the portion we saw earlier - about the bus -

14 was that also on the tape you viewed ten days after you had received it?

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes. I had all the footage on one

16 tape. It included the time when they were taken out of the bus, the

17 massacred people were taken out of the bus, and the time when they were

18 buried in the grave.

19 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you.

20 [Trial Chamber confers]

21 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I asked the video to stop at 12:08 seconds, I

22 take it, from the footage we just watched.

23 Ms. Hasan, any further questions for the witness?

24 MS. HASAN: Just some final questions.

25 Q. Witness, how long after the guards and Zuti got off the bus did

Page 3065

1 the fire begin?

2 A. When the bus came to a halt in Sokolina, they said they had to

3 pour in some water because the engine had overheated. When they got out,

4 they ordered us to remain still. They said they would throw a grenade at

5 us and open fire. About 15 seconds after they got off the bus, you could

6 hear a loud explosion at the front of the bus and then they opened fire

7 from all of their weapons.

8 Q. Thank you.

9 A. Osa 79-millimetre -- or rather 90-millimetre hand-held

10 rocket-launcher was used and two Zoljas were used, then they threw in

11 hand-grenades, they opened fire from automatic rifles and machine-guns,

12 and this assault lasted for about 15 minutes.

13 Q. Thank you, Witness. Were there any Serbs in the bus at the time

14 it was fired at?

15 A. No.

16 Q. When you and the other survivors got off the bus, did you see the

17 vehicles that had escorted the bus to this location?

18 A. No.

19 Q. Did you see --

20 A. When they finished shooting -- no.

21 Q. Did you see Zuti or any of the other guards when you eventually

22 got off the bus? Were they present?

23 A. No. After they had perpetrated the massacre, they turned the

24 engines on and set off in the direction of Srednje.

25 Q. In paragraph 52 of your amalgamated statement you gave evidence

Page 3066

1 that Zuti stopped at Srednje on the way to Sokolina and that at that

2 point you could no longer hear the vehicles that had been accompanying

3 the bus up until that point. Later, at paragraph 54, you state that

4 after the attack --

5 A. [No interpretation]

6 Q. Sorry, Witness, if I can just complete my question and then you

7 can answer.

8 You then state at paragraph 54 that after the attack on the bus,

9 you heard two limousines stop alongside the bus. You heard two men have

10 a conversation. And I just wanted to ask you, based on what you were

11 able to hear or see, can you explain whether the four vehicles that

12 started off escorting you at Rajlovac had, in fact, escorted you all the

13 way to Sokolina?

14 A. When we left Rajlovac, there were four vehicles escorting us.

15 Two at the front; two at the back. I heard the sound of the vehicles

16 accompanying us as far as Srednje. When the bus stopped in Srednje,

17 Zuti, the driver, asked a guard, I suppose, at the check-point how many

18 kilometres remained to Sokolina. As far as I can remember, he said

19 between 6 and 8 kilometres. Zuti closed the window and moved on. But

20 from Srednje to Sokolina, I didn't hear any vehicles behind us

21 accompanying us, so one might assume that those vehicles were full of

22 those Chetniks and they left to lay an ambush at the time.

23 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, I have no further questions for the

24 witness at this time.

25 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Ms. Hasan.

Page 3067

1 I think it's time to take a break.

2 Mr. Stojanovic, could you give us an indication as to how much

3 time you would need for cross-examination?

4 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Yes, Your Honours. I don't

5 think I'll need much time, and I'll perhaps be able to conclude my

6 cross-examination within one hour.

7 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Then we'll take a break, and -- yes,

8 Mr. Groome, anything?

9 MR. GROOME: Does the Chamber wish me to make arrangements or ask

10 VWS to return Mr. Selak for this afternoon?

11 JUDGE ORIE: I think it's a reasonable expectation that we will

12 conclude the testimony of this witness in, well, let's say close to 1.00.

13 And then if Mr. Selak would be available --

14 MR. GROOME: Yes, Your Honour.

15 JUDGE ORIE: -- that would assist.

16 Madam Registrar at the other side of the videolink, we'll take a

17 break and we'll resume in half an hour from now; that is, 20 minutes to

18 12.00.

19 [The witness stands down]

20 --- Recess taken at 11.11 a.m.

21 --- On resuming at 11.42 a.m.

22 JUDGE ORIE: Could I ask Madam Registrar the other side of the

23 videolink, whether the witness can be escorted in the courtroom -- in the

24 videolink room, I should say.

25 THE REGISTRAR: [Via videolink] Yes, Your Honour.

Page 3068

1 [The witness entered court]

2 JUDGE ORIE: Witness RM145, can you still hear me and see me?

3 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

4 JUDGE ORIE: You'll now be cross-examined by Mr. Stojanovic.

5 Mr. Stojanovic is counsel for Mr. Mladic.

6 Mr. Stojanovic, you may proceed.

7 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you.

8 Cross-examination by Mr. Stojanovic:

9 Q. [Interpretation] Good day, sir.

10 A. Good day.

11 Q. I'm going to put a few questions to you in relation to your

12 testimony today. I would kindly ask you not to mention the name of the

13 place where you hail from because of all of us in the courtroom know

14 which place this is. Thank you.

15 In paragraph 4 of your statement, and the Prosecutor asked you

16 today whether you accepted fully as your own, you say that at one point

17 in time the members of the paramilitary units in the surrounding area,

18 around your village, were issued with uniforms and weapons of the former

19 JNA. You say that they wore these uniforms, and these uniforms bore the

20 insignia with four Ss in Cyrillic. Do you remember that?

21 A. Yes.

22 Q. What I wish to ask you is the following. How do you, and in

23 which way, assess who is a paramilitary and who was a member of the

24 regular army?

25 A. I wish to say to you that when the army received orders to

Page 3069

1 withdraw and to leave the barracks, they took along what was

2 indispensable. However, quite a bit of equipment and uniforms stayed

3 behind in the barracks. And then they gave the local Serbs the barracks

4 and put the barracks at their disposal.

5 Q. My question was whether you make a distinction between members of

6 regular military forces of the Army of Republika Srpska and

7 paramilitaries that you called Arkan's Men, Seselj's Men, and the White

8 Eagles?

9 A. Yes. When I was taken prisoner and when I was brought before the

10 barracks in Butile, I considered as paramilitaries those who wore

11 everyday clothing. They had those fur hats with cockades. Then they had

12 white ribbons around their arms, and some wore red berets. That would be

13 it. Some of them wore military uniforms of the former JNA.

14 Q. In your statement further on, you say that in May 1992 all Serb

15 families that lived in the neighbouring villages - not to mention the

16 names of these villages - had left their homes and moved closer to the

17 military barracks in Rajlovac. You think that they had been ordered to

18 leave their homes so that paramilitary units could establish their own

19 military positions there. Do you remember that part of your statement?

20 A. Yes, I do.

21 Q. Do you think to this day that the reason why the Serb civilian

22 population left their homes closer -- getting closer to the barracks was

23 precisely this possibility of engaging paramilitaries in establishing

24 front lines?

25 A. I'll tell you something. Someone - and I don't know who - said

Page 3070

1 to the Serbs that 500 Green Berets arrived in the village. And that's

2 not correct. I'd really like to see someone take a Green Beret prisoner.

3 Q. But will you agree with me that this was precisely the time when

4 in your village and in the neighbouring village that was populated by

5 Muslims, a Territorial Defence Staff was established and about 150

6 long-barrelled rifles were distributed?

7 A. It wasn't 150 long-barrelled rifles that were distributed.

8 Rather, it was mostly police reservists who were in the village and who

9 used to go hunting, and some of them had pistols and whatever. It was

10 only the reserve police that had long-barrelled rifles. If you consider

11 a hunting gun to be a long-barrelled rifle, then ...

12 Q. Do you consider hunting weapons to be infantry weapons, small

13 arms?

14 A. No. This is guns that are used for hunting.

15 Q. Please let us take a look at paragraph 10 together.

16 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] P255, Your Honours. It's under

17 seal. Just recently we had it admitted into evidence.

18 Q. Let us take a look at this together, and could you try to explain

19 this to us. Sir, in paragraph 10 of the statement that you say you fully

20 stand by, you say --

21 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honours, I assume that you

22 do have the English version in front of you.

23 Q. -- in order to organise ourselves as best we could, we

24 established a Crisis Staff headed by a certain person. You gave the name

25 there. And you say:

Page 3071

1 "We had about 150 barrels of infantry weapons."

2 Now I'm asking you whether these weapons were given to you or

3 whether you had them from earlier on?

4 A. No. These are people who had weapons of their own, either

5 hunting guns or pistols. It was only the reserve police force that had

6 been issued with automatic rifles.

7 Q. What do you mean then by this statement, when you say that you

8 had about 150 barrels of infantry weapons?

9 A. Well, I consider all of it to be weapons. However, when you

10 don't have anything else, a hunting gun can be an infantry weapon too.

11 Q. Thank you. When your village was attacked -- actually, before

12 that, local paramilitary units and members of the former JNA asked you to

13 hand over these weapons; is that correct?

14 A. There was no mention of weapons. What they said was that men

15 from age 15 to 70 should come to the barracks and that our safety and

16 freedom would be guaranteed.

17 Q. Before your village was attacked, were you asked to hand over

18 weapons? Was it the former JNA and local paramilitaries that asked you

19 to do that?

20 A. No. They went about in an APC and said through a loud-speaker

21 that we should surrender.

22 Q. In that way, were you told to hand over weapons?

23 A. Well, probably.

24 Q. You did not hand over these weapons; am I right?

25 A. I, as an individual, did not even have any weapons. As for the

Page 3072

1 others, since the village had been attacked, there was no need to

2 surrender weapons. They put up resistance as best they could.

3 Q. Fighting around your village took two days, from the 27th until

4 the 29th of May. And these attacks continued until the morning of the

5 29th of May, but they were successfully repelled by your side; is that

6 correct?

7 A. How successful it was is something I cannot say. But during

8 those few days, we had been shelled from all the artillery weapons that

9 the former JNA had.

10 Q. On the 29th of May, 1992, members of Serb paramilitary forces

11 entered your village; right?

12 A. Yes, that's right. After the shelling, there was even more

13 shelling in front of the infantry. Paramilitaries entered the village,

14 and behind them were tanks and APCs, and -- and there was general chaos.

15 Everybody tried to flee.

16 Q. During the direct examination, you mentioned that these were

17 units under the control or command of a man whose name, surname, and

18 nickname, you mentioned. Do you remember that?

19 A. Yes.

20 Q. Could you tell the Court who this man is? Is he a military man

21 at all?

22 A. That is Jovan Tintor, nicknamed Joja. I knew him only because

23 his land and his house were about 3 kilometres away from mine, and he

24 used to know my late uncles because they went to school together.

25 Q. Will you agree with me that he's not military personnel?

Page 3073

1 A. I never said that he was military personnel.

2 Q. To this day, you say that he then led the paramilitaries that

3 attacked your village, or, rather, entered your village.

4 A. When I was taken prisoner, when we were singled out, and when

5 these people were killed, he came wearing a military uniform of the

6 former JNA. And it was the summer JNA uniform, at that, military

7 uniform. He had a cap on, and on this cap there was a five-pointed star.

8 Q. Among the people who you recognised, as you were retreating, and

9 as you were taken prisoner, you mentioned several names; do you remember

10 that?

11 A. Yes.

12 Q. I would be interested in the following, and I'd like to redress

13 that problem. You mentioned the name of Dragan Koprivica and Arnautovic,

14 Bato. Do you remember these two names?

15 A. Yes, I do.

16 Q. Bato Arnautovic is that the same person as Davor Arnautovic?

17 A. No.

18 Q. I'm asking you this because I would like to eliminate the

19 difference that I see in your statement. Please let us look at

20 paragraph 22 together of the statement that was admitted into evidence

21 today; P255.

22 A. Yes.

23 Q. And you say, among other things, when --

24 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, paragraph 22 is redacted, so

25 therefore there's no need to look at it together with the witness. The

Page 3074

1 Chamber doesn't know what it says.

2 If there's any matter you'd like to raise which is found there,

3 then you have to introduce it not by reference to paragraph 22, but --

4 and if you have any concerns about inaccuracies in paragraph 22, there's

5 no need to raise it because we can't read it so we're not bothered by the

6 inaccuracies. But if there's any other reason why you want to address

7 matters dealt with in paragraph 22, then, of course, you may proceed.

8 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honours. I'll

9 take things differently.

10 Q. What I would like to ask you is this: Am I right in saying that

11 you were present when Dragan Koprivica and Bato Arnautovic opened fire

12 from fire-arms at the Muslims in the second group of detainees and then

13 they slit their throats; is that correct?

14 A. Yes. I would like to under line something else. Bato is a

15 nickname and Davor is his brother. (redacted)

16 (redacted), and also about Dragan Koprivica. I didn't know them

17 well. When they separated us over there, when they turned up and

18 committed crimes, he told me this is Dragan Koprivica, Bato Arnautovic,

19 and Davor.

20 Q. Thank you.

21 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] And now I would like to call up

22 a document under seal, 1D272.

23 Q. Let's pay attention to the first paragraph on page 3 in B/C/S.

24 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honours, it is also page 3

25 in the English version.

Page 3075

1 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Before we continue with that, there's all kind

2 of interference on the English audio channel. I now -- it's 12.00, the

3 bells are ringing. I hear in the background. Could it be taken care of

4 that we do not have this other sound. It can come from Sarajevo; it can

5 come from here.

6 [Trial Chamber and Registrar confer]

7 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, I'm informed that you did not

8 provide the document to the Registry in Sarajevo; is that correct?

9 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] I believe that this is correct,

10 Your Honours. I told the Registrar that we would be using his statement.

11 We have not handed them over. I believe that they're right.

12 JUDGE ORIE: And you would expect them to find it themselves and

13 print it out instead of it being provide it -- provided with it by you?

14 That's, let me say, at least is a wrong understanding of how it works.

15 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] No, Your Honours. In any case,

16 no. I'll try and avoid that. I'll try to overcome that inconsistency.

17 I'll try to do that through my questions to the witness, with your leave.

18 With your leave, Your Honours.

19 Q. Sir, do you recall whether on the 15th of April, 1993, you

20 contacted the institute for research of inhumane treatments, and did you

21 provide them with a statement to that effect?

22 A. I can't remember.

23 Q. Would you allow for a possibility that in 1993 you provided such

24 a statement to that institute, amongst other institutions?

25 A. It is possible.

Page 3078

1 the Army of Republika Srpska was officially established?

2 A. No, I don't know that.

3 Q. You have mentioned two more names and, again, the names of two

4 brothers, Goran and Zoran Damjanovic. Do you remember that?

5 A. Yes, I do.

6 Q. Would you agree with me that those two were on trial before the

7 court of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

8 A. Yes.

9 Q. They were on trial for the events about which you yourself

10 testify?

11 A. Yes.

12 Q. Would you agree with me that those two individuals were found

13 guilty and sentenced?

14 A. Yes, that's correct.

15 Q. Do you know that on the 12th of December, 2012, there will be a

16 hearing before the human rights court on their appeal?

17 A. I don't know that.

18 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, listening to your last five

19 questions, is there any dispute about this?

20 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, no. The individuals are named in the

21 statement. In fact --

22 JUDGE ORIE: No, my question is the question -- the last five

23 questions were do you know that they were prosecuted, do you know that

24 they were convicted, et cetera. Is there any dispute about all that?

25 MS. HASAN: No, not from our side.

Page 3079

1 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, why do you ask this witness on

2 matters which are not in dispute? You could agree on it. Quickest way

3 of dealing with the matter.

4 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] With your leave, Your Honours, I

5 would like to respond. First of all, I simply don't know what's not in

6 dispute in view of the examination-in-chief.

7 Secondly, I was not a position to meet with the Prosecutor

8 yesterday afternoon and stipulate on what the witness was going to

9 testify about. In the future, I'll try and do that.

10 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, it's not without reason that I ask

11 whether there's any dispute, because it's very difficult to imagine that

12 these facts, as court proceedings and judgements, that it's all

13 documented, that -- I -- I hardly could imagine that there would be any

14 dispute about it. Apart from that, I do not know yet what the relevance

15 of it is. So therefore if you say I had no opportunity, I would say next

16 time if you have such -- it's not one question, it's five questions in a

17 row, try to find out. And let's focus on matters which are in dispute.

18 That is what we are primarily here for. Please proceed.

19 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour. I am

20 proceeding.

21 Q. The two individuals you have just mentioned, Goran and

22 Zoran Damjanovic, were they also members of the same paramilitary

23 formation as the Arnautovic brothers and Koprivica?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. Thank you. And now, let's look at paragraph 34 in your

Page 3080

1 statement, which has been admitted as P255. Here, you speak about those

2 individuals who were in charge of the facility where you were

3 accommodated, the fuel tank. And you say that a person, whose name was

4 Mile Stojanovic, came with another person named Sok and four other

5 persons who escorted them. He came up to the fuel reservoir, he

6 introduced himself as the commander of the camp, and you say that they

7 were dressed in blue uniforms similar to police uniforms. My question is

8 this: Was it your conclusion that people who guarded you were, indeed,

9 members of the police?

10 A. They wore uniforms of the Orao air force institute. Those

11 uniforms were blue.

12 Q. You don't know whether they were soldiers or police officers; is

13 that correct?

14 A. Well, since they wore air force uniforms, in my mind they were

15 soldiers.

16 Q. Are those uniforms similar to police uniforms?

17 A. Yes. That uniform consists of a blue shirt and blue trousers.

18 Sok also sported a cap, and on the cap there was a flag of the former

19 Yugoslavia, and on his shirt, on the right-hand shoulder, he had the same

20 flag on -- on his sleeve.

21 Q. Thank you. And now let's deal with the part of your testimony

22 when you were taken towards Srednje. You mentioned the village of

23 Sokolina. Could you please tell the Court how far is that village from

24 the place where you were billeted at the time? And I'm referring to the

25 reservoir.

Page 3081

1 A. Approximately some 35 to 40 kilometres.

2 Q. To your best recollection, how much time did it take you to

3 travel that route on the bus?

4 A. About an hour.

5 Q. Is the village of Sokolina on the main road leading from Sarajevo

6 to Olovo or did you have to make a detour?

7 A. As you travelled down the main road and as you arrive in Srednje,

8 you turn left and then you take the old road -- regional road under the

9 bridge in the direction of the stone quarry, which is nearby. The

10 village of Sokolina itself is a village with a sawmill, a barn, and a

11 house on the right-hand side of the road. There is a little stream

12 parallel with the road.

13 Q. How far is it that from the main road leading from Sarajevo to

14 Olovo?

15 A. About 6 to 7 kilometres.

16 Q. For the benefit of us who are not familiar with the area, could

17 you tell us whether at the time in 1992 it was in the territory under the

18 control of the Serbian forces, or --

19 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, apparently the connection with

20 Sarajevo has been cut. Therefore, we have to wait until it's there

21 again.

22 [Technical difficulty]

23 JUDGE ORIE: It seems that the connection has been restored.

24 Could you please restart your last question after I have verified that

25 the witness can hear and see us.

Page 3082

1 Can you see and hear us, Witness?

2 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, I can.

3 JUDGE ORIE: Please proceed, Mr. Stojanovic.

4 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you.

5 Q. My last question was how far was it from the main road. You said

6 6 to 7 kilometres, and then I started putting another question to you

7 that perhaps you did not hear. That question was: Could you help us who

8 are not familiar with the area, could you tell us whether that place at

9 the time of these tragic events in 1992 was under the control of members

10 of the Serbian armed forces or under the control of members of the Muslim

11 armed forces?

12 A. Let me tell you the road, the local road from Srednje leads as

13 far as the village of Mokro and beyond to Pale. On the right-hand

14 side -- when you leave from the direction of Srednje, on the right-hand

15 side there were the Serbs or the Serbian villages and the place known as

16 Visojevci. Vogosca was beyond the hill. And on the left-hand side there

17 were the Muslim villages and the Territorial Defence was there. In the

18 vicinity of the village of Vukasovici there was a Serbian village known

19 as Drazevici and the Serbs lived there quite normally.

20 Q. What I'm asking you about, and I would like you to assist us if

21 you know the answer, has to do with the place where the tragic event

22 occurred. Was that place under the control of the armed forces of

23 Republika Srpska or under the control of the armed forces of Bosnia and

24 Herzegovina? In whose area did this event occur?

25 A. The armed forces of Republika Srpska used that road. And when I

Page 3083

1 survived the massacre, after I had recovered, there's a place from which

2 you can see that road, and there was a carrier from the Army of

3 Republika Srpska that was controlling that road with a jeep escort. But

4 I'd like to add that that road was used to take all goods to Pale and

5 elsewhere. And let me also say that they dug a road from Vogosca through

6 the village of Visojevci and I saw trailer trucks using that road to

7 transport looted goods from Sarajevo.

8 Q. This is what I wanted to ask you about. If I've understood you

9 correctly, that road passes through the lines that were under the control

10 of the Army of Republika Srpska, and on the left side under the control

11 of the Territorial Defence and the ABiH forces; is that correct?

12 A. Yes. But I would also like to add something. That was the case

13 until the massacre occurred. The Muslims and the Serbs were negotiating

14 in the village of Gajavi [phoen] in the police centre. And this was the

15 case until the massacre occurred. When the massacre occurred, these two

16 sides started fighting each other.

17 I also want to say that when I left Vukasovici to go to Visoko, a

18 month or a month and a half later, the inhabitants from Vukasovici and

19 the inhabitants of those Muslim villages fled to Visoko because the

20 Chetniks had taken those villages.

21 Q. Could we just move on a little more rapidly, please. Just answer

22 my questions and I'll try to be as simple as possible. Thank you.

23 A. I only wanted to explain things.

24 Q. Very well. If that's necessary, I'm grateful.

25 My following question: To the best of your recollection, fire

Page 3084

1 was opened on the bus from the front part of the bus, when you're looking

2 in the direction that you were advancing in; is that correct?

3 A. Yes. But -- but it was also from the side.

4 Q. Could you tell us, to the best of your recollection, how long did

5 this shooting last?

6 A. About 15 minutes.

7 Q. You didn't see any of the men who opened fire; is that correct?

8 A. I didn't. I was under a pile of dead bodies.

9 Q. So you weren't able to see them at any point in time. And when

10 you got out from under those bodies, you couldn't see any of the people

11 who had taken part in the shooting; is that correct?

12 A. That's correct. I didn't see anyone, but I heard everything.

13 When they massacred everyone, they turned their engines on, they came out

14 to the bus. One person from one vehicle told another person in another

15 vehicle to get on the bus and see if anyone was alive, but this person

16 cursed him and said you go and check if you are interested in that, and

17 they closed the door and returned to Srednje.

18 Q. You have already spoken about that. My question now is as

19 follows: You don't know and you never found out which formation these

20 men whose voices you heard were members of; is that correct?

21 A. I don't know which units they belonged to, but I assume that

22 those who perpetrated the massacre turned their engines on immediately,

23 and someone said that they should check whether anyone was still alive.

24 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, the question, the last one, whether

25 the witness found out the formation these men were members of, was that

Page 3085

1 whether he had seen that? Is that what you intended to ask the witness?

2 Yes. Then it's the third time in 30 seconds that you ask the same

3 question to the witness. The first time he said I couldn't see anything

4 because I was under a pile of bodies. Then you asked him whether he

5 could not see outside who were the perpetrators, and of course the answer

6 was no. And then the witness started elaborating on all kind of things

7 we have found already in his statement and he repeats it, and you let him

8 go. And then you now ask it for the third time.

9 That is not the way the Chamber expects you to conduct the

10 cross-examination and also not to ask how long the shooting lasted if the

11 witness has told us that half an hour ago that it was 15 minutes.

12 There's no need to ask the same again and again and again. Would you

13 please take care that you finish in approximately the time you indicated.

14 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] I will, Your Honour. But the

15 question was also whether he subsequently obtained any information

16 because we'll be dealing with that. That is mentioned in his statement

17 at a later stage. I'll move on.

18 Q. Sir, let's have a look at your statement that you have before

19 you, P255. Let's have a look at the part of your statement,

20 paragraph 55, where you say:

21 "When the locals from Vukasovici arrived at the site of the

22 massacre, they found a Chetnik patrol there with two trucks that were

23 supposed to tow the bus away together with the bodies of the people

24 killed in the massacre. They were told to leave."

25 Can you see that part of your statement? It's paragraph 55.

Page 3086

1 A. Paragraph 55.

2 "I saw three neighbours of mine coming after me ... "

3 Q. Please pay attention to the penultimate sentence and the last

4 sentence in that paragraph where it says the following -- my question in

5 fact is since we understand that you didn't go back there, who went to

6 the scene? Members of the ABiH or, as you say, a Chetnik patrol with two

7 lorries?

8 A. A Chetnik patrol arrived with two lorries. Heric Dzafer told me

9 about that when he had returned with the tractors and the massacred

10 bodies. He said he had come across the Chetniks and he had also seen

11 Dragan Ikanovic among them. He was standing there and he said that he

12 hadn't taken part in the incident and that he hadn't seen anyone in the

13 bus.

14 Q. Thank you. Would you explain for the benefit of the Chamber how

15 it is possible, if that is what they told you, because I know that you

16 weren't at the site yourself, how is it possible for a Chetnik patrol to

17 arrive then tries to remove the bodies, and at that point in time members

18 of the ABiH arrive from the village of Vukasovici, and no incident

19 occurs? What in fact happened?

20 A. There was no incident because they had been negotiating up until

21 that point in time, and when they arrived there, Heric Dzafer, the chief,

22 said they should be removed because there were 30 members of the

23 Territorial Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They were armed. He told

24 Dragan -- or he asked Dragan, What have you done, Dragan? And Dragan

25 replied and said he didn't know anything about it. He then said they

Page 3087

1 should be removed, the bodies should be taken so that they could be

2 buried. And then he said, Dragan, we have living witnesses.

3 Q. Are you now telling us that after the event the patrol of

4 Chetniks with their vehicles left the bodies to members of the ABiH and

5 they withdrew from the site without a fight?

6 A. Yes, that's right, because the Territorial Defence was more

7 powerful so they couldn't do anything. They returned three days later

8 and they set fire to that bus.

9 Q. The vehicle you said was an armoured personnel carrier and

10 controlled the road. Could that vehicle have gone into action at that

11 place, at that site where these two groups from the warring factions were

12 present?

13 A. At the time, this personnel carrier was not there.

14 Q. With regard to the Chetnik units and patrols that you have

15 mentioned, did these patrols discuss the identity of those who

16 participated in the crime?

17 A. Dragan Ikanovic told Heric, Dzafer that Boro Radic and Ratko Adic

18 were involved in the incident.

19 Q. Who is --

20 JUDGE ORIE: One second. Do I understand you well, Witness, that

21 all what you're telling us what happened at that moment when the TO came

22 and wanted to remove the bodies, that's all hearsay. You were not

23 present, were you?

24 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, I wasn't.

25 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, you can ask the witness what he was

Page 3088

1 told. But to say what did whom, at what time, et cetera, for -- as a

2 question to someone who was not present is -- well, is at risk to produce

3 unreliable evidence. So please keep that in mind.

4 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

5 Q. When I put my question to you I was aware of the fact that you

6 weren't present. But as I will shortly be concluding my

7 cross-examination, I would just like to ask you the following. The

8 second clip that we had a look at today, and you said in relation to that

9 clip that you were present when the footage was taken of the grave being

10 dug and of the burial, could you tell us whether this footage was taken

11 in a continuous way? Did the cameraman shoot the footage continuously?

12 A. I don't know whether he used up one cassette and then put another

13 cassette in the camera. I don't know. But the cassette that he gave to

14 me had footage of the entire event from the beginning to the end.

15 Q. On the cassette that he gave to you, were there any chronological

16 interruptions?

17 A. Well, there were interruptions. He would shoot one scene and

18 then there would be a cut and then he would shoot another scene, so, yes,

19 there were such interruptions.

20 Q. Do you know whether he had several cassettes or was there only

21 one cassette that he gave to you?

22 A. I do not know. But he gave me one cassette five days later,

23 after he had processed it.

24 Q. Are you telling us that this cassette was copied in the village

25 when you arrived there?

Page 3089

1 A. He had to copy it because the camera has a small cassette and he

2 to copy that footage onto a large cassette.

3 Q. Was the burial of these victims done on the same day when the

4 bodies were collected from the site where they were killed?

5 A. Yes. They were brought in in the morning and the bodies were

6 buried on the same day. That was on the 15th in 1992.

7 Q. And were you ever told that any parts of the video footage were

8 erased?

9 A. No.

10 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] With your leave, Your Honours, I

11 would like to have a look at another clip again from the video that we've

12 already had a look at. It's 65 ter 22388G, and I would just like to ask

13 the witness to explain -- provide us with some explanations concerning

14 this segment. And I'd like to view the clip from the very beginning and

15 up to the 39th second of the clip. Could we please see the clip now.

16 [Video-clip played]

17 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

18 Q. While we're following this footage, I would like to ask you,

19 Mr. Witness, to focus on the lower left-hand corner where you will see

20 the time and the date of this video-clip. You will see the time and date

21 of the video-clip there. Please focus on the 36th second of this

22 video-clip, and then I'm going to ask you to explain this to us. Since

23 you said that you had been there, so you will tell us how come this

24 happened.

25 [Video-clip played]

Page 3090

1 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

2 Q. So, for the transcript, we see the time as 13:58. And could we

3 please go on now. Three more seconds to go. We can stop now, and the

4 time here is 14:41.

5 Bearing in mind what we saw, I would like to ask you the

6 following. This interruption and after that the continuation of this

7 filming, some 50 minutes later, was that the result of a total

8 interruption in the filming or was it the result of the removal of part

9 of this film?

10 A. No, this was interrupted. The man took a rest for an hour. He

11 ate and things like that. So he took a bit of a rest.

12 Q. Thank you. And I will conclude with the following question. Do

13 you know whether to this day anyone, before any court, was tried because

14 of what you testified about today, because of the deaths of these people

15 on the bus?

16 A. Yes. Mr. Karadzic.

17 Q. Do you know whether any of the possible perpetrators were tried

18 before any court of law?

19 A. Yes. Well, no, not perpetrators, but rather those who took part

20 in this from when I was taken prisoner. It was the Damjanovic brothers,

21 Goran and Zoran. And they were convicted, too.

22 Q. Thank you, sir. I have no further questions for you.

23 A. You're welcome.

24 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Mr. Stojanovic.

25 Ms. Hasan, any need for further questions? But let me first

Page 3091

1 consult with my colleagues.

2 [Trial Chamber confers]

3 [Prosecution counsel confer]

4 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, the document, I think it was 1D272

5 or something like that, which you had on the screen but which was not

6 provided to the representative in Sarajevo, you hardly used it with the

7 witness, I think. May we take it that you do not intend to tender it?

8 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] That's right, Your Honour. And

9 I accept the fact that this is an omission on my part. We hadn't

10 submitted it on time. I quoted it, so it will do.

11 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Hasan, any further questions for the witness?

12 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, I don't have any further questions for

13 the witness. However, I wanted to raise the issue of the video footage

14 again.

15 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Do we need the witness for that? I mean, if

16 you consider it possible that it would trigger further questions to the

17 witness, then please do it now. If you say, no, that's unimaginable,

18 then we could first excuse the witness.

19 MS. HASAN: I think we can excuse the witness at this point.

20 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Then, Witness RM145, this concludes your

21 testimony. I'd like to thank you very much for coming to the videolink

22 room and for answering all the questions that were put to you by the

23 parties and by the Judges. I wish you a safe return home again.

24 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Thank you very much. I also wish

25 you all the best.

Page 3098

1 no relevance to the determinations the Chamber will have to make in this

2 case.

3 The Chamber has considered in this respect that the witness was

4 elected only when he had retired or was about to retire from what had, by

5 then, become the Army of Republika Srpska. The concern of the witness

6 for the other members of the group would, in itself, be no reason not to

7 answer questions that are put to him but an obligation to answer only

8 exists if those questions are sufficiently relevant. The question put by

9 Mr. Lukic is not.

10 And now I address you, Mr. Selak. The Chamber allows you, as you

11 may have heard by now, the Chamber allows you not to answer the question

12 that was put to you. But please keep in mind that the Chamber determines

13 whether or not you have to answer a question and whether or not such

14 answer can be given in private session. You may address the Chamber on

15 these matters, but it is not for you but for the Chamber to decide on the

16 concerns you may have.

17 This concludes the decision of the Chamber.

18 Mr. Lukic, if you're ready, please proceed.

19 Cross-examination by Mr. Lukic: [Continued]

20 Q. [Interpretation] Good day, Colonel Selak.

21 A. Good day.

22 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Could we please briefly see document

23 P249 on the screen.

24 Q. While waiting for it to appear, Colonel, the document is a map, a

25 sketch made by an officer from the 1st Krajina Corps. Now with regard to

Page 3099

1 the first map that we have, you mention the names of the towns where

2 members of the 1st Krajina Corps were deployed, and we're dealing with

3 the 18th of May, 1992, which is what it says here.

4 A. Yes.

5 Q. At the time, were there any Croatian units present in

6 Bosanski Brod?

7 A. I personally do not know, but it was possible because

8 Slavonski Brod is nearby. I didn't have precise information, but the

9 corps command would probably have discussed such an issue at the meetings

10 that it held. I'm not sure but it's possible because the border with

11 Croatia is located there, and I assume that the units entered

12 Bosanski Brod and Slavonski Brod.

13 Q. Does this also go for Derventa which is to the south of

14 Bosanski Brod?

15 A. There were no Croatian units in Derventa. My opinion is that

16 there were no Croatian units in Derventa. That is what I'm claiming.

17 JUDGE ORIE: Could you avoid to speak simultaneously. If

18 Mr. Lukic intervenes in your answer, it may be because he has -- he

19 considers that he has already received an answer to the question and

20 wants to stop you. Then you should carefully follow Mr. Lukic. He is

21 the one who is in -- conducting the examination.

22 Mr. Lukic, you may proceed. But don't speak at the same time.

23 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

24 Q. As far as you know, you can see Doboj. It's even further to the

25 south from Derventa, and it's about 70 kilometres from the border with

Page 3100

1 Croatia. At the time, did you have any knowledge according to which

2 Croatian army units had entered about 15 kilometres in the direction of

3 Doboj and they were staying in Bosanski Brod and Derventa and going

4 further south?

5 A. Your Honours, let me repeat what I said: I have no information

6 according to which Croatian units entered the town of Derventa and, in

7 particular, the town of Doboj because of large garrisons of the Army of

8 Republika Srpska there.

9 Q. Do you exclude that possibility or do you allow for such a

10 possibility?

11 A. I exclude the possibility. That's the information I have.

12 Q. Fine. Thanks. Let's see the second page in this document on the

13 screen, please. Here, you spoke about the Serbs from Bosnia and the

14 Serbs from Serbia and Montenegro. And you used an X to mark a Serb from

15 Bosnia and two Xs to mark a Serb from Serbia and Montenegro. And the

16 time-frame we are talking about is after the 18th of May, 1992. People

17 from this chart were said to be members of the 1st Krajina Corps Command.

18 In the second row in large box, we can see the name Milan Tomovic,

19 colonel. Do you know that Tomovic was married with a woman -- or to a

20 woman from Banja Luka?

21 A. No.

22 Q. And then at the same level in the chart, we have Dragan Marcetic.

23 Are you aware of the fact that he is married to a Muslim women from

24 Banja Luka?

25 A. Yes.

Page 3101

1 Q. So he remained in the town where he lived with his family. The

2 following person is Miroslav Rankovic, Colonel Miroslav Rankovic. Are

3 you aware of the fact that he left the Army of Republika Srpska when a

4 corridor was created?

5 A. I don't know the date. I know that he went to Serbia, probably

6 to Belgrade. As to his reasons, I don't know what they were. He was the

7 chief of the personnel department in the corps command and personnel

8 officers regularly went to Belgrade because Belgrade would send their

9 officers in. Belgrade directly exerted an influence on the appointment

10 of officers in respective armies.

11 Q. Were people able to leave Banja Luka, go to Serbia, and do this

12 before the creation of the corridor on the 28th of June, 1992? Was it

13 possible to go?

14 A. Your Honours, at the time as commander of the logistics base, I

15 myself insisted on the creation of that corridor. It was difficult to

16 pass through because our vehicles, the vehicles the logistics base had,

17 couldn't bring in ammunition and other equipment from Serbia and

18 Montenegro. So it was essential to create this corridor, but even before

19 the corridor was created, vehicles used various routes in order to reach

20 Serbia.

21 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Lukic, just to avoid any confusion, if you look

22 at page 65, line 12, you said here you spoke about the Serbs from Bosnia

23 and the Serbs from Serbia and Montenegro. Now, the legend is Serbs not

24 from Bosnia and Serbs from Serbia Montenegro. At the top.

25 Now, if there's any confusion created by this legend --

Page 3102

1 MR. LUKIC: [Overlapping speakers] ... on my part, at least.

2 JUDGE ORIE: I beg your pardon.

3 MR. LUKIC: Obviously there is. On my part, at least, there is a

4 confusion.

5 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Could you please, having been reminded of it,

6 be -- clarify it.

7 MR. LUKIC: Yes. Thank you, Your Honour.

8 Q. [Interpretation] Colonel, this chart is in English so perhaps

9 whoever made it missed out on something.

10 The first X says Serbs who are not from Bosnia marked with one X,

11 and marked with two Xs Serbs from Serbia and Montenegro. Next to one X

12 should it say, should it read, "Serbs from Bosnia," or "Serbs who are not

13 from Bosnia"?

14 A. The first X was to mean Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina; was to

15 stand for Serbs from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Your Honour, could I add

16 something with regard to this issue. There is a [indiscernible]

17 important piece of information that relates to the matter.

18 Q. We have clarified this issue for the time being, and as the

19 Chamber said we'll deal with the statements later. I'd just like to go

20 through the list of these names.

21 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Mladic is supposed not to speak aloud. He wants

22 to consult with counsel, if there's any need to do that.

23 Then we proceed. Mr. Lukic.

24 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

25 [Defence counsel confer]

Page 3103

1 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation]

2 Q. Is it your testimony that Miroslav Rankovic,

3 Colonel Miroslav Rankovic, did not leave the VRS in the summer of 1992?

4 A. I'm not aware of that. I'm not sure, Your Honours.

5 Q. Thank you. The following person, Colonel Lazo Kosanovic. Is it

6 your testimony today that he did not leave the VRS in the summer of 1992?

7 He's on the chart below Rankovic.

8 A. Yes, can I see him. I personally know this colonel. However, I

9 did not communicate with him after my hand-over of duty as commander of

10 the logistics base. I would see him in Banja Luka, but I don't know the

11 exact dates. The chart changed. People were appointed to other duties.

12 As to where they went -- as to whether they remained within the VRS, I do

13 not know. But I'm claiming there were very few officer who left the Army

14 of Republika Srpska, who left the former JNA. Only those who were to go

15 into retirement.

16 Q. The next box we have, the big one, in the first line - it's the

17 first one to the left - it says Colonel Ratko Simic. Is it your

18 testimony today that this colonel did not leave the VRS in the summer of

19 1992?

20 A. I don't think he did.

21 Q. Would it refresh your memory if I said that Novica Simic took

22 over his duties, was appointed to this position?

23 A. Yes. But I don't think what position Ratko Simic was appointed

24 to. I left and -- well, if you had asked me at the time, perhaps I could

25 have answered.

Page 3104

1 Q. So you don't know whether he left or did not leave?

2 A. I'm not sure, so I can't say.

3 Q. Very well. The next person, the second one on the right from

4 Simic in the same row, it's Celeketic, Colonel Celeketic. Is it your

5 testimony today that he did not leave Republika Srpska in the summer of

6 1992 after the corridor had been opened?

7 A. Colonel Celeketic. I have to think about this. I don't think he

8 did. Perhaps in the Autumn, but he did not leave in the summer. I was

9 performing my duties up until the 10th of July, and after that date I

10 didn't move around town that much afterwards. I don't think he left in

11 the course of the summer. He was the commander of the 16th Brigade in

12 the Kozara barracks.

13 Q. Sir, according to what you can remember, he left in the Autumn

14 not the summer of 1992?

15 A. He probably -- he had probably fulfilled the conditions for going

16 into retirement so he left then.

17 JUDGE MOLOTO: What -- Mr. Selak, what is Colonel Celeketic's

18 first name?

19 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Colonel Celeketic. It's not Rade.

20 I don't know. I can't remember.

21 JUDGE ORIE: I also would have one question in trying to

22 understand - Mr. Lukic, sorry to interrupt - this chart. We have two

23 categories, a Serb, as we now understand from Bosnia, and a Serb from

24 Serbia Montenegro. Now we also find a lot of boxes with names but

25 without any indication. Does that mean that they are not Serb, or does

Page 3105

1 it mean that they are Serbs but not from Bosnia and not from Serbia

2 Montenegro? For example, Serbs from Croatia. Or -- how do I have to

3 interpret the boxes where no indication is given, as we find it in the

4 legend? For example, General Talic. He is not marked as a Serb from

5 Bosnia. He is not marked as a Serb from Serbia Montenegro. What does

6 that mean? Or would you not know? It's a bit unclear to me.

7 Mr. Selak, could you clarify, especially the empty boxes.

8 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Your Honour, I took part in making

9 this schematic. This is a mistake. Because Momir Talic, the late

10 Momir Talic, unfortunately, it is a well known thing that he is from

11 Bosnia, from Bosanska Krajina. And it's probably my mistake and the

12 mistake of the team that worked on this. People knew exactly who came

13 from where. So it's just a mistake in making the diagram. Talic is from

14 the area of Banja Luka, as a matter of fact from Bosnia.

15 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Would you similarly also know where

16 Colonel Vukelic came from or Colonel Stevilovic? Or all those who are

17 without any marking as to their origin, does that mean that you are aware

18 but that it's just forgotten to put it in the chart? And I'm not asking

19 you to go through every single person, but ...

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Specifically, Colonel

21 Radivoje Tomanic is from the area of Brcko from Bosnia-Herzegovina. My

22 mistake when making this. Gojko Vojnovic is also from

23 Bosnia-Herzegovina. I don't know exactly from which town or village but

24 also from Bosnia-Herzegovina. Stevilovic I think is from Serbia. But

25 that's a mistake, Your Honour. I'm not sure I can give a specific answer

Page 3106

1 to this question.

2 JUDGE ORIE: Perhaps for some you would know, for others you

3 would not know. But it's not reflected in the chart.

4 Mr. Groome, of course this sheds some light on the usefulness of

5 a chart where half of the information is left out.

6 MR. GROOME: I -- I accept that, Your Honour. And perhaps maybe

7 the best thing to do would be to limit its probative value to the

8 organisation of the different people and the positions they held if

9 that's what the witness is -- all he is able to verify.

10 JUDGE ORIE: You would say apart from background, yes.

11 MR. GROOME: I think probably, and I can do it on re-direct, just

12 explore with the witness whether he is certain about the positions they

13 held and their relationship to each other. If I -- it seems that at this

14 point there is a lack of clarity on ethnicity.

15 JUDGE ORIE: We'll see that. And then last question still about

16 this. At the bottom of the chart, we see the commander of the

17 Derv. Brigade which I take it is the Derventa Brigade. Is that

18 understood? And is that -- U/K major, does that mean that it's an

19 unknown person which held the rank of major? I mean unknown to you.

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes. Yes, a major.

21 JUDGE ORIE: Of whom you do not know the name, is that correctly

22 understood?

23 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No. I forgot it. Your Honour, may

24 I?

25 JUDGE ORIE: Well, I've clarified a few matters in relation to

Page 3107

1 the chart.

2 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Perhaps it could be zoomed in a bit so the

3 witness can see it better.

4 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.

5 Yes, well, Mr. Selak, if at the end of your testimony important

6 matters have been left out, you will have an opportunity to add them.

7 But at this moment, I would prefer that Mr. Lukic puts his next question

8 to you.

9 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

10 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It's clear to me.

11 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation]

12 Q. Let me just ask you one more thing: Colonel Nikola Obradov is

13 registered here quite clearly. Did he stay on after the summer of 1992

14 as a member of the Army of Republika Srpska?

15 A. I knew him personally. He was the commander of the rocket

16 brigade, the only one in the former Yugoslavia. While I was commander he

17 had stayed on --

18 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. You start telling us about the rocket brigade,

19 et cetera. The question simply was whether he stayed after the summer of

20 1992 as a member of the army. Could you please focus your answer on that

21 question.

22 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] As far as I know, yes.

23 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation]

24 Q. Would it jog your memory if I were to tell you that he was

25 replaced by Rapajic?

Page 3108

1 A. No. No, I'm not sure. I don't know the date when it was. There

2 was a replacement. Now, was it 1992 or later? I'm not sure. There were

3 a lot of transfers among the officers.

4 Q. Your testimony today, are you sure -- are you not sure that he

5 stayed after the summer of 1992 as a member of the 1st Krajina Corps or

6 the Army of Republika Srpska in general?

7 A. He was not a member of the corps in Banja Luka. Rather, he

8 was --

9 THE INTERPRETER: Interpreter's note: Both speakers are speaking

10 at the same time. We cannot discern what is being said.

11 JUDGE ORIE: If you speak at the same time, we do not have double

12 information but we have no information at all. So try to avoid that.

13 And, Mr. Selak, try to focus on the question.

14 Now, apparently the issue was, and -- yes. Whether that -- and

15 I -- even the name is lost.

16 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation].

17 Q. Mr. Nikola Obradov, was he a member of the Army of

18 Republika Srpska after the summer 1992? You said yes; is that right?

19 A. Yes.

20 Q. Thank you.

21 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Your Honour, if I may, briefly, this

22 chart is not proper. Not even in terms of which Serbs from Serbia and

23 Montenegro were members of the Army of Republika Srpska after the opening

24 of the corridor on the 28th July 1992, and it's not good in terms of

25 showing which persons held which particular position in the Army of

Page 3109

1 Republika Srpska at that point in time because we see that quite a few of

2 them had left. We are going to prove that very easily. That can easily

3 be seen from the personnel records. So at this point in time we object.

4 Since we now had time to check this, at this moment we do object to the

5 veracity of this piece of evidence.

6 JUDGE ORIE: There are two matters. The first is what

7 happened -- yes, Mr. Groome.

8 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, I rise only to say that this is

9 something that clearly the Prosecution has been willing to enter into

10 discussions with to agree to for many months, in particular with respect

11 to the expert Richard Phillips. The only thing really that is a matter

12 there is the organisational chart, so I think I renew my invitation to

13 Mr. Lukic to sit down. We have military analysts, he has people that can

14 he check for the information. I'm sure it's something that we could

15 agree on, an accurate chart of the organisation of the VRS.

16 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. That would be the second of my observations.

17 The first one is questions are put did he stay after the summer or did he

18 stay after this moment or that moment. The chart reads officers --

19 "offices," I take it that should be "officers," and senior officers of

20 the VRS 1st Krajina Corps, after the 18th of May, 1992.

21 Now, today is after the 18th of May of 1992. But I do not expect

22 that this chart expresses the situation of today. So therefore, in order

23 to understand it and to also understand whether its inaccurate or not, it

24 may be relevant to know who stayed after the 18th of May but also how

25 long he stayed and without an end date or without further dates. And

Page 3110

1 here and there we have a bit of a date. For example, for Stevilovic, it

2 says 06/92 --

3 MR. LUKIC: He was killed.

4 JUDGE ORIE: He was killed. Okay. That's clear that --

5 MR. LUKIC: That's fine.

6 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Well, that's not clear for us, of course.

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Killed.

8 JUDGE ORIE: It just gives a -- it just gives a date. He could

9 have married on that day or he would have resigned or -- I mean, why --

10 the Chamber, of course, wants to --

11 MR. LUKIC: Of course.

12 JUDGE ORIE: -- understand the evidence. And, Mr. Lukic, again

13 I'm primarily addressing at this moment Mr. Groome, but at the same time

14 questions to be put about what happened in the summer, whether that

15 contradicts the chart, is very difficult to establish because the chart

16 doesn't given any further information as the --

17 I just want the parties to keep this in mind. Both when

18 supporting or when criticizing the chart.

19 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, can I just add that I think some of the

20 confusion is this witness left in the middle of the summer and I think it

21 might reduce the confusion if we're -- if the question is posed

22 whether -- while he is there or does he have knowledge about what

23 happened after he left. I think that may reduce some of the confusion.

24 JUDGE ORIE: Again, middle of the summer. I do understand that

25 the witness left mid-July. If that's the middle of the summer, then it

Page 3111

1 could be more precise. But I just share with you my concerns in how we

2 should understand and interpret this piece of evidence.

3 My second observation would have been is there no possibility to

4 agree on most it. But that is already raised by Mr. Groome.

5 You may proceed, Mr. Lukic.

6 MR. LUKIC: Thank you, Your Honour.

7 Why I am challenging -- sorry, I have to come back to this issue.

8 Why I am challenging this chart is because the -- one of the main points

9 of this witness's testimony is that Serbs from Serbia stayed in the VRS

10 and it still remained part of JNA. So the same army. And we exactly

11 showed, and we will show, that it's not true.

12 JUDGE ORIE: Then we're looking forward to that evidence and that

13 challenge to the chart.

14 Please proceed.

15 MR. LUKIC: Thank you, Your Honour.

16 Q. [Interpretation] Could we now please go on dealing with

17 paragraph 61 of your statement.

18 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Could the Prosecution please provide

19 the witness with a copy of the statement.

20 [In English] To the witness. Yeah, that's fine.

21 Q. [Interpretation] In this paragraph, Colonel, have you found it?

22 Paragraph 61. In it, you say:

23 "At that point in time, in Bosnia-Herzegovina" -- or, rather, "in

24 the Bosnian Krajina there was no Bosniak or Croat army." That's what you

25 say. "Hence it is not possible that the prisoners in Manjaca camp had

Page 3112

1 been arrested during military combat."

2 My question is as follows: Is it your testimony today that in

3 Krajina there wasn't any armed conflict?

4 A. No, Your Honours. There were armed conflicts because in

5 municipalities in Bosanska Krajina units were formed to protect the

6 people. There were hunting guns there and also weapons were bought from

7 Serb neighbours, because they had received it from members of the JNA. I

8 have a document to that effect. How many weapons were distributed by the

9 JNA and by the SDS to the Serb people. As a matter of fact, they would

10 write in big capital letters "Srpska" on houses because -- because

11 weapons were distributed at night.

12 Q. If I ask you what time it is and you say to me it is Wednesday

13 today, that is not an answer to my question. You really have to focus on

14 what it is that I am asking. I'm not saying that your information is not

15 correct, but please focus on my question and answer that.

16 A. But the army did not exist as such, the Army of

17 Bosnia-Herzegovina in the territory of Bosanska Krajina. There was only

18 groups that organised resistance in municipalities and local communes in

19 order to protect themselves.

20 Q. All right. That is what you claim when say that there was no

21 army in the territory of Bosanska Krajina?

22 A. That was covered by the Banja Luka Corps with the exception of

23 Bihac.

24 Q. All right. It's clearer now. You mean that --

25 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Could we please have the document P244 on the

Page 3113

1 screen. It would help all others --

2 MR. LUKIC: I'm sorry, Your Honours. Yes, yes, yes.

3 Q. [Interpretation] Let us now move onto paragraph 63 of your

4 statement, please. This is what you say. Reported signed by

5 Lieutenant-Colonel Stanimir Djurovic, dated the 1st of June, 1992.

6 "In Prijedor, Kljuc, and Sanski Most, our units successfully

7 conduct the mop-up of the terrain without encountering any strong

8 resistance and capturing large numbers of both the paramilitary rank and

9 file." In parenthesis it says about 7.000 so far.

10 In the very next paragraph your comment is as follows. So this

11 is paragraph 64, you say:

12 "This report is of interest because there could not have been

13 7.000 paramilitaries there. It is my belief that they were civilians."

14 My question: At the time, did you go to these areas that are

15 described in this report, Prijedor, Kljuc, Sanski Most?

16 A. I did not go but I did have information from my co-workers and

17 friends and also documents.

18 Q. Just a moment. Which friends? What information?

19 A. Friends from Banja Luka, officers as a matter of fact. Because I

20 stayed on in Banja Luka, I continued to live there, and my colleagues,

21 officers, Serbs --

22 THE INTERPRETER: Interpreter's note: We did not hear Mr. Lukic.

23 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation]

24 Q. Which officers told you this?

25 JUDGE ORIE: Again, Mr. Selak, the last question was whether you

Page 3114

1 went there, I think. That was the previous question. Did you go to the

2 area? You said I did not go. That's an answer to the question. Yes.

3 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

4 JUDGE ORIE: And then you started telling other things. Well, if

5 Mr. Lukic would be interested, then he would ask you for that.

6 Now, then Mr. Lukic asked you what -- which friends, what kind of

7 information? And then you said friends from Banja Luka, officers as a

8 matter of fact. That's an answer to the question. And then you say

9 because I stayed in Banja Luka, I continued to --

10 The question was: Which friends, what information. Yes? Could

11 you please resume your answer there. Which friends? By category or by

12 name.

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Friends, Serbs, officers,

14 colleagues of mine who lived and worked in Banja Luka.

15 JUDGE ORIE: What information did you receive from them?

16 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Your Honour, I asked about the

17 situation in terms of combat operations, when the war would be over, what

18 all of this was leading to, and as friends and colleagues and patriots

19 they told me what their opinions were and what was happening in

20 Bosanska Krajina and, in particular, in the Banja Luka Corps. That is

21 the information that I had. And I trusted them.

22 JUDGE ORIE: I think the question was very specific about the

23 number of troops. What did they say about numbers? Numbers of

24 paramilitaries? Did they say anything specific about that?

25 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Your Honour, they did not say that

Page 3115

1 specifically. However, I analysed after the war the combat operations as

2 they evolved in municipalities, and we came to certain conclusions in the

3 Institute for War Crimes --

4 JUDGE ORIE: I'm going to stop you there. Because my question

5 was, did they say anything specific about that. Your answer was: They

6 did not say that specifically. That's an answer to the question.

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

8 JUDGE ORIE: If I was really interested to know --

9 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] All right.

10 JUDGE ORIE: -- how you nevertheless came to certain figures, I

11 would ask you. And we'll see what Mr. Lukic further wants to ask you.

12 Mr. Lukic.

13 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

14 Q. So these colleagues of yours at that time did not tell you about

15 any numbers, and we'll also deal with the subject of arming these areas

16 because you claim to know the numbers of personnel and weapons. Let me

17 ask you now: Did you take part in the arming of Muslims in the area of

18 the 1st Krajina Corps?

19 A. No.

20 Q. Do you know who it was that armed Muslims in the area of the

21 1st Krajina Corps?

22 A. I don't know.

23 Q. Can we agree that you then cannot even speak about who had which

24 quantity of weapons?

25 A. Such information did not exist even in the corps. This is a

Page 3116

1 fabrication of people from these units that were cleansing these

2 municipalities of Muslims. That's the point. And that is what matters.

3 Q. Who invented this?

4 A. The people who provided information according to which there were

5 7.000 armed paramilitary troops.

6 Q. Who were these people?

7 A. Units from the VRS that covered that territory. That's their

8 report. This is a report from the corps according to which there were

9 7.000 of them. Where they did obtain that information? The Muslims

10 didn't provide it.

11 Q. How did you obtain information that there weren't that many?

12 That's what I'm asking you about.

13 A. If there had been so many of them, a unit with 4.000 men couldn't

14 have --

15 Q. This is all hypothetical. Do you have information or not?

16 That's all I'm interested in.

17 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Lukic, again, this is not a debating club. This

18 is a court of law. Carefully listening to what Mr. Selak says is, to the

19 extent people have said that there were 7.000, I don't believe them,

20 although I myself have no direct observation of any numbers. Neither

21 were specifics given by the persons I consulted at that time about those

22 numbers.

23 MR. LUKIC: That's enough.

24 JUDGE ORIE: That's enough.

25 MR. LUKIC: Yes.

Page 3117

1 JUDGE ORIE: Let's move on.

2 MR. LUKIC: It is, Your Honour. Thank you.

3 [Interpretation] Could we now see -- just a minute. Could we now

4 see document -- it doesn't have a number yet. 09041 is the number.

5 [In English] One minute.

6 Q. [Interpretation] You have the document on your screen dated the

7 14th of April, 1992.

8 A. Yes.

9 Q. The document states that anti-army propaganda has reached

10 unprecedented dimensions. This propaganda has reached unprecedented

11 dimensions. This propaganda is led by the Party of Democratic Action and

12 Alija Izetbegovic personally. Yesterday you agreed that some political

13 parties, not all of them, were active against the JNA. Is it true that

14 some of the active-duty officers moved over to the Territorial Defence of

15 Bosnia and Herzegovina at that point in time, as early as then?

16 A. Yes. Because the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been

17 established in March 1992. It had been recognised by the international

18 community and the JNA was a foreign force occupying the territory of

19 Bosnia and Herzegovina.

20 Q. So you, too, at the time felt as if you were a foreign force

21 occupying the area?

22 A. Understand this as you will, but I remained a patriot in respect

23 of all three peoples. Not just one.

24 Q. Was it logical to expect that the JNA could immediately leave

25 Bosnia and Herzegovina at the same time that Bosnia and Herzegovina had

Page 3118

1 been declared to be an independent state?

2 A. Yes, Your Honours. The JNA units in Bosnia and Herzegovina were

3 renamed the Army of Republika Srpska on the 18th of May, 1992 - all of

4 the units - and they remained present in the areas that they had

5 previously occupied.

6 Q. I have already asked you about this and you have answered my

7 question. You said that the local people were now in those units. The

8 young men doing their military service who weren't from Bosnia and

9 Herzegovina left the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and you

10 confirmed this?

11 A. Yes.

12 Q. So whether a unit is called this way or that way, whether it

13 changes its name or not, it doesn't matter. But the fact is that instead

14 of a soldier, a 19-year-old soldier who came from Belgrade, there was a

15 45-year-old man from Prijedor who took his place; is that correct?

16 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Lukic, whether a unit is called this way or that

17 way, whether it changes its name, it doesn't matter, or didn't matter.

18 But the fact is that's not questions. That is argument.

19 MR. LUKIC: [Overlapping speakers]

20 JUDGE ORIE: And then at the very end you asked do you agree with

21 me. Take it proposition by proposition, and then clearly ask the witness

22 what you'd like to hear from him. And apart from that, if you say, It

23 doesn't matter, and if you say, Do you agree with me, then you are

24 asking, you're inviting the witness to say whether something matters or

25 not. Well, that's not for a witness of fact to answer. So therefore

Page 3119

1 try -- I do understand it's not easy. Let me say this as well. But try

2 at least.

3 MR. LUKIC: I will, Your Honour.

4 JUDGE ORIE: -- to keep it organised.

5 MR. LUKIC: I will do my best.

6 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.

7 MR. LUKIC: I don't know if it's enough, but I will do my best.

8 JUDGE ORIE: I did not criticise you for not doing your best but

9 I'm trying to assist you in performing your duty.

10 MR. LUKIC: Thank you.

11 JUDGE ORIE: Please proceed.

12 MR. LUKIC: Thank you.

13 Q. [Interpretation] First of all, let me ask you the following: Is

14 it true that the units of the former JNA changed their names?

15 A. Yes.

16 Q. Is it true that the units of the former JNA changed their troops?

17 I'm not talking about the officers. We have already discussed who

18 remained and who left. But did the troops, the soldiers, change?

19 A. Only partially. A small number of them.

20 Q. A small number of soldiers, of privates, in the VRS?

21 A. Yes, yes.

22 Q. So all those soldiers from the VRS who were over 23 or 24 years

23 of age had previously been in the JNA in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

24 A. Yes. They were in the JNA.

25 Q. A 45-year-old man from Banja Luka served in the JNA, from

Page 3120

1 Banja Luka?

2 A. Yes.

3 Q. Thank you.

4 A. My son had -- was 20 years old and he did his regular military

5 service in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was from Bosnia.

6 Q. I'm asking you about people over the age of 23 or 24.

7 A. Yes.

8 Q. They also did their regular military service?

9 A. Yes.

10 Q. Someone who was 45 years old did his military service, his

11 regular military service in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time?

12 A. Not at that time. There was a mobilisation later. Let us

13 understand each other. When there was a mobilisation, everyone up to the

14 age of 60 had to report to military units.

15 Q. Very well. We'll return to this document that we have before us

16 dated the 14th of April, 1992. Is it true that entire staffs of the

17 Territorial Defence went over to the side of the Army of Bosnia and

18 Herzegovina?

19 A. No, not entire staffs.

20 Q. The entire staff, for example, in Visoko, in Konjic, did these

21 staffs move over to the side of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

22 A. Yes, because this was covered by the ABiH, so Croats and Bosnians

23 responded. There were also Serbs who were members of the Army of Bosnia

24 and Herzegovina.

25 Q. Is it correct to say that military facilities at that time - on

Page 3121

1 the 14th of April, 1992 - were targets in Bosnia and Herzegovina? I'm

2 not only referring to the 1st Krajina Corps. We know that wasn't the

3 case there. Were military facilities targets for attacks? Do you have

4 any such information? Was this the case in certain parts of

5 Bosnia-Herzegovina where the Muslim inhabitants were in the majority?

6 A. Yes, there were such acts because the former JNA was on the side

7 of Republika Srpska. So it was a revolt and there were such activities,

8 yes.

9 Q. And were military facilities in Croatia also attacked before

10 these attacks?

11 A. I'm not sure. I assume that that is possible but I'm not

12 certain, so I can't answer your question precisely.

13 Q. At the time on the 14th of April, 1992, did the JNA attack the

14 Muslims or Croats in any part of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

15 A. I don't have any such information, so I couldn't answer that

16 question.

17 Q. At the time were flats of members of the JNA in Bosnia and

18 Herzegovina also attacked? Were military personnel arrested, taken

19 captive?

20 A. Well, people would abandon their flats, flee from the territory

21 covered by the armija. Covered by the Federation right now. At the time

22 it was Bosnia and Herzegovina. Officers, citizens, Croats, and Serbs

23 would flee. They would exchange positions or, rather, their places of

24 residence. Your Honours, I have a document. In Banja Luka there was an

25 order according to which Muslims from the Crisis Staff had to leave

Page 3122

1 Banja Luka and they weren't allowed to return to their flats. So this

2 certainly took place in other areas as well, but I don't have any precise

3 information as to where, to what extent, and at what time such things

4 occurred.

5 Q. On page 2 in the B/C/S version, under number 1, we can see what

6 was insisted on in the JNA at the time.

7 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] I think that it is also page 2 in the

8 English version, item 1.

9 Q. [No interpretation]

10 JUDGE ORIE: We receive no interpretation at this moment.

11 THE INTERPRETER: The interpreter apologises. The microphone was

12 off.

13 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation].

14 Q. Under number 1 it states:

15 "Maintain unity of the army, especially of officers. Talk openly

16 with all JNA members."

17 I'll start again.

18 "Maintain unity of the army, especially of officers. Talk openly

19 with all JNA members."

20 In brackets it says AVS and GL. It means active-duty officers

21 and civilians.

22 "We don't want any vacillation or treachery. Everyone should

23 make clear where he stands beforehand, and it should be stated clearly

24 that the army was brutally attacked and had not done anything to harm any

25 of the peoples."

Page 3123

1 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Groome.

2 MR. GROOME: Your Honour, I would just rise to -- it would -- I

3 think -- I believe it would be more appropriate for the witness to be

4 asked to give abbreviations rather than for Mr. Lukic to provide evidence

5 of that.

6 MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Thank you.

7 Q. We'll first clarify this up. My colleague is quite right. Could

8 you first tell us what AVS stands for and what GL stands for?

9 A. AVS means active-duty officer and GL means civilian personnel.

10 This is in reference to the JNA --

11 JUDGE ORIE: I leave it to that at this moment. We have to leave

12 it to that, Mr. Lukic.

13 Mr. Selak -- could you give us an indication, Mr. Lukic, as to

14 how much time you would still need tomorrow?

15 MR. LUKIC: Definitely at least the whole day tomorrow. I don't

16 know if we have some time, and I think that we do, on Friday -- I might

17 take some time from Friday, as I announced seven hours for this witness.

18 JUDGE ORIE: No further witnesses available for this week,

19 Mr. Groome?

20 MR. GROOME: There is, Your Honour. One more witness.

21 JUDGE ORIE: There's one. One. And that witness would take?

22 MR. GROOME: It's -- I don't have the estimates in front of me,

23 but it's --

24 JUDGE ORIE: I'll look at the estimates.

25 MR. GROOME: It'll be one of the shorter witnesses, Your Honour.

Page 3124

1 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.

2 Mr. Lukic, let's try not to lose ourselves in debates and let's

3 try to elicit evidence the witness can really provide to us. I will try

4 to assist you.

5 Mr. Selak and Mr. Lukic, addressing both of you, I was close to

6 the point, which did not often happen during my years in this Tribunal,

7 where I would be the traffic light; that is, no one speaks unless I've

8 given permission. That is stop to this, stop to that, like a traffic

9 policeman, saying, You can now drive. We're close to that point. I just

10 want to inform both of you. And please keep that in mind and try to

11 avoid that I have to serve here as a traffic police officer rather than a

12 careful listener to what the evidence is about.

13 Mr. Selak, I would like to again instruct you that you should not

14 speak with anyone about your testimony, whether already given or still to

15 be given, and also not to communicate in any other way about that.

16 We adjourn for the day, and we resume tomorrow, Thursday, the

17 27th of September, 9.30 in the morning in this same courtroom, I. But

18 the witness may first leave the courtroom.

19 [The witness stands down]

20 [Trial Chamber confers]

21 JUDGE ORIE: Yes.

22 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 2.18 p.m.,

23 to be reconvened on Thursday, the 27th day of

24 September, 2012, at 9.30 a.m.