130705ED

Page 13893

1 session. The Chamber announces its intention to hold a housekeeping

2 session on or near the last sitting day of the trial, before the start of

3 the summer recess, with the goal of disposing of as many MFIs -- MFI

4 exhibits as possible. The Chamber, therefore, requests that the Registry

5 provide the parties with an updated list of MFI exhibits by Wednesday,

6 the 10th of July. The Chamber will, before that date, provide the

7 parties with a list of the MFI exhibits for which it is awaiting further

8 submissions so that these can be dealt with at the housekeeping session.

9 This is the end of this announcement.

10 [The witness entered court]

11 JUDGE ORIE: Good morning, Mr. Gavric, I take it. Mr. Gavric

12 before you give evidence the Rules require you make a solemn declaration.

13 The text is handed out to you. May I invite you to make that solemn

14 declaration.

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Good morning. I solemnly declare

16 that I will speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

17 WITNESS: MICO GAVRIC

18 [Witness answered through interpreter]

19 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Mr. Gavric. You may be seated.

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Thank you. Mr. Gavric, you'll

21 first be examined by Ms. Harbour. You'll find Ms. Harbour to your right.

22 Ms. Harbour is counsel for the Prosecution.

23 Ms. Harbour, please proceed.

24 Examination by Ms. Harbour:

25 Q. Good morning, Witness. Would you please state your name for the

Page 13894

1 record.

2 A. My name is Mico Gavric.

3 Q. Do you recall testifying at this Tribunal in the Popovic trial on

4 the 1st and 2nd of October, 2008?

5 A. Yes.

6 Q. Did you listen to a recording of that testimony prior to coming

7 to court today?

8 A. Yes.

9 Q. As I've explained to you, we're only going to tender the portion

10 of your prior testimony relating to the terrain sweep on the

11 17th of July, 1995. The Trial Chamber has that before them, and you

12 identified several things in that testimony that should be clarified, so

13 I'm going to go through that with you now.

14 First, in your Popovic testimony, you talked about three children

15 who were among the prisoners captured on 17 July 1995. And for the

16 record, the pages where you discuss three children are transcript

17 page 26493, 26494, 26596 and 26625, and 26626.

18 Now, Mr. Gavric, without providing any additional details at this

19 stage, could you please tell the Chamber now how many children you recall

20 from that group of prisoners.

21 A. I have to apologise to the Trial Chamber. At the time I said

22 that it was three, but probably in the euphoria I made a mistake. It was

23 four children, and now I know their names also.

24 Q. We'll come back to that. First, we'll finish with the

25 corrections to your prior testimony. In your Popovic testimony, you

Page 13895

1 testified at page 26514 that on the 17th of July you received oral orders

2 from the Bratunac Brigade commander at noon. What time was it that you

3 actually received these orders?

4 A. I received the orders at 10.00, and then at 10.30 up to 11.00 I

5 went to the terrain where I was supposed to go. This was Sandici hill.

6 And then at 11.30, between 11.00 and 12.00, I met the commander of the

7 Bratunac Brigade, my brigade, at a slope of the Sandici hill because that

8 was when he set off to go into the field.

9 Q. Sorry to interrupt. For now we are just correcting your prior

10 testimony, so I would ask that we keep this as short as possible.

11 At page 26488 of your Popovic testimony, you testified that you

12 set off to perform the sweep at 12.00 or 12.30, and I see that you have

13 just corrected that in your prior answer to say that you set off at 10.30

14 up to 11.00.

15 And one final correction that I would ask you to make, actually

16 two more corrections. In the Popovic testimony at transcript page 26513

17 you testified that you arrived at Sandici at 12.15, and I would like to

18 ask you what actually happened at 12.15 at Sandici hill?

19 A. At 12.15, we set off to execute the assignment, and at 12.00 we

20 were at Sandici hill -- or, rather, we joined up there with the commander

21 of the Bratunac Battalion, Dragan Zekic, and the commander of the special

22 detachment of the police, Dusko Jevic. That was my assignment.

23 Q. Thank you for that clarification. And one final correction to

24 your prior testimony is at transcript page 26490, which refers to units

25 of the "military brigade" that participated in the sweep. Now, you've

Page 13896

1 told me that this is a translation error, and what should that actually

2 say?

3 A. It should state the Milici Brigade.

4 Q. Now, with these corrections, if you were asked the same

5 questioned today that you were asked during the Popovic proceedings would

6 your answers be the same?

7 A. Ninety-nine per cent the same.

8 Q. You say 99 per cent. Did you have additional corrections,

9 specific corrections that you wanted to make to your prior testimony?

10 A. No. That's not what I mean. If you were to put the questions to

11 me, I don't know if the word order would be exactly the same. That's the

12 kind of thing I meant.

13 Q. But they would be the same -- your answers would be the same in

14 substance, would they not?

15 A. Yes, yes.

16 Q. And would your answers be truthful and correct to the best of

17 your knowledge?

18 A. As far as they have been up to now, they would continue to be so;

19 correct.

20 MS. HARBOUR: Your Honours, I would like to tender the excerpts

21 of this witness's prior testimony into evidence. The 65 ter numbers are

22 28913 and 28914.

23 JUDGE ORIE: Madam Registrar. No objections, I see.

24 THE REGISTRAR: Document 28913 receives number P1691. And

25 document 28914 receives number P1692, Your Honours.

Page 13897

1 JUDGE ORIE: P1691 and P1692 are admitted into evidence.

2 MS. HARBOUR: And P1692, can I ask that that be placed under

3 seal.

4 JUDGE ORIE: P1692 is admitted under seal.

5 MS. HARBOUR: I would also like to tender into evidence five

6 associated exhibits that are discussed in this tendered testimony. Four

7 of them can be public, so I will list those first: 65 ter 4233, 19222,

8 4236, and 4237. And the last exhibit which I would tender should be

9 under seal, and that's 65 ter 6144.

10 JUDGE ORIE: Madam Registrar, could you assign numbers one by

11 one.

12 THE REGISTRAR: Document 4233 receives number P1693.

13 JUDGE ORIE: P1693 is admitted.

14 THE REGISTRAR: Document 19222 receives number P1694,

15 Your Honours.

16 JUDGE ORIE: P1694 is admitted.

17 THE REGISTRAR: Document 4236 receives number P1695,

18 Your Honours.

19 JUDGE ORIE: P1695 is admitted.

20 THE REGISTRAR: Document 4237 receives number P1696,

21 Your Honours.

22 JUDGE ORIE: P1696 is admitted.

23 THE REGISTRAR: And document 6144 receives number P1697 under

24 seal, Your Honours.

25 JUDGE ORIE: P1697 is admitted under seal.

Page 13898

1 MS. HARBOUR: I would now like to lead a public summary of the

2 witness's 92 ter evidence for the record, and I've explained the purpose

3 of this summary to Mr. Gavric.

4 JUDGE ORIE: Please do so.

5 MS. HARBOUR: On Monday, 17 July 1995, at around 10.00 a.m.

6 Mico Gavric met at the Bratunac Brigade command with his commander,

7 Colonel Blagojevic. Colonel Blagojevic told Gavric that he was going to

8 Zepa. He ordered Gavric to take part in a sweep of the terrain from

9 Sandici to Konjevic Polje. The purpose of the sweep operation was to

10 make sure that no members of Muslim forces remained in the area.

11 Blagojevic ordered Gavric to co-ordinate several units in the sweep

12 including the Bratunac Brigade 3rd Battalion under Dragan Zekic and the

13 special MUP units under Dusko Jevic. The units split up to cover the

14 entire terrain.

15 On the afternoon of the 17th of July, one of the units from the

16 3rd Battalion captured approximately 38 Muslims who surrendered in

17 Burnice. They were arrested and brought to Pervani. There, Gavric

18 instructed the soldiers to remove the children from the captured group.

19 One of the soldiers was threatening one of the minors but Gavric ordered

20 him not to hurt the children. Gavric instructed the VRS soldiers to bind

21 the prisoners' hands.

22 Gavric called the Bratunac Brigade command to report about the

23 captured prisoners and ask what should be done with them.

24 Colonel Blagojevic was not at the command because he had already left for

25 operations in Zepa. Momir Nikolic told Gavric that Dusko Jevic should

Page 13899

1 take the prisoners to a warehouse in Konjevic Polje. Gavric handed the

2 adults over to Jevic's unit. He had the children taken to the

3 Bratunac Brigade where he took them to the military police headquarters.

4 Gavric arranged for a media team to film them the next morning.

5 On 18 July 1995, the children were exchanged for several Serb

6 police officers.

7 Later that same day, Gavric went to Konjevic Polje. He

8 recognised some of the prisoners he had picked up the day before. They

9 were outside the warehouse in Konjevic Polje picking up trash. Gavric

10 did not know what happened to the prisoners after he left Konjevic Polje.

11 This concludes the public summary.

12 JUDGE ORIE: If you have any additional questions, you may put

13 them to the witness.

14 MS. HARBOUR:

15 Q. Mr. Gavric, in 1995, what was your position in the VRS?

16 A. From the 14th of November, 1992, when the Bratunac Brigade was

17 formed, I was assigned as the chief of artillery of the Bratunac Brigade

18 at which duty I remained until the end of the war.

19 Q. And what was your rank?

20 A. I had the rank of captain.

21 Q. Now, let's turn now to the 17th of July, 1995. Bearing in mind

22 that the Chamber has your prior testimony on this event in hand, please

23 be careful to keep your answers strictly to what I'm asking you.

24 In Popovic you testified at T26488 and T26513 that you were

25 briefed by Commander Blagojevic regarding your tasks for the terrain

Page 13900

1 sweep on 17th July, and you've clarified this morning that this briefing

2 took place at 10.00 a.m. Without providing additional details, could you

3 please tell the Chamber where did you meet Blagojevic for this

4 discussion?

5 A. At the Bratunac Brigade command, in the operations room.

6 Q. You've clarified for the Court this morning that you set off for

7 the sweep at around 10.30 to 11.00 a.m. When did you next see

8 Colonel Blagojevic?

9 A. I think that I saw Colonel Blagojevic between 11.00 and 12.00 --

10 or actually, around 11.30, to be more precise.

11 Q. Where was that?

12 A. At a pass of Sandici hill where I was supposed to join up with

13 the two units.

14 Q. Why was Colonel Blagojevic at Sandici hill?

15 A. Colonel Blagojevic was not at Sandici hill. He was just passing,

16 because the road along which he was moving on the way to his assignment

17 is the Bratunac-Konjevic Polje-Han Pijesak-Zepa road.

18 Q. And where was he heading?

19 A. He was going to Zepa with the unit.

20 MS. HARBOUR: Could we please have Exhibit P1581 on the monitors,

21 and this should not be broadcast to the public.

22 Q. While this is coming up, Mr. Gavric, this is an intercept dated

23 17 July 1995 at 12.20. Let me draw your attention to about a third of

24 the way down the page where M says that 400 set off at 1130 hours.

25 M goes on to say there are seven buses. Then toward the bottom of the

Page 13901

1 page he says, "Blagojevic set off at the head."

2 Now, based on your interactions with Blagojevic on that date, do

3 you know what this intercepted conversation is about?

4 A. I think that this has to do with the movement of the

5 Bratunac Brigade. It's moving to its assignment. I don't know how many

6 buses there were, though.

7 MS. HARBOUR: I'm finished with this document.

8 Q. Mr. Gavric, in the Popovic case you testified at transcript

9 page 26598 that during the course of the sweep operation prisoners were

10 captured in the Burnice area and then arrested and brought to the area of

11 Pervani. Could you please describe this place near Pervani where the

12 prisoners were brought?

13 A. When a certain number of people were captured in the Burnice

14 village area, those same people were brought to the Pervani area. The

15 Pervani area where the people were brought is at the end of the Lolici

16 village and at the beginning of the Pervani village. It's on the left

17 side of the road as you go from Bratunac towards Konjevic Polje; that's

18 one thing. The other thing is that the asphalt road in that sector where

19 the people were captured, there is a concrete water fountain. So that

20 would be one feature which was some 400 metres east from the Pervani

21 mosque.

22 Q. Were the prisoners armed when they were arrested?

23 A. All the prisoners who surrendered wore civilian clothes, whereas

24 the troops in the field had brought with them a lot of infantry weapons

25 that the soldiers and other armed people had carried with them in their

Page 13906

1 We're bringing up a Bratunac 1st Light Infantry Brigade command document

2 which is dated 17 July 1995 and written to the Drina Corps command. This

3 document reads, and I quote:

4 "Among the Muslim prisoners, there are four underaged children,

5 aged between 8 and 14, who are being held in military custody in

6 Bratunac."

7 And then the last sentence of the document reads:

8 "We propose that this testimony be recorded by cameras of your

9 press centre."

10 And at the bottom we see that it was delivered on 18 July 1995 at

11 12.40 in the morning. Is this document related to the events that you've

12 just described?

13 A. From what I know, people from the press centre were supposed to

14 come in the morning and do the filming, but I was not at the brigade

15 command, so I don't know if they had stuck to that arrangement.

16 Q. Did you provide the information that's contained in this report?

17 A. I only provided information that they passed on to the press

18 centre to the effect that the children were aged 8 to 14, and all the

19 rest was up to the assistant commander for morale.

20 Q. And we can see that the document -- at the bottom of the document

21 is written "Colonel Vidoje Blagojevic." Was he present at the brigade

22 command when you brought the children back?

23 A. There was no one there at the time, only Major Filipovic.

24 MS. HARBOUR: Could I please tender this document.

25 JUDGE ORIE: Madam Registrar.

Page 13907

1 THE REGISTRAR: [Microphone not activated] document 04239

2 receives number P --

3 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please. Thank you.

4 JUDGE ORIE: Could you please repeat.

5 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honours, document 04239 receives number

6 P1698, Your Honours.

7 JUDGE ORIE: P1698 is admitted into evidence.

8 Have you done with the filming, Ms. Harbour, or --

9 MS. HARBOUR: Yes, Your Honour.

10 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. I would have one or two additional questions.

11 In your previous testimony, you said:

12 "We filmed the children so that there would be no news

13 circulating the globe that children were being caught and shot."

14 What raised your concern about possibly such news circulating the

15 globe?

16 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Every war brings with it a lot of

17 dirty things, and so did our war. Propaganda is at the forefront of the

18 special war. My main aim was, first and foremost, to protect these

19 children, because if they are given media coverage and filmed, then

20 nobody would dare even think about doing something ugly to them.

21 Second, apart from taking care of their lives, I also took care

22 of the morale of my brigade and my own conscience, and I thought my army

23 would not be seen as killing young or the infirm.

24 JUDGE ORIE: Were there at that moment any media reports about

25 prisoners or whether children are not being ill-treated?

Page 13908

1 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Throughout the war I followed

2 electronic media, and they were all engaged in propaganda rather than

3 concerned with the truth.

4 JUDGE ORIE: The days before you filmed those kids, was there any

5 specific media attention you noticed about the fate and the treatment of

6 persons which had left Srebrenica after it fell?

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I don't know so much about that,

8 but now I know that B92 was present at many locations where certain

9 actions took place.

10 JUDGE ORIE: I wonder whether you knew at the time. So you're

11 saying you were following the electronic media, but there was no specific

12 attention to the Srebrenica Muslims which had left, that there was no

13 media attention to that?

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No. At that time, there was no

15 talk about it.

16 JUDGE ORIE: And what then suddenly caused you to take these

17 measures, whereas -- what then triggered that exactly, just a general

18 concern about possible media attention?

19 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I just said a moment ago once you

20 have a child, you start giving them an upbringing. My parents had six

21 children, and they always told us, Do no evil so that no one would do

22 evil to you. That's one.

23 Two, at school, at the school for reserve officers and throughout

24 life, I learned that lesson.

25 JUDGE ORIE: Let me stop you there. I asked whether there was

Page 13909

1 any specific media attention in that moment that would have triggered it

2 where you said it was just a general awareness of the possibility of

3 propaganda and that at that point in time, although following the

4 electronic media, you said there was no specific attention for the fate

5 of Muslims which had left Srebrenica. Is that how -- that's how I

6 understood your answer.

7 Now, is that -- can you confirm that I have understood your --

8 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I think you understood that

9 correctly, but regarding media coverage for the children, that could not

10 happen until somebody calls up the media and tells them about that

11 situation.

12 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Now, my next question would be you said you

13 also -- media coverage would protect the children, because no one would

14 dare to touch them if they had been filmed. Now, these children were in

15 the custody of your own army or your own units. Was there any specific

16 reason why you had to protect them under those circumstances, because

17 usually filming is used as protection by those who have to fear something

18 from the situation in which the filmed persons find themselves, and they

19 were in your own hands. So what were they to be protected for?

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I have to take some time to answer

21 this. First and foremost, my job as the commanding officer sent by the

22 Bratunac Brigade was not allow in the field, in case somebody's captured,

23 any trouble or any killing. And I was perfectly aware that anyone who

24 surrenders and gets killed while I was in command of that unit I would be

25 held to account; that's one.

Page 13910

1 Two, regarding the children, I had a clash - as Miss or

2 Madam Prosecutor said a while ago - I had a clash with one of the

3 soldiers who was a volunteer and expressed his wishes in that regard

4 which I did not acknowledge. I put a stop to it and did not allow him to

5 do what he wanted. Also, I couldn't be with the children all the time,

6 and by ensuring that media coverage I ensured that they would be safe,

7 even in my absence.

8 JUDGE ORIE: Was there at any moment anyone including yourself

9 who sought to film any adult prisoners in order to protect them to what

10 might happen to them? Exposing them to the media would have protected

11 them as well, isn't it?

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I'll try to answer. When these

13 people were captured, they were all in civilian clothes. As far as I

14 know, and I was a uniformed military man, these people did not belong to

15 me as a military unit to do anything about them. I had turned them over

16 to the civilian police which was in charge of civilians.

17 Second, the people who were taken to Konjevic Polje escorted by

18 Dusko Jevic, that seemed logical to me that they would be taken to

19 Konjevic Polje instead of Bratunac, because from Konjevic Polje I thought

20 they would be taken to the collection centre in Batkovici near Bijeljina.

21 That's what I knew about that centre.

22 JUDGE ORIE: That's not really an answer to my question, but,

23 Ms. Harbour, you may proceed.

24 MS. HARBOUR:

25 Q. Mr. Gavric, you testified at transcript page 26611 in the Popovic

Page 13911

1 case that the children were exchanged on the 18th of July, 1995. Can you

2 tell me how this exchange or -- was arranged and who was involved?

3 A. On the morning of the 18th, I spoke to Ljubisa Borovcanin because

4 Ljubisa Borovcanin had found out about those children and asked me if he

5 could get them to carry out an exchange. Nine members of the

6 Special Police in Doboj were detained in the area of Zvornik. I said it

7 was possible and that we intended to take the children to the separation

8 line and let them go to the territory of the federation, behind the

9 separation line. I told him, Ljubisa, there is no problem, but please

10 make sure that these children get to the place that is arranged. He

11 said, Don't worry.

12 In the meantime, an open vehicle, PUH, with only a driver in it,

13 and he took those children. So on the 18th the children were turned over

14 to this man sent by Ljubisa Borovcanin, and I believe on the same day or

15 the 19th they were exchanged. In my mind, it stayed as the 18th, because

16 that's when they left the Bratunac Brigade.

17 Q. Can you describe this open vehicle which you called "PUH"?

18 A. It's a vehicle which has a metal cab at the front and one part of

19 the roof. In the back the rest of the vehicle is covered by a tarpaulin

20 which is removed in summertime. I believe the vehicle had belonged to

21 the UNPROFOR.

22 Q. Now, you testified in Popovic at transcript page 26493 and 26595

23 that Dusko Jevic took the adult prisoners to Konjevic Polje, that the

24 next day you went through Konjevic Polje and that in front of a warehouse

25 in Konjevic Polje you saw a group of people picking up paper and litter

Page 13912

1 who you recognised as the prisoners from the previous day. How did you

2 know that they were the same prisoners?

3 A. On the 18th, I was going to Sokolac where I had personal

4 business, and passing through Konjevic Polje I saw a group of people

5 around that depot. Out of sheer curiosity I stopped to see if those were

6 the same people, and when I tried to approach, one of those policemen

7 stopped me, but he let me go relatively quickly. I suppose that his

8 commander was close by, that he recognised me and let me come in. They

9 were collecting litter, paper mostly, around the depot. So I recognised

10 95 per cent of that group among them.

11 MS. HARBOUR: Could we please have Exhibit P1132 and e-court

12 page 50 on the screen.

13 Q. And, Mr. Gavric, while this is coming up, could you tell me were

14 they still prisoners or were these people who were picking up trash

15 freely walking around in front of the warehouse?

16 A. They were certainly prisoners. But because their hands were

17 untied after we had turned them over to Dusko Jevic, they couldn't work

18 with their hands tied behind their backs, so their hands were untied and

19 they were collecting paper and other litter.

20 Q. And you mentioned that one of -- you said, "One of those

21 policemen stopped me." Who was it that was guarding the warehouse?

22 A. The warehouse was guarded by the same unit that had participated

23 in the sweep with me.

24 Q. Now, on the screen you can see a photograph of a landscape and

25 some buildings and a road, and you can see that a blue arrow is pointing

Page 13913

1 to a building that is circled. Do you recognise where this is and what

2 that building is?

3 A. That is the building where those people were standing when I came

4 on the intersection Bratunac-Konjevic Polje-Zvornik-Sarajevo.

5 Q. Is this the warehouse that you were referring to?

6 A. This used to be a co-operative earlier, and then in the 1990s,

7 since I come from that area, it was a shop, and today there is a large

8 petrol station in that place.

9 MS. HARBOUR: Your Honours, would this be a convenient time for a

10 break?

11 JUDGE ORIE: It is, Ms. Harbour. We take a break of 20 minutes.

12 Would you please follow the usher.

13 [The witness stands down]

14 JUDGE ORIE: We will resume at 10 minutes to 11.00.

15 --- Recess taken at 10.31 a.m.

16 --- On resuming at 10.53 a.m.

17 JUDGE ORIE: Could the witness be escorted into the courtroom.

18 One second. One second.

19 [Trial Chamber and Registrar confer]

20 JUDGE ORIE: Do I understand that there is another preliminary

21 which the Prosecution would like to raise. Ms. Harbour.

22 MS. HARBOUR: Yes, Your Honour. It occurred to us during

23 Mr. Gavric's testimony that he should receive a Rule 90(E) caution.

24 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. We'll give him one with retroactive effect.

25 No, no, no. That was -- we'll ask him whether there have been any

Page 13914

1 moments that he would have hesitated to answer the questions.

2 The witness may be escorted into the courtroom.

3 [The witness takes the stand]

4 JUDGE ORIE: Before we continue, Mr. Gavric, I would like to

5 briefly deal with the following matter: You appear here as a witness.

6 Now, if you would object to making or to answering any of the -- right

7 channel. I see Mr. Mladic is nodding that it's okay by now. It's okay

8 now? Yes.

9 Mr. Gavric, a witness who when he answers a question which --

10 truthfully and if that answer might tend to incriminate that witness may

11 object to answer that question. We then, however, we could compel the

12 witness, so we could compel you to answer such a question, and then that

13 could not be -- the answer could not be used against yourself.

14 Now, perhaps we should have better done this at the beginning of

15 your testimony, but was there at any moment any hesitation on your part

16 to answer a question because you feared you might incriminate yourself?

17 You're nodding yes. Does it mean that you did not hesitate at any moment

18 to answer a question out of fear to incriminate yourself?

19 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I believe that I could not have

20 brought myself into an incriminating position no matter what I said,

21 because in this gesture during my command over certain assignments I

22 adheredly strict -- I strictly adhered to the rules of service and to the

23 orders of the superior command.

24 JUDGE ORIE: Well, orders by the superior command do not under

25 all circumstances relieve you from your personal responsibility, but I do

Page 13915

1 understand that the subject matter did not give you any reason to think

2 that by truthfully answering the questions that you could incriminate

3 yourself. Nevertheless, I have drawn your attention to this Rule, and if

4 you would object to making in the follow-up of -- in the following parts

5 of your testimony if you would like to make an objection to make any

6 statements, you're free to address the Chamber.

7 Ms. Harbour, you may proceed.

8 MS. HARBOUR: Could I ask that we return to --

9 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Thank you.

10 MS. HARBOUR: Could I ask that we return to Exhibit P1132 and

11 page 50 in e-court.

12 Q. And, Mr. Gavric, while this is coming up, after you saw

13 Colonel Blagojevic on Sandici hill, when did he return from the Zepa

14 operation?

15 A. I didn't see the commander of the brigade until the 29th of July.

16 We saw each other at a funeral of a soldier of mine who was killed. So

17 we were together at this funeral.

18 Q. And is it your understanding that around the 29th of July was

19 when he returned from the Zepa operation to the Bratunac Brigade area of

20 operations?

21 A. That period from the 17th until the 29th I spent on different

22 assignments, so I didn't have the opportunity to meet with him. I'm just

23 saying when it was that I met with him. I went to Zeravica near

24 Han Pijesak where we were holding a position, and he also toured the

25 units.

Page 13916

1 Q. Regardless of when you were able to meet with him, do you know

2 when he returned from the Zepa operation?

3 A. I really don't know the exact day. I just said when it was that

4 I saw him for the first time after the 17th and that was the

5 29th of July.

6 Q. Now, you mentioned that Colonel Blagojevic toured the units near

7 Han Pijesak. When was this?

8 A. I think that there was an error in the interpretation. I think

9 that I went to go and tour one of the units near Han Pijesak at Zeravica.

10 So that was between the 17th and the 29th of July. So I don't know

11 exactly when he came back.

12 Q. All right. I'd like to draw your attention now to this

13 photograph on the monitor. Could you tell me what is the name of that

14 road that we see?

15 A. This road that you can see is the Zvornik-Sarajevo road. This is

16 what you can see on the picture. The second part of the road from

17 Konjevic Polje towards Bratunac is barely visible.

18 Q. Okay. And is this sometimes known as the Milici-Drinjaca road?

19 A. It depends on where you live. That's how you call it. We're

20 talking about -- when we describe it, we use the bigger settlements that

21 it passes through. So that's what we use.

22 Q. Now, do you know what happened to the prisoners after you last

23 saw them picking up trash in front of this warehouse in Konjevic Polje on

24 18 July 1995?

25 A. Officially it's correct. I don't know. It is only in 2000 when

Page 13917

1 I was here to testify, Mr. Karnavas said to me, we were talking about all

2 of this, and he told me then that allegedly those people were dug up in

3 the Cerska area.

4 Q. And who is Karnavas?

5 A. Excuse me. Not Karnavas, I'm sorry, but Bourgon. He was the

6 Defence attorney of the general in the proceedings. So it wasn't

7 Karnavas but Bourgon who said that.

8 MS. HARBOUR: Could we please have 65 ter 23277 on the screen.

9 Q. The document that's coming up is a Zvornik CJB dispatch, and it's

10 dated 18 July 1995. And I'd like to draw your attention to item 1 which

11 states that the RS MUP units and the Special Police Unit combed on the

12 right of the Milici-Drinjaca road including features behind Cerska and

13 Udrc in order to "liquidate the remnants of infiltrated groups from

14 Srebrenica. The action was completed very successfully."

15 Were the prisoners that you saw at Konjevic Polje among those

16 remnants who were liquidated?

17 A. They could not have been among those groups that remained behind.

18 The groups that were left behind would be covered in the terrain sweep

19 which we carried out on the 17th. If you found any troops in that area,

20 then that would be the remainder. These are no longer the remainder.

21 These were people who were captured, and I said what my information was

22 about what would happen, but they were not groups that had infiltrated

23 the area or troops that were left behind.

24 Q. And your information about what would happen, does that refer to

25 the fact that they were dug up in the Cerska grave?

Page 13918

1 A. Well, it was not logical to me. If this did happen, for me it

2 would have been logical. My information as to what would have happened

3 and that is that those people would go to Bijeljina, to Batkovic. They

4 would be accommodated there at the reception centre and then exchanged

5 for the remaining Serbs from the Tuzla basin. That was my information.

6 This was the talk about that in the command. About this other part,

7 there was never any talk.

8 JUDGE ORIE: Ms. Harbour, could we stay out of what is logic and

9 what is not and whether the witness, who may have no knowledge about

10 exactly what is written in this document, whether the witness thinks or

11 thinks not that the ones should be part of those without proper factual

12 foundation.

13 MS. HARBOUR: Your Honours, I'm happy to tender this document and

14 move on from it. The reason I showed it to this witness is because he

15 has testified about a sweep operation that he took part in to the right

16 of the Milici-Drinjaca road with a Special Police Unit just as is

17 discussed in this document, but I would like to tender this document.

18 JUDGE ORIE: I see that he has done that, and then of course the

19 Chamber will evaluate, but whether this document now includes because

20 they were captured yes or no whether it refers to those, the witness

21 apparently has no factual knowledge about that. But he told us about his

22 own participation in an operation which in its description seems to be

23 similar to what we find in this document.

24 Madam Registrar, the number would be?

25 THE REGISTRAR: Document 23277 receives number P1699,

Page 13919

1 Your Honours.

2 JUDGE ORIE: P1699 is admitted into evidence.

3 MS. HARBOUR: I have no further questions for this witness,

4 Your Honour.

5 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you, Ms. Harbour.

6 Mr. Stojanovic, are you ready to start your cross-examination?

7 Cross-examination by Mr. Stojanovic:

8 Q. [Interpretation] Good day, Witness.

9 A. Good day.

10 JUDGE ORIE: But before we do so I would like to ask one

11 additional question.

12 We just looked at a document, a document about the sweeping

13 operation and the liquidation of the remains. Do you know anything about

14 any operations which were aiming at liquidating the remains, the remains

15 of the enemy armed forces?

16 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I really don't know about that bit,

17 but generally when a superior writes an order he would say liquidate,

18 "unistiti." You can liquidate only somebody who puts up a resistance.

19 If they don't put up a resistance then there is no logic, for me, for

20 this to be said in the order in that way.

21 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. As I said before, we are trying to stay out of

22 the field of logic and, rather, talk about facts.

23 Mr. Stojanovic, please proceed.

24 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

25 Q. Witness, permit me first to ask you this: During those days of

Page 13920

1 July 1995, did you have the opportunity to meet General Mladic?

2 A. I did.

3 Q. Will you tell us when and where these encounters occurred?

4 A. On the 12th of July in the operations centre of the

5 Bratunac Brigade.

6 THE INTERPRETER: The interpret did not catch the time.

7 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

8 Q. Could you please describe to the Trial Chamber --

9 JUDGE ORIE: One second. Could you repeat the time when you, on

10 the 12th of July, had an encounter with General Mladic?

11 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] At 7.00 -- at 10 minutes past 7.00

12 in the morning on the 12th.

13 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

14 Q. Thank you. My question was: Would you explain to the

15 Trial Chamber what sort of a meeting this was?

16 A. In the morning on the 11th to the 12th, I slept in my family

17 house which is close to the Bratunac Brigade command. My assignment in

18 the morning meant that I was obliged to report to the operations room at

19 7.00 in the morning.

20 Q. [Microphone not activated]

21 A. All right. All right. I'm sorry.

22 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please.

23 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, may I take it that you asked the

24 witness to slow down, but since you did it without a microphone -- he may

25 have understood it. It's not on the record.

Page 13921

1 Could you please slow down your speed of speech.

2 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] May I continue? At 7.00 in the

3 morning, I came to the command compound. Since at 7.00 in the morning

4 General Mladic had already started the meeting, I wanted to enter the

5 operations room, and then in front of it I encountered a major who had

6 been told to leave the meeting, and I was joking with the man, and I

7 knocked and entered the room where the meeting was being held. The

8 General asked me why I was late. I explained why, and then I sat down at

9 some fourth or fifth place back that was free, and I attended that

10 meeting.

11 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

12 Q. Could you please tell the Trial Chamber what the meeting was

13 about and if General Mladic said anything when you were there.

14 A. Yes. One of the topics when I had already arrived -- after a

15 short amount of time there was Lieutenant-Colonel Furtula. I don't know

16 if he was the commander of the Visegrad brigade. I think it was his task

17 to continue with the sweep of the terrain in the Srebrenica area, more

18 precisely near the school of the local community of Suceska.

19 Q. Were there any other orders issued by General Mladic to any one

20 of those present?

21 A. He did not issue any orders to anyone else, only to this

22 Lieutenant-Colonel Furtula, as far as I'm concerned.

23 Q. And did you leave the meeting before it formally ended, or did

24 you stay until the formal closing of the meeting?

25 A. I stayed longer. I was there throughout the whole time, and

Page 13922

1 during that time nothing further was discussed, nor were there any orders

2 issued, as far as I can recall.

3 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Just for the sake of the transcript, I would like

4 to ask you, Mr. Gavric, in the previous answer did you say, I quote "He

5 did issue any orders," or did you say, "He did not issue any orders to

6 anyone else," only to Furtula?

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] After I came at 10 past 7.00 and

8 for as long as the general was in the operations room, he only ordered

9 Lieutenant-Colonel Furtula to -- I'm sorry?

10 JUDGE FLUEGGE: That means -- your answer was: He did not issue

11 any orders to anyone else except Furtula.

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes.

13 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you.

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

15 Q. Sir, could you please go a bit more slowly so that everything

16 could be recorded in the transcript. According to your recollection, at

17 what time did General Mladic leave the Bratunac Brigade and that meeting?

18 A. As far as I can remember, it was at about 8.00 that he left the

19 Bratunac Brigade.

20 Q. And did you have the opportunity to see him again at any point in

21 July 1995?

22 A. I did not ever meet General Mladic again since then to this very

23 day.

24 Q. Thank you. I would just briefly like to go through something

25 that is very important to us. At one point did you receive an order to

Page 13923

1 go to Zvornik with a part of the Bratunac Brigade?

2 A. Yes.

3 Q. And could you please tell the Trial Chamber who you received the

4 order from?

5 A. I got the order on the 14th to the 15th -- or on the 15th, to be

6 more precise, at about 12.30 from the commander Colonel Blagojevic.

7 Q. And what did the order say that you received in the night between

8 the 14th and the 15th of July, 1995?

9 A. On the 14th at zero thirty hundred hours the military police came

10 to my family house and told me to come to the brigade command. I got

11 ready very quickly and I came to the command. At the command in the

12 operations room I encountered Colonel Blagojevic and Major Dragan Trisic,

13 who was the logistics assistant. When I sat down, I said, Colonel, sir,

14 go ahead. And then he said, Listen, I received an order --

15 JUDGE ORIE: You really should slow down, because otherwise your

16 words will be lost. Try to keep this in mind.

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Thank you. When I arrived at the

18 Bratunac Brigade command, to the operations room, I saw

19 Colonel Blagojevic there and the logistics assistant commander,

20 Major Dragan Trisic.

21 I sat down and I asked the colonel, Tell me what you need. And

22 he told me that he had received an order from the superior command to

23 send one of the units to assist in Zvornik, because there was a large

24 concentration of Muslim forces around Zvornik. And I answered that my

25 unit was not meant for infantry fighting. There must be other units for

Page 13924

1 that. He told me, You can organise your unit the fastest and go to the

2 assignment.

3 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

4 Q. I'm going to stop you there, and I'll ask you to tell the Court

5 about the structure of that unit of yours which you said was not equipped

6 for infantry operations.

7 A. My unit had within its composition troops who were trained from

8 officers-plotters and gunners and their assistants, the people who pass

9 on the shells and put them into barrels.

10 Q. So what was that group?

11 A. It was a mixed artillery group because in its composition it had

12 a battery of B1 cannons, 76 millimetres; one cannon platoon,

13 122 millimetres/37; and a howitzer platoon, 105 millimetres, M-56.

14 Q. At some point did you receive that order and went to meet the

15 Zvornik Brigade?

16 A. Yes.

17 Q. How many people went with you?

18 A. Forty.

19 Q. Did you get a promise that you would be rotated soon?

20 A. Precisely.

21 Q. On the night of the 14th-15th, when did you reach the Zvornik

22 Brigade command?

23 A. I believe 1.30, perhaps 2.00 a.m.

24 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honours, perhaps out of an

25 abundance of caution I think we should move into private session.

Page 13928

1 passed it, and outside of the town 1 or 2 kilometres further was some

2 sort of factory where the command of the Zvornik Brigade was and I took

3 the same route back.

4 Q. At what time on the 15th of July did you return, taking the same

5 road?

6 A. We departed from Zvornik around 11.00, so at noon we were back in

7 Bratunac.

8 Q. Travelling on that road, did you notice on the way from

9 Konjevic Polje via Kravica and up to Bratunac any military units?

10 A. On the return trip I didn't see any people, but when I was

11 departing on Sandici hill I saw people who were guarding the road

12 Bratunac-Konjevic Polje.

13 Q. Do you know whether they were members of the Bratunac Brigade or

14 the police forces who were present in the area?

15 A. Some of them were policemen and others were members of the

16 Bratunac unit, but I don't know when they had arrived.

17 Q. Thank you. Where did you spend the rest of the day on the

18 15th of July and the 16th of July?

19 A. Upon returning from Zvornik, I got a short leave from the

20 commander, and I spent that day and a half with my family.

21 Q. I understand that you corrected your statement on one point,

22 namely the time when on the 17th of July you received a new order from

23 Colonel Blagojevic. First of all, I want to ask you is that true?

24 A. Now definitively, after talking to the other men who were there,

25 I'm sure. I got to the brigade command at the same time, and at 10.00

Page 13929

1 Colonel Blagojevic issued me the order to be -- to act as co-ordinator in

2 that area.

3 Q. Is it true that in earlier statements you mentioned that it could

4 have been around noon on the 17th of July?

5 A. I don't know whether it was interpretation or something else, but

6 that was a mistake. At noon I had agreed with Dragan Zekic and Jevic to

7 be on Sandici hill, and at 12.15 we had already started moving along the

8 Sandici-Kamenica and Gornji Bratunci [phoen] road deploying troops.

9 JUDGE ORIE: Witness, could I ask you the following: You

10 referred to having talked to the other men who were there. You said:

11 "Now, definitively, after talking to the other men who were

12 there, I'm sure" that "I got to the brigade command ..." now, when did

13 you talk with them and with whom exactly?

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I talked to Major Trisic, because

15 he was in the office next to mine and for a long time --

16 JUDGE ORIE: When did you talk to him?

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] After I returned from this trial,

18 because we discussed that time, that period, and he told me, Your memory

19 is good, because you made the connection.

20 JUDGE ORIE: But -- perhaps I'm confused. I think you recently

21 corrected the time. Ms. Harbour, I'm also looking at you. It was in --

22 is the correction made -- originates from when, as far as you're

23 concerned?

24 MS. HARBOUR: Your Honour, this morning --

25 JUDGE ORIE: This morning.

Page 13930

1 MS. HARBOUR: -- he corrected his Popovic testimony. However, he

2 has in prior testimonies testified that the time was between 10.00 and

3 noon.

4 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Did you speak with the person you mentioned

5 after you had given your testimony in the Popovic case?

6 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I spoke to him in October 2008,

7 after I returned, and then taking into account his recollection and my

8 recollection I was able to determine these things. When I came here

9 first, I had had no earlier opportunity to -- to tell the Prosecutor

10 about it.

11 JUDGE ORIE: You said you had talked to the men who were there.

12 Did you talk with anyone else apart from Major Trisic?

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I meant the CO, Major Trisic, the

14 people within the command, because within the command we discussed these

15 things, but we don't discuss them with soldiers.

16 JUDGE ORIE: But you discussed them, therefore not only with

17 Major Trisic but with others as well?

18 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, with Major Trisic because we

19 were close, and we continued to discuss our memories of those days.

20 JUDGE ORIE: Nevertheless, you said you had discussed it with the

21 men who were there, which suggests that there was more than one.

22 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, it could be a grammatical

23 error, let me say, and I can ascribe it to myself.

24 JUDGE ORIE: Please proceed, Mr. Stojanovic.

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

Page 13931

1 Q. The place where you were supposed to meet with the unit, senior

2 officers that were to take part in the execution of the assignment was at

3 Sandici. What I want to know now is how far is Sandici hill far from --

4 from the Bratunac Brigade command?

5 A. It's 13 kilometres to Kravica and then another kilometre or a

6 kilometre and a half to Sandici hill.

7 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Can we look at P1694 in e-court,

8 please, 1694. Can we go through the document briefly, please.

9 Q. It's a document drafted by Colonel Ignjat Milanovic on the

10 15th of July, 1995, and it's sent to the Drina Corps command, to the

11 1st mlpbr and the SB Skelani. I am now going to ask you this: Do you

12 know who at that time, and which duties at that time were carried out by

13 Ignjat Milanovic?

14 A. Ignjat Milanovic, as far as I can remember -- actually, I don't

15 remember at all his duties when General Krstic took over corps command.

16 I really don't know what duty he was occupying, whether it was operations

17 chief or Chief of Staff of the Drina Corps.

18 Q. And did you have the opportunity to meet Colonel Ignjat Milanovic

19 during those days?

20 A. Colonel Ignjat Milanovic was the Chief of Staff of the

21 Bratunac Brigade. We knew each other very well. And, as far as I can

22 remember, from there he went to be the commander of the Milici Brigade

23 and then he was transferred to the Drina Corps, and he was replaced by, I

24 think, from Bratunac -- from a -- by an officer from Bratunac,

25 Ivan Stojanovic.

Page 13932

1 Q. In any case, would you agree with me that Colonel

2 Ignjat Milanovic at that time in July 1995 was a senior officer at the

3 Drina Corps command?

4 A. Yes. Yes.

5 Q. Thank you. And can we now look at the first paragraph of the

6 document where he's informing the commander and the command of the

7 Drina Corps, and among other things, he says the

8 1st Bratunac Light Infantry Brigade, if that's proper expansion of the

9 abbreviation, assess the situation and is about to come out on the

10 ordered line. I'm asking you whether the brigade already on the

11 15th of July or earlier had already started the terrain sweeping

12 operation.

13 A. All I know is that as soon as the operation in Srebrenica was

14 finished, the battalions were assigned and sent to sweep the terrain. I

15 didn't know about this order, because it came at the time when I was

16 resting.

17 Q. And now I would like to deal with some doubts of mine, in the

18 military sense. If you look at the middle part of the document where it

19 states, "I ordered the following," and then in item 4 it says that the

20 1st Bratunac Light Infantry Brigade shall continue to search the terrain

21 and clear up the battleground on the Bratunac-Konjevic Polje-Kasaba road

22 and create a sort of reserve of the forces because they currently do not

23 have any in order to be able to be engaged upon request.

24 In the control and command system, can Colonel Ignjat Milanovic

25 issue an order of this type so that it's executed by the

Page 13933

1 Bratunac Brigade?

2 A. As soon as he receives an order from the corps, and it must have

3 been written in an order coming from a high place, that then the

4 commander of subordinate units, the commanders the Bratunac and

5 Milici Brigade were subordinated. So they had to carry out this order.

6 So he did have the right to order the commanders that their units carry

7 out this order.

8 Q. All right. And then he says "proposal 1," that the commander of

9 the commander of the 1st Bratunac Light Infantry Brigade is authorised

10 and appointed as commander of all forces engaged in the sweeping of the

11 train and the clearing up, "asanacija," of the battleground east of the

12 road and part of the Kasaba-Drinjaca road; because in the command of the

13 Drina Corps, if that is the proper expansion of the abbreviation, "We do

14 not have anyone we could assign to the task." And then who is being

15 assigned as the co-ordinator of this assignment if he does have the right

16 to command?

17 A. If certain assignments are about to begin, the superior officer

18 must appoint a lower-ranking officer who would be responsible for that in

19 the entire area. Like I was responsible for the police unit and the

20 military unit in the same way, according to the way I'm thinking, the

21 colonel could have appointed Blagojevic as the commander of that complete

22 action in that section of the sweep operation.

23 Q. I'm going to stop you for a minute. Would it be correct that the

24 area that was indicated here as the area to be searched was in the

25 territory which was behind the defence zone of a number of brigades that

Page 13934

1 were part of the Drina Corps, not just the Bratunac Brigade?

2 A. Well, if the Milici Brigade is included, then, yes, because the

3 Bratunac Brigade was sweeping the Bratunac municipality topographical

4 area, because the place where the left flank of the Bratunac and the

5 right flank of the Milici Brigade were joined and the area where they

6 were sweeping the train belonged to --

7 THE INTERPRETER: Could the witness please repeat what he's

8 saying.

9 JUDGE ORIE: You're speaking too quickly. You said:

10 "... because the area where the left flank of the Bratunac and

11 the right flank of the Milici Brigade were joined and the area where they

12 were sweeping the terrain belonged to --" and would you then please

13 repeat what you said.

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] The area assigned to both of them,

15 meaning the right flank of the Milici Brigade, left flank of the

16 Bratunac Brigade, bordered on each other territorially, both according to

17 the boundaries of the municipalities and according to the boundaries of

18 the assignments that were assigned to them.

19 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

20 Q. Could you please tell us if the sweeping of the terrain, and I'm

21 asking you as a senior officer and a military person, is a legitimate

22 activity after that kind of combat?

23 A. Well, it's an obligation. In order to secure the terrain you

24 need to sweep the terrain, just as it would happen if a terrorist group

25 is infiltrated into a country. When the terrorist group is destroyed,

Page 13935

1 then you are obliged to sweep the terrain again and sanitise it.

2 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, I'm looking at the clock. Time for

3 a break.

4 Could the witness be escorted out of the courtroom. We take a

5 break of 20 minutes.

6 [The witness stands down]

7 JUDGE ORIE: We resume at 10 minutes past 12.00.

8 --- Recess taken at 11.51 a.m.

9 --- On resuming at 12.12 p.m.

10 JUDGE ORIE: Could the witness be escorted into the courtroom.

11 Mr. Stojanovic, the Chamber was informed that there is a

12 possibility that you would conclude your cross-examination within the

13 next hour. Is that -- yes. That would be highly appreciated, because

14 the Chamber needs a bit of time for some procedural matters as well.

15 Could you give us already an assessment what time the Prosecution

16 would need for re-examination if any?

17 MS. HARBOUR: At this stage we don't anticipate having any

18 redirect.

19 JUDGE ORIE: Then we'll both have time to conclude the testimony

20 of the witness and to deal with the procedural matters.

21 [The witness takes the stand]

22 JUDGE ORIE: You may proceed, Mr. Stojanovic.

23 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

24 Q. We stopped, sir, at the point when we were talking about the area

25 and the legitimacy of actions relating to the sweeping of the terrain.

Page 13936

1 Is it correct that this area was deep inside territory controlled by the

2 Army of Republika Srpska before the operation to free Srebrenica?

3 A. Yes, it was quite deep inside that territory.

4 Q. And in this document, I think you still have it in front of you,

5 the term "asanacija" is mentioned. As an officer, I want to ask you if

6 you know what that term implied as it stood in the order of

7 Ignjat Milanovic.

8 A. Looking at this order now, I'm surprised to see that it says that

9 you could -- you should do the sanitisation of the terrain together with

10 the sweep, because that is something that is done after the sweep

11 operation is completed.

12 Q. If I understood you correctly, you're an artillery officer.

13 A. Yes.

14 Q. And you completed the non-commissioned officers' school; is that

15 correct?

16 A. Yes.

17 Q. When and where in?

18 A. In 1997-1998 in Zadar, and then after that I was an intern in the

19 3rd Guards Regiment in Pozarevac where I worked for a few months.

20 Q. Could you please now look at the screen in front of you where it

21 says that in 1997-1998 you completed the school in Zadar.

22 A. This is a mistake. It's a typing error. It was 1978-1979 that

23 that was.

24 Q. And what does "asanacija," the sanitisation of the terrain, mean

25 to you?

Page 13937

1 A. That means that the remnants that remain, including bodies,

2 should be collected all at a certain location.

3 Q. As a rule would that be the job of soldiers or any specialised

4 services?

5 A. Well, in happier times that would be the job of the civilian

6 defence.

7 Q. And I'm going to finish with this document by putting the

8 question: If you personally know if there was any order or document that

9 Vidoje Blagojevic as the commander of the Bratunac Brigade was authorised

10 and appointed as commander of all the forces that took part in the sweep

11 operation.

12 A. I am not familiar with that. As I said, that order didn't reach

13 me because that was issued during the time that I was off, I was resting.

14 So I'm not familiar with this order.

15 Q. We will come back to this order that you received from Blagojevic

16 on the 17th of July at approximately 10.00 or 11.00 in the morning. I am

17 asking you do you remember exactly the wording? What exactly was your

18 task?

19 A. I was ordered by the corps -- the brigade commander to go to

20 Kravica, to Konjevic Polje, to be more precise where Dragan Zekic and

21 Dusko Jevic were: Dragan Zekic who was heading the 3rd Battalion and

22 Dusan Jevic who was heading the Special Police detachment. I should put

23 them together and agree with them how to proceed with the terrain sweep

24 from Sandici through Kamenica, Gornji Bratunac and up to Konjevic Polje

25 along the left side of the road towards Konjevic Polje from Bratunac.

Page 13938

1 Q. Did you understand and were you told directly that you had any

2 command responsibilities over the police units in that operation?

3 A. I understood that I would be there just like a co-ordinator in

4 that area, which is what I was, and that all of the -- each of the units

5 were given a certain zone to sweep, specifically from the road to

6 Kamenica entrusted to the police and from Kamenica to Gornji Bratunac,

7 that area was assigned to the military.

8 Q. Did the police have its own chain and system of command and

9 control in that operation?

10 A. Yes. They had company commanders who commanded in the field, and

11 Dusko Jevic was the representative of the special detachment.

12 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Can we look at P15882 in

13 e-court, please.

14 Q. Sir, I assume that you had the opportunity to see this document

15 in earlier testimony. I'm now going to ask you to look at paragraph

16 marked 1 which says that on the 17th of July, the commander of the

17 Special Police Brigade, Goran Savic, orders the urgent formation of a

18 combat group the size of a battalion in the Kravica-Konjevic Polje sector

19 using the 5th Doboj Special Police Detachment, two companies from the

20 seminar on Jahorina and two PJP companies with the assignment of

21 searching the terrain in the Pobudje sector, in the course of that day,

22 the 17th of July, so as to fully mop up the right side of the

23 Milici-Drinjaca road before regrouping for the search of Cerska.

24 In paragraph 2, the BG commander, if that would indicate

25 "borbena grupa," combat group, comprising units referred to in the

Page 13939

1 previous item, and then the deputy commander of the Special Police would

2 be Dusko Jevic.

3 Would this order correspond to what you remember about the police

4 forces which took part in sweeping the terrain in a specific area?

5 THE INTERPRETER: Could the witness please repeat his answer.

6 JUDGE ORIE: Could you please repeat your answer, Witness.

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] This order refers to this

8 assignment in the Pobudje sector, but it says here that it should be 800

9 or 600 people from the police to be engaged. This is incorrect data. In

10 the field where I was, I don't think that this number of people took part

11 in the assignment.

12 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

13 Q. According to your best recollection, how many did participate?

14 A. In my opinion, up to 200 policemen.

15 JUDGE ORIE: On what is that opinion based, Witness?

16 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I am basing my opinion on the fact

17 that when we lined up the units at Sandici hill that's the number, and

18 then judging by the area in which we deployed them after we issued

19 assignments to the police when they were there, I went with Dusko Jevic

20 and at a certain -- and the soldiers were at a certain distance apart

21 from each other. So when you cover that area, the number that you would

22 get according to these calculations would not be more than 200 men.

23 JUDGE ORIE: We are not that much interested in calculations or

24 reconstructions but rather in facts, and I do understand that you saw the

25 men lined up and you saw men at a certain distance and then you started

Page 13940

1 calculating.

2 Mr. Stojanovic, please next question.

3 JUDGE MOLOTO: Mr. Stojanovic, before you go to the next

4 question, I just want to find out from the witness if he could please

5 direct us to where the numbers 800 and 600 are referred to in this

6 document. I understand that he --

7 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

8 Q. Could you answer this question by the Judge. How did you get

9 this number 800?

10 A. According to this order if the unit from Jahorina was engaged and

11 they were present and the other units enumerated here in this order did

12 not take part in the sweep.

13 Q. But the question was: How did you come up with this claim that

14 800 policemen were supposed to be involved?

15 A. Well, there are four detachments mentioned here, if I see well;

16 correct?

17 Q. Let's go step-by-step. I believe it is written in item 1, please

18 follow this, that the following should be engaged: The

19 5th Special Police detachment Doboj.

20 JUDGE MOLOTO: I don't want to waste your time. Obviously the

21 witness is not able to give us where he finds the number 800 or 600 from

22 this document and you don't have to go through all those units.

23 JUDGE FLUEGGE: But I would like to get a clarification from the

24 witness. On page 49, lines 14 to 18, the witness said, "This order

25 referred to this assignment in the Pobudje sector," but it says here that

Page 13941

1 "it should be 800 or 600 people from the police to be engaged." Is

2 that -- Mr. Gavric, is that just the consequence of your calculation, or

3 how could you say that, that it says here it should be 800 or 600 people

4 from the police?

5 JUDGE ORIE: In order perhaps to cut matters short having

6 listened to the questions, having listened to you, Witness, do I

7 understand you well that your reference to 800 to 600 people was a

8 calculation based on the units mentioned in the order and that then later

9 you say, That must be wrong because what I saw on the ground, and then

10 you started calculating again coverage, terrain, et cetera, that it

11 should have been less? Is that how we have to understand your testimony?

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, that's how you should

13 understand my testimony.

14 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, all -- both the initial numbers and the later

15 numbers all based on calculations rather than on any exact knowledge of

16 facts. It's interpretation of the document and then interpretation of

17 what you saw on the ground.

18 Mr. Stojanovic, you may put your next question to the witness.

19 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

20 Q. Thank you. Let us just wrap this up. According to your estimate

21 of what you saw when you lined up the participants in this operation, how

22 many policemen and soldiers were there in total?

23 A. Around 500 policemen and soldiers in total.

24 Q. Thank you. Did you personally go in depth of the area where the

25 units were moving?

Page 13942

1 A. In part, yes.

2 THE INTERPRETER: Interpreter's note: Could the witness be told

3 not to start answering before the question is finished.

4 JUDGE ORIE: The interpreters ask you not to start your answer

5 until the question has been translated. The best way of doing it is look

6 at your screen and once the text stops moving, as, for example, it did

7 now, that you only then start giving an answer.

8 Mr. Stojanovic.

9 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

10 Q. Witness, sir, did you have an organised system of communications between

11 the commanding officers of the units that were involved in the sweep?

12 A. Yes.

13 Q. Did you have information as to whether during the sweep the units

14 were coming across dead bodies in the area they were passing through?

15 A. There were corpses on the line from which we started the sweep

16 and along the whole length of the road, 50 metres wide and all along,

17 there were corpses.

18 Q. Could you give us an idea, taking into account the markings you

19 made in the previous case, what is the width of the area where you

20 conducted the sweep, and what is the length?

21 A. The width is 6 kilometres, and the depth was 10 kilometres.

22 Q. Who kept you informed that they were finding bodies in this area?

23 A. When assignments were given and soldiers deployed, above Kamenica

24 was the transit area where columns of people breaking out towards Tuzla

25 were moving. In that area, one part is wooded and the other part isn't.

Page 13943

1 The wooded part of the area is cut through by a small track leading to

2 Gornje Vratnice, which is where our people were moving through. They

3 were coming across a lot of corpses that were hanging, people who had

4 hanged themselves. A large number of corpses was lying on the ground,

5 with lower parts of the bodies destroyed, probably by setting bombs

6 underneath their own bodies. You could see that some had committed

7 suicide, usually by a gunshot to the head.

8 Q. During the sweep did you receive information from the units

9 involved that they were coming across military equipment and weapons?

10 A. Yes, and I could see that for myself, because each of our

11 soldiers involved in that operation had taken -- or, rather, had brought

12 with him back one or two rifles of different makes.

13 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, could I seek some clarification of

14 one of the previous answers. You said:

15 "There were coming across a lot of people who were hanged. They

16 were hanging. The lower parts of the bodies were destroyed, probably by

17 bombs set below them ..."

18 Now, how do I have to understand that? Is it that people hang

19 themselves and then someone would put a bomb under their body?

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I'll try to make this clearer. I

21 found a lot of people who had taken off their belts and hanged themselves

22 from trees. That's one type of death. Another type of death is when

23 people put a bomb under themselves. When I said the lower part of the

24 body, I meant the part of the body lying on the ground. And judging by --

25 JUDGE ORIE: I've read all that in your previous testimony, but

Page 13944

1 today you combine even the two. You say:

2 “ They were hanging, the lower parts of the bodies were destroyed,

3 probably by bombs set below them ..."

4 This suggests that people hanging had even destroyed lower part

5 of their body.

6 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, I don't know exactly how it

7 was interpreted to you, but I can repeat. I don't mean that lower parts

8 of the hanging bodies were destroyed. I meant to say that some people

9 committed suicide by placing a bomb under themselves and the bomb damaged

10 the lower part of their bodies.

11 JUDGE ORIE: We'll check whether there is a translation error or

12 not or that you combined the two elements. So you did not say that those

13 who were hanging, that they had the lower parts of their bodies

14 destroyed. You say that's not what you said.

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No.

16 JUDGE ORIE: We'll verify that.

17 Madam Registrar, I would like to have verified as soon as

18 possible -- let me see. It's page 54 -- no. It is page -- page 53,

19 lines 11 to 14, even if only provisionally for the time being so that we

20 have a provisional verification of the transcript.

21 Please proceed, Mr. Stojanovic.

22 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you.

23 Q. During these activities related to the sweep, did you at any

24 point have information that some other units of the Drina Corps were

25 participating in the sweep as well?

Page 13945

1 A. I had no such information.

2 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] I should now like to call up in

3 e-court P1579.

4 Q. Witness, could we please look together at paragraph 3 of this

5 order. In the text it says that it's an order by

6 Colonel-General Ratko Mladic dated 17 July, 1995, and it reads:

7 "As of 17 July, the forces of the 1st Bratunac Light Infantry

8 Brigade, the 1st Milici Light Infantry Brigade, and the 67th Military

9 Police Battalion, the 65th Motorised Protection Regiment, and MUP forces

10 engaged in the wider areas of Bratunac, Milici, and Drinjaca will comb

11 the territory in the zone of Bratunac, Drinjaca, Milici, Vecici village,"

12 et cetera.

13 Did you at any point have information that this sweep involved

14 also some units from the Main Staff of the VRS?

15 A. No.

16 Q. And the key issue I want to ask you about, it says here and

17 please pay attention to the following paragraph of -- or, rather,

18 following sentence in paragraph 3:

19 "I hereby appoint Lieutenant-Colonel Keserovic, the officer for

20 military police in the Main Staff of the VRS security administration, as

21 the commander of all the aforementioned forces during the conduct of the

22 aforementioned task."

23 Do you know Keserovic?

24 A. That was the first time I heard that last name.

25 Q. When you say it was the first time, do you mean today?

Page 13946

1 A. I mean I heard it the first time today. I never met the man, or

2 perhaps I met the man without knowing that that was his name.

3 Q. Did you at any time in the course of at that day, the

4 17th of July, have around a commanding officer whom you didn't know and

5 who gave you advice or instructions regarding the sweep?

6 A. No.

7 Q. Did you at any time after the execution of that task on the

8 17th July, the 18th, or any of the other following days report to anyone

9 else but the commanders of the Bratunac Brigade?

10 A. No one except Filipovic, the duty officer.

11 Q. Thank you. Did you at any time in the course of that

12 17th of July have any contact with the 65th Motorised Protection Regiment

13 based at the barracks?

14 A. I did not, because I didn't go to that area on the 17th. I

15 passed through on the 18th, but I didn't see them.

16 Q. Considering that you mentioned the place from which you started

17 the sweep could you please explain to the Court relative to

18 Konjevic Polje where did -- where was the boundary where that sweep area

19 ended?

20 A. It was actually 1 kilometre beyond the road, the kilometre up to

21 the road at Djugovi -- at Djugum remained outside the sweep. Djugum is

22 to the south of Drinjaca, 1 or 2 kilometres to the south, and that is the

23 boundary between Bratunac and Milici.

24 Q. And then it says the assignment is finished. You have reached

25 the point where you were supposed to reach in the sweep of the terrain.

Page 13947

1 A. When I set off, I got the assignment of sweeping the terrain up

2 to the part that we reached, the other part is quite forested, and

3 according to information that I had, there were a lot of mines there, so

4 I did not want to let my people go to that part of the terrain.

5 Q. According to your best recollection, what time of the day was it

6 that you completed that day's work?

7 A. I think that it was at 1900 hours. Between 1800 and 1900 hours,

8 as far as I can remember.

9 Q. At what point in time did you get information that there were

10 prisoners?

11 A. I think that this was at around 1700 hours that Dragan Zekic

12 received information through his radio that during the sweep of the

13 terrain a resistance was met. Dragan informed me about this, and I said

14 then that they should not rush, not to sustain casualties, but to go

15 slowly and to call people to surrender. Dragan conveyed this to some of

16 his subordinate commanding officers, and then they reported back to him

17 and he conveyed to me that shooting was over and that there was one child

18 with a white T-shirt in his hands was walking towards them.

19 Q. I'm going to stop you there for a moment and ask: When you say

20 that you received information that there was resistance, could you please

21 tell the Trial Chamber what this was about? What kind of a resistance

22 was this?

23 A. I will tell you everything. There was shooting in the direction

24 of our units. I found this out later from these children who were there

25 because they said that in this group there were some other people who had

Page 13948

1 not surrendered, who did not wish to surrender.

2 Q. And did any members of the Bratunac Brigade get killed or were

3 they wounded at that time?

4 A. Nobody was killed and nobody was wounded.

5 Q. Do you know if any members of the police forces that took part in

6 the action were wounded or killed?

7 A. As far as I know we were together in that place down there when

8 those people who were captured were brought in. Nobody said anything

9 about it, but I would have known about it in essence because Dusko Jevic

10 was close to me.

11 Q. Can you remember who or which formation was it which you

12 described as Cesme [phoen] on the road who brought the prisoners out?

13 A. These were soldiers of the 3rd Battalion. I don't know which

14 unit it was, which company.

15 Q. When you say the 3rd Battalion, you mean

16 the Bratunac Brigade Battalion?

17 A. Precisely.

18 Q. And after they were brought in as prisoners, did you count those

19 people, and did you take down their names?

20 A. As far as I can remember, I counted the people while they were

21 there, and then when we went and when we reached the road when they went

22 to Konjevic Polje in a column two by two, I told Jevic, Jevic, I am

23 taking the children with me and you take these -- these people with you.

24 They will probably send a bus for them so that they could go to

25 Bijeljina.

Page 13949

1 Q. And how many people were there in total, according to your best

2 recollection?

3 A. I remember 99 per cent accurately that there were no more than 38

4 of them -- 38 of them. But I think that there were 35 according to what

5 I remember, so according to what I remember there were between 35 and 38.

6 Q. And were they all men?

7 A. Yes, they were all men.

8 Q. Could you please tell us this place where they were brought to

9 the road, how far is that from the intersection in Konjevic Polje?

10 A. Three to 4 kilometres at the most.

11 Q. And who were the prisoners handed over to physically?

12 A. The prisoners were handed over physically to three senior

13 officers, I think, of Dusko Jevic's, and Dusko Jevic was there present

14 when we did it.

15 Q. And you testified recently in Bijeljina precisely in a case

16 trying one of the commanding officers of Dusko Jevic's unit?

17 A. Well, as far as I understood, he was not a commanding officer. I

18 understood that he was a logistics soldier. Perhaps he was a commanding

19 or senior officer, I don't know. And I did testify in the Bijeljina

20 trial.

21 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Mr. Stojanovic.

22 Mr. Gavric, Mr. Stojanovic has put one question to you which you

23 didn't answer. Did you take down their names, the names of these

24 prisoners?

25 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No.

Page 13950

1 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Did anybody else take down the names of these

2 prisoners?

3 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] As far as I know, no.

4 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Why not?

5 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Since these were people in civilian

6 clothing, it was logical for me that I as a soldier should not treat them

7 as military prisoners of war since they were not in uniform. I handed

8 them over to Dusko Jevic, according to an order or agreement with

9 Momir Nikolic, and I understood that as far as I was concerned I was

10 done. There were no bad intentions on my part. Had we had any, we would

11 not have had them brought in or handed them over to that man.

12 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you.

13 JUDGE ORIE: Could I have put one follow-up question there. You

14 said they were wearing civilian clothes. Therefore you considered them

15 not to be treated as prisoners of war. Why were they prisoners at all?

16 They were just civilians.

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] In that area -- area I was born

18 there; thus nobody lived there. According to the order that we received,

19 everything that we encountered in that area it would be normal that we

20 would liberate the area from those people who were not born there and who

21 did not live there; that is one thing. Secondly, we brought them -- we

22 brought them down there and at any point they could have been potential

23 soldiers. And I'm going to tell you about a problem now. There was a

24 problem of a similar nature because commanding officer committed an error

25 from that area when civilian surrendered themselves and then one of those

Page 13951

1 civilians grabbed a rifle and killed a man.

2 JUDGE ORIE: Now, there's a saying in English: You can't have

3 your cake and eat it. Which now is the case? You said, I would not

4 consider them to be prisoners of war, and at the same time you say they

5 may have been military people and therefore you would never know. Now,

6 what did you do? Did you consider them to be prisoners of war or did you

7 not?

8 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Not considered them to be captured

9 soldiers but captured civilians when they surrendered.

10 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Now, the next question: What was the basis

11 for capturing civilians? Had they done anything wrong? Had they -- and

12 you were in a military position. What is the authority of a military

13 over innocent civilians?

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] We as the army had the assignment

15 in that area since no population was living there. So whatever we

16 encountered, that is number one. Number two, we had among them, which

17 can be confirmed by the witnesses, these children -- we had people among

18 them who had weaponry and threw it away. Then first they put up

19 resistance, this renegade group that did not want to surrender. As far

20 as we were concerned at one point when they bear arms we can call them

21 whatever they want but we would consider them enemies and then on the

22 other hand when they surrendered without weapons then as far as we were

23 concerned they --

24 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. Now, whether they ever had been carrying arms

25 before, that might make them still military men, but you considered them

Page 13952

1 civilians. I'm just putting to you at this moment that it seems that you

2 want to have your cake and eat it. It's either of the two. Well, you're

3 nodding no. I'm just putting to you that that is how we analyse at this

4 moment your testimony without drawing any further conclusions, but that

5 there is some contradiction in it.

6 I have another question. They were not free to move, were they,

7 once they were captured civilians? They were still more or less

8 prisoners.

9 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] From the point of time that they

10 surrendered to our units, they were captured, and I said that as far as I

11 was concerned, civilians were -- they were civilians because they were

12 not in uniform. That is one thing. And that is why I handed them over

13 to the police, because the police is entrusted or in charge of civilians

14 and not the army.

15 JUDGE ORIE: Yes, but the police would not detain civilians,

16 would they, if they had not gone anything wrong?

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It was war. It wasn't peacetime

18 for us to be interfering with anyone. They found themselves in our

19 terrain, in terrain that they were not expected to be found in.

20 JUDGE ORIE: They were moving in the area. Is there anything

21 wrong with that? I mean were they -- was there any legal prohibition for

22 them to move to the next village or the village after that?

23 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No. Since this was an ongoing

24 operation, in that operation all people who were peaceful of their own

25 accord or had simply understood that they were supposed to surrender and

Page 13953

1 did surrender in Potocari, that was one thing. All the others who had

2 decided to start moving towards Tuzla decided to do so in a military

3 column that was there. Therefore, that group also was definitely in that

4 column. It's just that they were late. They were lagging behind the

5 main body of the column.

6 JUDGE ORIE: Next question, please, Mr. Stojanovic.

7 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation]

8 Q. Sir, was there fire from that group at the

9 Army of Republika Srpska as the legitimate military power?

10 A. Yes.

11 Q. Were there any danger of anybody getting killed, wounded, hit?

12 A. Well, of course. Whenever there is shooting, there is the

13 possibility that somebody would be shot.

14 Q. Thank you. After you brought these people to the road, you

15 sought instructions from the Bratunac Brigade command as to what to do

16 with these people.

17 A. Yes.

18 Q. And in your estimate that could have been between 1700 and 1800

19 hours on the 17th of July.

20 A. That could have been most realistically sometime between 1800 and

21 1900 hours when everything was finished and when we had reached the road.

22 Q. And the chief of the intelligence and security organ in the

23 Bratunac Brigade, Momir Nikolic, told you what to do with those people?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. He was the one who told you that you should hand them over to the

Page 13954

1 police structures?

2 A. Yes.

3 Q. Can you remember, and I'm asking this for reasons that are

4 completely understandable to us and due to testimonies from previous

5 witnesses, whether you informed Momir Nikolic about the number of people

6 who had been brought to the road?

7 A. I wouldn't know or be able to correctly remember that or those

8 words.

9 Q. And do you remember if you informed him about the fact that you

10 had four children that you wanted to bring to the Bratunac Brigade

11 command?

12 A. Yes.

13 Q. Did he suggest anything to you regarding those children?

14 A. No, he did not, nothing.

15 Q. Now, I'm going to put a direct question to you: Are you sure

16 about your recollection that you drove three boys towards Bratunac and

17 placed one in a bus or did all the boys get in the buses and go towards

18 Bratunac?

19 A. I remember that when we gave the children something to eat, three

20 children we brought them -- we were going in front of the buses. The

21 buses were going behind us. So all together we arrived at the command of

22 the brigade.

23 THE INTERPRETER: Interpreter's correction: We placed three

24 children in the Lada Niva vehicle.

25 Could Mr. Stojanovic please begin his question again.

Page 13955

1 JUDGE ORIE: Could you -- could you please, Mr. Stojanovic, start

2 your question again.

3 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] I understand, Your Honour.

4 Q. You mentioned that there was some sort of paramilitary person who

5 tried to harm one of those boys. Did you ever find out who that person

6 was?

7 A. I found out that this was a volunteer from the Cacak area who was

8 in the 3rd Battalion, but I don't know his name to this day. I do have

9 official information that in the following week after that, in some three

10 or four days he tried to take an electric engine in the black

11 Gubar [phoen] area. It was booby-trapped, and so in the process of doing

12 this, dismantling this, he was killed.

13 Q. In the course of your earlier testimony, and I'll come back to

14 this, you spoke in more detail about the dangers and the possibility of

15 vengeance that was present between the warring sides. Why do you think

16 there was a real danger that people might give in to their desire for

17 revenge?

18 A. People are very different, and they have all very different

19 notions, and we could see that on the ground.

20 Second, I took instantly the decision that it's better for those

21 children not to go to the collection centre but to live in more normal

22 circumstances like before the war.

23 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, could I seek clarification of one of

24 the previous answers.

25 You said that -- that the people of that group had fired at you,

Page 13956

1 isn't it, before they were ...

2 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Gunfire was opened at our units. I

3 got that report from the field, namely from the commander of the

4 3rd Battalion.

5 JUDGE ORIE: But you also said that it was the members of that

6 group, isn't it, that had fired at your units.

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] In that group of people who

8 surrendered, there was a certain number who did not want to surrender and

9 did not surrender, and they had a clash between themselves whether to

10 surrender or not. Jusupovic can tell you that himself.

11 JUDGE ORIE: My question to you is whether the members of that

12 group where you said you took 36 or 38 prisoners, whether they had fired

13 at your units or your army.

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Around Burnice village where these

15 people surrendered, there was a large number of people, and only this

16 number surrendered.

17 JUDGE ORIE: Yes. So whether these people had ever used their

18 arms or any arms, you don't know; the ones you captured, that were

19 captured.

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I don't know which of them fired,

21 whether some from among those who surrendered or those who fled and did

22 not surrender. We were not able to come close and see.

23 JUDGE ORIE: So the answer is you don't know.

24 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I don't know.

25 JUDGE ORIE: Thank you. Please proceed.

Page 13957

1 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you.

2 Q. Would it be soldierly and would it be correct from the police

3 point of view to check whether perhaps among those people there were some

4 who had shot at a legitimate armed force?

5 A. To be quite honest, those people who surrendered to us, apart

6 from the underaged ones who were separated from the others, were able

7 bodied and fit for military service, but we should have formed a military

8 panel to do that job, but it was not up to us. It was up to military

9 security authorities.

10 Q. Just one more question before the break. I asked you about your

11 fear of possible incidents of revenge. Do you know that such incidents

12 happened on the ground, that people took revenge on others?

13 A. I cannot see -- I cannot say that I saw something for myself. I

14 did what I did as a precaution, knowing that with 99.9 per cent certainty

15 these children would be sent for an exchange, and I don't know through

16 how many hands they would pass before the eventual exchange. But my idea

17 was to have them filmed so that whoever handles them from that time on,

18 they know they can't do any such thing.

19 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] I think I need ten or 12 more

20 minutes to go through the remaining documents, and I plan to finish

21 within that time. Perhaps I should say now that a part of my examination

22 would be in private session to protect certain names.

23 JUDGE ORIE: Mr. Stojanovic, the Chamber would prefer that you do

24 that before the break, then we'll look at the clock. You have another 12

25 minutes then, and we'll then adjourn at close to 25 minutes past 1.00.

Page 13958

1 Please proceed. Well, when I said adjourn, I meant take a break.

2 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you. Could we pull up in

3 e-court P1698. P1698.

4 Q. I have a few questions for you.

5 MR. STOJANOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honours, this document has

6 one more page in B/C/S, and I should like to see the next one. Thank

7 you. That is it. We can then go back to page 1.

8 Q. But the reason I want to see this is the following: Do you

9 recognise the handwriting of your brigade commander Vidoje Blagojevic?

10 A. No.

11 Q. Do you recognise his signature?

12 A. I can see it's his signature, but to be quite frank, after so

13 many years I had forgotten it.

14 Q. Now we can go back to page 1 in B/C/S. From what I was able to

15 see, this is the same text but typed on a teleprinter, and it's exactly

16 the same as the one in handwriting. My young learned friend asked you

17 about the first and the last part of this document, and I want to remove

18 a certain confusion.

19 In this document addressed to the command of the Drina Corps, we

20 read that one of them, meaning one of the four children, spoke to the

21 commander of the sweeping unit about a large number of Muslim troops

22 committing suicide or killing each other, and then comes the sentence

23 quoted to you by the Prosecutor:

24 "We propose that this testimony be recorded by cameras of your

25 press centre."