110207ED

Page 9438

1 [Witness answered through interpreter]

2 Examination by Ms. Hasan: [Continued]

3 Q. Good morning, Mr. Simanic. In July 1995 were there any other

4 sources other than the 5th Engineering Battalion stationed in the

5 Konjevic Polje area?

6 A. In Konjevic Polje, in July 1995, there was a police check-point

7 manned by the police forces. They worked in shifts and I had absolutely

8 no insight in their work because they worked according to their plans and

9 their orders.

10 Q. And which police are you referring to?

11 A. They were in the school. They had the permanent check-point at

12 the intersection in Konjevic Polje. Its purpose was to monitor the road,

13 I suppose most probably because that's where they were most of the time.

14 Q. Do you recall the uniform they were wearing?

15 A. As far as I could see, the uniforms were blue, camouflage blue.

16 Q. All right. The 5th Engineering Battalion, was it subdivided into

17 companies?

18 A. The 5th Engineering Battalion existed only in paper as a

19 battalion because the manpower was maybe as high as a company. However,

20 it was divided into companies but those companies were very small. So

21 they only held a formal title of company, however, the units themselves

22 were smaller and contained a smaller number of soldiers.

23 Q. Can you tell me the names of those companies?

24 A. First, there was the Pioneer Company, then there was the company

25 for roads and bridges, then there was the construction company or

Page 9439

1 engineering company, I'm not quite sure what the name was. And then

2 there was the Pontoon Company.

3 Q. In the days following the fall of Srebrenica, the 11th, 12th and

4 13th of July 1995, was the 5th Engineering Battalion under any threat?

5 A. I'm not quite sure what kind of threat you have in mind.

6 However, we learned from the soldiers who would come from their rest

7 periods what was going on in the surroundings. We also had another big

8 problem. Two of our guards, two of our soldiers, were wounded at the

9 guard post number 6.

10 Q. What did you learn about what was going on in your surroundings?

11 A. We learned what is contained in a report. A group of the B and H

12 army from Srebrenica is moving through the region. Some of them are

13 already hors de combat, others not yet. So we did not know exactly what

14 the situation was. We tried to solve our situation as best as we could

15 by providing security for our own barracks bearing in mind the number of

16 men that we had at our disposal which was quite low at the moment.

17 Q. And when you say you were providing security, was that defending

18 against this group of people that were coming through?

19 A. I cannot tell you that through the barracks itself any of the

20 groups passed, but we heard some things and we had a duty to provide

21 security to the barracks. It was also our permanent duty, even if the

22 situation was not as it was, because the barracks contained the warehouse

23 of ammunition and ordnance.

24 Q. And what exactly did you do to secure the barracks and the depot

25 containing the materials?

Page 9440

1 A. Well, we reinforced our guard posts. We also reinforced the

2 security between the guard posts, and we secured a minefield, because

3 with the number of men we had, we couldn't provide a high-quality

4 security to the zone of the barracks. That's why, instead, we used

5 minefields on the left and right side of the road when you look from

6 Konjevic Polje in the direction of Bratunac.

7 Q. And did any of the companies of your battalion have combat tasks?

8 A. What kind of combat tasks do you have in mind?

9 Q. Well, any combat tasks, engaging the enemy.

10 A. Look, if you consider laying out a minefield a combat task, then

11 I can tell you that that was the basic task of the Pioneer Company. On

12 the other hand, if you are referring to ambushes that I mentioned in my

13 previous statements, that was something that was done solely as part of

14 the security of the barracks and the minefield. So whenever we had

15 enough manpower, we would usually during the night establish ambushes,

16 that's how we were told to call them, and I suppose that's what is

17 contained in the reports and that was only between the exits and the

18 minefields. During the day on the other hand, because the visibility was

19 better, we only had guard posts and we had a minimal number of men

20 manning the guard posts.

21 Q. Do you recall the members of your battalion that were wounded at

22 this time?

23 A. Right then, while this was going on, I was not in Konjevic Polje

24 but I knew those people because they were members of the battalion. They

25 were older people. In fact, most of the members of the battalion were

Page 9441

1 older people. We couldn't send them into action or to any sort of work

2 because they were either unable to work or they could work only little.

3 Q. How did you learn that these soldiers were injured?

4 A. When I returned to Konjevic Polje, then I learned that they were

5 wounded.

6 Q. Do you recall when you returned to Konjevic Polje?

7 A. I think it was the same day, in the evening. I think so.

8 I can't remember it exactly right now because it was a long time ago.

9 MS. HASAN: May we have 65 ter 2082 displayed on the screen,

10 please?

11 Q. This is a report dated 14th July 1995, and it has a reference

12 number of 107-2.

13 Sir, could you just review this document, because I'm going to

14 ask you a few questions about it in a moment.

15 If I can just request the assistance of the court usher to hand

16 the original to the witness to take a look at.

17 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Yes.

18 MS. HASAN:

19 Q. Could you tell us what this document is?

20 A. As far as I can see, this is a document that contains information

21 about the wounded, and it was addressed to the superior command, and here

22 you can see it's the Drina Corps command.

23 Q. Whose name does the document bear?

24 A. The command of the 5th Engineering Battalion.

25 Q. Sir, do you recognise the signature on the first page of that

Page 9442

1 document?

2 A. I'm not sure whether I signed it or not, but it does look like my

3 signature, because you have to bear in mind that my signature usually

4 varies. You can see the same thing if you look at the two different

5 documents. You will see that I usually don't sign it the same way.

6 Q. And can you -- can we just turn to the second page of this

7 document?

8 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Before you do that, I would like to ask the

9 witness if he can see the typed name above the signature, what is written

10 there?

11 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Mile Simanic.

12 JUDGE FLUEGGE: This is your name?

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

14 JUDGE FLUEGGE: At the time, have you been the deputy commander

15 of this battalion?

16 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes, I was. I was the deputy

17 commander of the battalion.

18 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you. Ms. Hasan.

19 MS. HASAN:

20 Q. So on this second page, there is a stamp on the bottom of it.

21 Does that also -- whose name is written there and can you tell us the

22 title and -- and whether that's your signature?

23 A. Deputy commander, Major Mile Simanic, the same applies that

24 I said earlier, the signatures are different. It's probably my signature

25 but ...

Page 9443

1 Q. What information were you forwarding to the Drina Corps command

2 through this report?

3 A. As you can see here, this is data about wounded persons in the

4 5th Engineering Battalion on the 13th of July, I think. It's an

5 extraordinary report or event.

6 Q. Did you report to the Drina Corps command about these wounded

7 soldiers? Was this pursuant to an order?

8 A. As we can see here, there was an order, I'm not familiar with the

9 order, this was done by the administrative person who was in charge of

10 all of that in our unit.

11 Q. Was it your practice to report to the Drina Corps command any

12 time soldiers were wounded?

13 A. I think that it was. Well, it just turned out that I was there.

14 Had the commander been there, he would have done it because we didn't

15 have any wounded persons, any wounded soldiers, before.

16 Q. And it states here that the soldiers were wounded while executing

17 a combat task. Can you tell me, then, since you were there, what combat

18 tasks these soldiers were engaged in?

19 A. As I said, I wasn't there when it actually happened. Their

20 combat task was to secure the barracks.

21 Q. Okay. I'm going to turn to another document, that's 65 ter --

22 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Ms. Hasan, are you tendering this document?

23 MS. HASAN: Yes, I can do so at this. I would like to offer it

24 into evidence.

25 JUDGE FLUEGGE: It will be received.

Page 9444

1 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honours, this document shall be assigned

2 exhibit number P1767, thank you.

3 MS. HASAN: If we could now turn to 65 ter 0012? Sorry, that's

4 00112.

5 Q. This appears to be an interim report. It's dated 13 July 1995,

6 one day before the previous report we just looked at. Who were you -- if

7 you could just review this document.

8 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Ms. Hasan, is it possible to use the other

9 microphone, to minimise the noise of the typing on that desk? Yes, it's

10 much better now, thank you very much.

11 MS. HASAN: Yes, Your Honour.

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, I've looked at it.

13 MS. HASAN:

14 Q. And who were you reporting to through this document?

15 A. It says that the interim report is being submitted to the

16 Drina Corps command.

17 Q. And do you recognise the signature at the bottom of that page?

18 A. Yes. As I said before, it's similar to my signature. As for

19 whether I signed it or not, well, the important thing is that what

20 happened was so. It happened.

21 Q. Can you tell me what is written on top of your signature, right

22 by the stamp?

23 A. Above my signature, it says, "Mile Simanic."

24 Q. Can you tell me the purpose, then, of this interim report?

25 A. To inform the Drina Corps command and for them to do something to

Page 9445

1 draw attention, because there were very few of us, to draw attention to

2 the fact that we were being threatened, under threat, in that area.

3 I must repeat here, it says correctly, during a combat assignment, at

4 guard post number 6, that is the most forward guard post, and it's the

5 closest to the beginning of a minefield.

6 Q. All right. And can you tell from this document when these

7 soldiers were wounded?

8 A. It says here that they were wounded on the 13th of July, at

9 approximately 0800 hours.

10 Q. And you testified that you arrived in Konjevic Polje after these

11 soldiers were wounded.

12 A. Yes. After the soldiers were wounded.

13 Q. And in light of this report, this interim report, and the

14 previous report we looked at, which was dated 14th July 1995, would you

15 have arrived in Konjevic Polje in the evening of the 13th of July 1995?

16 A. As far as I can remember, it's possible, but I don't really

17 remember exactly when I arrived.

18 Q. In the first line of this, this report reads, "On 13th July 1995

19 an unusual incident occurred during which the following were wounded in

20 carrying out their combat tasks in the struggle against enemy extremists

21 and civilians infiltrated in the region of Pobudje Brdo" - excuse me for

22 the pronunciation - "Konjevic Polje at around 0800 hours at guard post

23 number 6."

24 Are these the people -- are the enemy extremists and civilians

25 referred to here the people you were mentioning that were passing through

Page 9446

1 the region?

2 A. Yes. Probably they were meant by that, they were passing

3 through. As far as I was informed and as far as I heard, they escaped so

4 you couldn't really establish it quite specifically.

5 MS. HASAN: May we have this report tendered as the next exhibit?

6 JUDGE FLUEGGE: May I put an additional question to the witness?

7 If I'm not mistaken, you are referring to the same event in this document

8 as in the previous document we have seen; is that correct?

9 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes. It's the same -- it's

10 the same event.

11 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Can you tell me the reason why this event was

12 reported to the Drina Corps command the same day twice?

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I'm a reserve officer, so I don't

14 understand military terminology or military administration all that well,

15 so the administrator who was in charge, he was doing all these things.

16 He says, "This is how it should be done" and this is how he did it, and

17 I signed it. That's how it went, more or less.

18 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you, this document will be received as an

19 exhibit as well.

20 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honours, this document shall be assigned

21 Exhibit number P1768, thank you.

22 MS. HASAN: May we just have the court usher retrieve the

23 original document from the witness, and perhaps, if Your Honours, if you

24 would like to take a look at it.

25 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Yes, please.

Page 9447

1 MS. HASAN: Now, that is the first report we looked at. It's

2 report dated the 14th of July 1995, which refers to the injured soldiers.

3 Q. Sir, the Pioneer Company, where were they located on the 11th,

4 12th and 13th of July 1995?

5 A. We never used the company in its full composition at one place,

6 so there were several places. I don't remember exactly how many places

7 there were. One of them was at an elevation, Vis, it's a construction

8 site in the area of the Kalesija municipality, the place is called

9 Osmaci. There was a group also that was doing de-mining in one location.

10 I'm trying to remember the name of the place. I can't remember the name

11 right now. It's in the direction of Srebrenica, as you're going to

12 Skelani, this was also a minefield that needed to be de-mined so I think

13 they kind of came back in that period sometime. Some soldiers are always

14 resting. A number of them were supposed to be at the passive reflector.

15 This is a facility where some rocks needed to be mined. I can't remember

16 exactly where that was. There was also a number of soldiers who went to

17 de-mine a place behind Milici towards Srebrenica, behind Derventa. There

18 was a road that was mined so they went to clear those mines there.

19 Q. What about the road and bridge company? Where were they located

20 on the 11th, 12th and 13th of July?

21 A. None of our companies was alone in any construction site. We

22 combined them because we did it according to the needs at the time. We

23 combined the personnel. A number of them were at Vis, in the Kalesija

24 municipality, as Osmaci, one of them at the reflector location above

25 Vlasenica. A number were supposed to be carrying out preparations to

Page 9448

1 build an electricity power line from Vlasenica to Konjevic Polje, to the

2 approach roads there. Also, there was a number who was supposed to be in

3 the Bisina barracks above Sekovici. I cannot give you the exact days and

4 the number of men but this is something that you learn only after the

5 tasks are completed. You draw up a report and then this is something

6 that is then mentioned in the report, who carried out certain

7 assignments, what was expended of the material in the execution of the

8 task and how much time was needed to complete the task.

9 Q. The engineering company of your battalion, where were they

10 located and what were they doing during this same time period?

11 A. The engineering company, actually we called it the Construction

12 Company, comprised skilled men. They were carpenters, construction

13 workers, builders, and they mostly worked in places where there was some

14 work on buildings, let's say, high-rise buildings or other buildings,

15 needed by other units and higher-ranking units. A number were at the

16 Bisina barracks. There was a barracks building that was being built

17 there. A number were deployed among the other units at other

18 construction sites, as needed. And then also a number of them were

19 resting.

20 Q. Where was the Logistics Company at this time?

21 A. There was no logistics company. It was actually a platoon that

22 had five or six women and a number of men, and they were billeted at

23 Konjevic Polje.

24 Q. Did you have a duty to report back to the Drina Corps command

25 when any of the tasks that they ordered were completed?

Page 9449

1 A. Each assignment proceeded pursuant to an order. We couldn't do

2 any assignments unless there was an order to do them. After each such

3 assignment we would submit a report with the exact number of people

4 engaged on it, what was spent of material and equipment, how much time

5 was required, and this report is then submitted to the superior command.

6 Q. Do you recall following that procedure in July of 1995?

7 A. I don't see why it wouldn't have been followed. I don't know

8 exactly what you mean.

9 Q. Sir, we've looked at some of the reports that bear your

10 signature, that went up to the Drina Corps command. We've seen the

11 interim report. We've seen some of the other reports that were submitted

12 pursuant to orders. Was there any other duty for your battalion to

13 report to the Drina Corps command?

14 A. I answered that, that we were duty-bound to submit reports and we

15 submitted the reports.

16 Q. How -- how often were these reports submitted to the Drina Corps

17 command?

18 A. You mean upon completion of the task?

19 Q. Sorry, no, I was asking whether there were -- was any other duty

20 for your battalion to report to the Drina Corps command about the

21 activities of the various companies.

22 A. You mean combat reports?

23 Q. Correct.

24 A. We were obliged to do that, and we sent them all the time. The

25 administrative person was the one who took care of that.

Page 9450

1 Q. And what form of communication was used to submit these combat

2 reports?

3 A. This was delivered by hand. It would always say, "By courier"

4 but there were no couriers in the sense that somebody especially came for

5 that. It was more likely that somebody would be going to Vlasenica

6 anyway and as they were going they would take the report and submit it.

7 Q. And how often did you submit these reports to the Drina Corps?

8 A. On a daily basis.

9 Q. When were you required to submit the reports by, what time of

10 day?

11 A. I am not really able to say until by what time of day. These

12 reports were not all that important to me. Nobody harried us, nor was it

13 important at what time of the day it arrived. Sometimes we would even be

14 a whole day late. It depended on what time or when somebody would leave

15 for Vlasenica, and that's when the report would be sent.

16 Q. Who signed these reports?

17 A. I would sign them, the commander would, when he was there, but if

18 neither of us was there, somebody else would sign it, probably the duty

19 officer would do that when it had to be sent.

20 Q. Where was the commander Avramovic on the 11th, 12th and 13th of

21 July?

22 A. At the time, he was on leave. I think his wife and daughter had

23 come. I don't know exactly where he was. Somewhere in Serbia.

24 Q. Given his absence during that time period, whose responsibility

25 was it to sign off on these reports?

Page 9451

1 A. I mentioned this earlier. If I was there, I would sign it.

2 Sometimes I knew that I wouldn't be there at a certain time so I would

3 just sign a blank report. We didn't really attach -- well, we were not

4 that important actually. In a way, we were kind of tenants there.

5 I mean maybe this is not appropriate military terminology but we didn't

6 have an area of responsibility like the infantry units did. The place

7 where we were was in the area of responsibility of another brigade.

8 I think this was on the triangle between Bratunac, Srebrenica and Milici.

9 So I'm not really sure exactly whose area of responsibility it was.

10 MS. HASAN: May we now have 65 ter 1910 displayed on the screen,

11 please? And if I could just request again the assistance of the Court

12 usher to hand the original to the witness?

13 JUDGE FLUEGGE: It would be helpful.

14 MS. HASAN:

15 Q. Sir, if you could just take a moment to review and let me know

16 when you're done.

17 A. I've read it.

18 Q. Sir, this report -- there is an indication on the first page of

19 this report that this is a regular combat report. Would that have been

20 one of the daily reports written to the Drina Corps command?

21 A. Well, yes. It's a regular daily report, so that's what it should

22 have, yeah.

23 Q. What is the date of this report?

24 A. The 14th of July 1995 is what it states.

25 Q. And if you could just turn the page, turn your original, to the

Page 9452

1 second page, and on e-court in English version it's the third page, B/C/S

2 version the second page, could we just have the English then to the third

3 page? Sorry, my mistake. I apologise. It's page 4 on e-court.

4 JUDGE FLUEGGE: In the English.

5 MS. HASAN:

6 Q. Sir, could you tell us whose name is written right near that

7 stamp on the bottom of that page?

8 A. The name is Mile Simanic, that's my name.

9 Q. And do you recognise that signature?

10 A. Well, it does look like mine, as I said.

11 Q. Does that -- the text on top of your name there also state your

12 title?

13 A. Yes, it says Major and Deputy Commander.

14 Q. Would you please now read aloud the text written under the first

15 paragraph of this document so if we could revert back to page 1 of the

16 B/C/S -- okay, I'll -- perhaps it's easier if I just read it and that is,

17 the first page of the English and the first page of the B/C/S. It reads:

18 "1, the enemy: A large enemy group was infiltrated into the region of

19 Pobudje Brdo and the region of Konjevic Polje. Units of the 5th

20 Engineering Battalion and the MUP, Ministry of Interior, successfully

21 resisted the enemy. About 1.000 to 1.500 enemy civilians and soldiers

22 were arrested and killed."

23 Sir, do you remember what you said when you were first shown this

24 document by the Office of the Prosecutor?

25 A. When do you mean? Here in the courtroom?

Page 9453

1 Q. No, this could have been during an interview that you had with

2 the Office of the Prosecutor in 2006.

3 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Mr. Gajic?

4 MR. GAJIC: [Interpretation] Mr. President, just to correct the

5 transcript, it seems to me that Ms. Hasan read correctly the version in

6 the English language. However, it does not correspond to the version in

7 the Serbian language as between the words "killed", or rather I'm sorry,

8 "Arrested" and the word "killed" there is no conjunction "and".

9 JUDGE FLUEGGE: I would like to ask the witness to read the last

10 sentence of the first paragraph into the record.

11 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I can do that. The gentleman is

12 right and I wanted to note that while reading but it's better that he did

13 it. It says, "Arrested, killed, around 1.000 or up to 1.500 enemy

14 civilians and soldiers." So there is no conjunction "and".

15 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Did you read the -- this sentence literally? Can

16 you please do it again, just read the sentence.

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes. "Arrested, were killed,

18 around 1.000 to 1.500 enemy civilians and soldiers."

19 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you. Ms. Hasan, please carry on.

20 MS. HASAN:

21 Q. Mr. Simanic --

22 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Before you carry on, Mr. Gajic has another

23 comment.

24 MR. GAJIC: [Interpretation] Mr. President, just to correct the

25 transcript, between the word "arrested" "were" and "killed" there were no

Page 9454

1 commas in the original text.

2 JUDGE FLUEGGE: In the original text, I don't see any comma.

3 Thank you. Ms. Hasan, please carry on.

4 MS. HASAN:

5 Q. Sir, do you remember your exact words when you were first shown

6 this document by the OTP in an interview in 2006?

7 A. I think that I just glanced at this at the time, and that I said,

8 "Oh, my God."

9 Q. This information that is in this first paragraph of the report,

10 where did it come from?

11 A. You see, when I said that as a battalion we did not have a zone

12 of responsibility, the battalion also does not have trained personnel who

13 would do that. So mostly the infantry battalions and bigger formations

14 have intelligence men who are in charge of such things. We did not have

15 this, and the information was received from our soldiers who were

16 returning from rest, because we did not have any official information

17 from the higher commands.

18 Q. The way you received this information, was it the same way you

19 received the information about the wounded soldiers that we've previously

20 discussed?

21 A. Well, the wounded soldiers were something that could be seen and

22 something that happened in Konjevic Polje itself. And this was something

23 that happened somewhere. It doesn't say here where it happened. It's

24 the general area.

25 Q. Since you didn't -- as I understand you to have just testified

Page 9455

1 that you didn't have any intelligence of your own in the battalion, did

2 you rely on your soldiers for information from -- coming from the field,

3 from the region?

4 A. Not from the region but, rather, our own soldiers who were

5 returning from the places where they were taking rest. They would come

6 back to Konjevic Polje and tell us what was happening, and this was

7 probably included in order to turn attention of this unit to the fact

8 that it could have problems. The higher command was supposed to check

9 that and if it decided to react or do something about it, then it would

10 order that unit or some other unit, which would step up the security in

11 Konjevic Polje. But we never received such an order or such a piece of

12 information. So we had to shift for ourselves, and I must note that at

13 that moment, in Konjevic Polje, we did not have many troops available.

14 There were only about 20 men or so. The weapons were really not good.

15 These were old M-48 rifles and semi-automatic rifles, hardly a few

16 automatic rifles. So that with that number of men and with such weapons,

17 we fared pretty well and it's good that we didn't sustain greater losses.

18 Q. The killing of enemy soldiers and civilians as referred to in

19 this paragraph, would you have considered that to be a crime?

20 A. Look, for me, the biggest crime is when someone kills somebody

21 who is tied. I don't know where, when and in what manner this happened.

22 So I really cannot pass any personal judgement about that, whether it

23 happened in combat or I don't know in what other way. When a war is

24 being waged, you always have both the dead and the wounded on all sides.

25 Q. If these people were first arrested and then killed, would that,

Page 9456

1 in your view, have been a crime?

2 A. Well, I am not a lawyer. I cannot say something like that. But

3 for me personally, that really would be a crime. But it's not on me to

4 establish anything and to judge anything.

5 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Mr. Tolimir?

6 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you, Mr. President. I have

7 an objection because the witness is being asked to give a legal

8 qualification and he explained earlier that in the report where it says,

9 "Arrested killed," does not specify whether they were arrested or killed

10 and whether his troops just heard it from soldiers who were passing by.

11 He said that he didn't see it and he didn't have at his disposal a

12 service which could check that and collect the relevant information,

13 thank you.

14 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Indeed, we received this answer and another

15 answer to the last question. Please carry on, Ms. Hasan.

16 MS. HASAN:

17 Q. The report then continues, and it outlines the tasks of the

18 battalion. Under paragraph 2(a), we see a reference to the 1st Pioneer's

19 company and it talks about building obstacles and fortifications in the

20 area of the Vis facility and clearing mines in the region of Derventa.

21 This, as well as -- sorry, as well as the fact that a squad was sent to

22 clear mines in the Zeleni Jadar/Skelani region which had come back at

23 that point.

24 Is this what we were discussing before, when you were outlining

25 to me what the Pioneer Company was doing on the 11th, 12th and 13th of

Page 9457

1 July? Does that accord with what you told me?

2 A. Well, you just read it. It means that this unit was never

3 engaged to carry out one specific task, as a whole. Usually it had to

4 carry out more tasks than it could. So when this unit came back from

5 Skelani, the place is called Pribicevac, where they worked on de-mining,

6 it came back and then it continued de-mining in Derventa. It says here

7 "Sastavi," but it should say "Sastavci." It's a road leading from

8 Derventa in the direction of Srebrenica. And some of them were working

9 on the Vis facility. That's Osmaci, on Kalesija, it's quite far away,

10 and another part maybe one or two soldiers, I'm not sure how many,

11 remained in the barracks, were engaged on security tasks. I must say

12 that as for Konjevic Polje, as a sector in geographical terms, one

13 couldn't say where Konjevic Polje ends and Pobudje Brdo begins. One

14 doesn't know where the border between municipalities are. I didn't know

15 that at the time, nor was that important for us. But on Pobudje hill,

16 where there was a power line leading towards Bratunac, there was a

17 minefield, so that here the overlapping of these geographical notions

18 cannot be taken literally because Pobudje as a hill belongs once again to

19 the general sector, and therefore the border line is not quite clear.

20 Q. Is the information contained in this paragraph, then, accurate?

21 A. Well, it should be correct because it was written by a man who

22 collected all this. It was the desk officer. He would collect all that

23 and then type up the reports and he rarely made any mistakes.

24 Q. Let's move on to subparagraph (b) which is on second page of the

25 English version. It talks about the activities of the road and bridge

Page 9458

1 company, that they were working for the Vlasenica PTT on a relay at

2 Pogled, that they were constructing defensive positions in the area of

3 the Vis facility and organising ambushes and engaging in combat

4 activities with the enemy. Again, here would you say that the

5 information in this subparagraph would -- was -- is accurate?

6 A. Well, perhaps this could be a slip of the pen of the person who

7 did this. I don't think that the road and bridge company could obstruct

8 roads but it did do the works in the area of Vis. When something is

9 obstructed it's usually the minefields that they mean here, and this was

10 what the company was doing, and it was definitely located in the area of

11 Vis.

12 Q. Then let's move to subparagraph (c), the engineering company or

13 what you've referred to as the construction company, it states that they

14 were carrying out construction work as ordered by the Drina Corps command

15 in Crna Rijeka, at the Bisina barracks and at the Zaklopaca Limekiln does

16 that accurately reflect the activities of the engineering company at that

17 time?

18 A. It should reflect, perhaps, I don't know, because I cannot see it

19 anywhere here, we also had a workshop in Vlasenica, which was part of the

20 engineering company but it was a separate entity in Vlasenica, and it was

21 in charge of minor repairs of buildings. It had a joiner and a painter

22 and an electrician. So there were several repairmen, seven or eight of

23 them, there. They were separated, and I see that they are not mentioned

24 anywhere here among the work tasks but they were in another location.

25 I'm not sure what the right military word for that is. They were

Page 9459

1 attached to the Drina Corps command and they would reach agreements about

2 works and tasks directly with them. Perhaps this is the reason why they

3 are not included in the report.

4 Q. Now if we can move to page 3 of the English version, under

5 subparagraph 5, that would be page 2 of the B/C/S version, there is a

6 reference here to an extraordinary event and it talks about two

7 conscripts who were injured on the 13th of July 1995 at 0800 hours. Are

8 these the same soldiers we were discussing earlier today?

9 A. Yes. These are the very same soldiers, Trifko Bandjur,

10 Spaso Bandjur and Vasilije Orasanin.

11 Q. Now under subparagraph 6, under the heading "logistics," it

12 reads:

13 "Preparatory activities need to be carried out for the loading

14 machine which will be engaged to bury the killed enemy soldiers. 50

15 litres of oil to be assigned for the task."

16 Do you see that written there, sir?

17 A. Yes, I can see it.

18 Q. Now, you have the original version in front of you. Do you see

19 that there is a circle around "50 litres"?

20 A. Yes.

21 Q. And if we can now turn to the -- to subparagraph 9, if you look

22 at subparagraph 9, which is -- yes, on the last page of the English

23 version, it states under requests, "assign 50 litres of oil for the above

24 task," and there is a handwritten note there that says, "Done." Would

25 that have been -- would that handwritten note and the circle around the

Page 9460

1 "50 litres" written with blue ink on the previous page of the English

2 version have been a notation that you completed?

3 A. No. It wasn't us who entered the note. We just typed it out.

4 And I don't know who wrote this note.

5 Q. Now, were you aware that your unit was involved in the burial of

6 killed enemy soldiers?

7 A. I didn't know that.

8 Q. Would your battalion make equipment available for projects that

9 were not completed by your battalion but by others, if so ordered by the

10 Drina Corps command?

11 A. Well, you see, the unit did everything only by order of the

12 Drina Corps, and whatever the Drina Corps ordered to a subordinated unit,

13 a battalion, it would issue an order and the order would specify in what

14 manner the task would be carried out, whether we, if we had at our

15 disposal such machines, would give such a machine, together with the

16 operator, to somebody else, or we would be in charge of the task and then

17 other machines would be attached to our unit. We did not have such cases

18 when machines were attached to our unit but there were cases when we had

19 to give our machines to others when roads were being built, if we had a

20 machine at our disposal we would give it to another unit and it would be

21 engaged for the need of this unit or for civilian needs. But then, in

22 such a case, all the logistics and everything else, the manner in which

23 this would be done and the tempo and so on, this would be given to the

24 machine operator by the respective unit.

25 I would also add that when it says under item 6, "logistics

Page 9461

1 security," that it's necessary to carry out certain works for the work of

2 a loader which will be engaged on burying. The loader is not a machine

3 for digging. It just loads earth and other materials. There are other

4 machines which are used for digging and which are specifically made in

5 order to perform that.

6 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Can we please turn back to item 6 of the English

7 version? Thank you. Ms. Hasan, please carry on.

8 MS. HASAN:

9 Q. Sir, there were massive graves that were being dug out in the

10 vicinity of where your battalion was, and you've testified here that you

11 had construction equipment in your battalion, including a loader. Are

12 you telling us today that your equipment was not used in these massive

13 operations that were going on?

14 A. As far as I'm aware, no. During the time that I spent there,

15 I never issued such an order.

16 Q. And if we turn to subparagraph 8, this is on page -- we've got

17 the page already displayed. Under conclusions, forecasts and decisions,

18 it states:

19 "Continue organising ambushes to fight the enemy, infiltrated in

20 the Pobudje hill, shift the focus of the fight against them there,

21 destroy the enemy and liberate Pobudje hill as soon as possible.

22 Continue with the 5th engineering tacks, increase security and vigilance

23 measures in the region of Konjevic Polje."

24 Would you say that this assessment or conclusion accurately

25 reflects the measures that had to be taken at that time?

Page 9462

1 A. Well, I must note once again, Pobudje Brdo, Pobudje hill,

2 Konjevic Polje, these are the geographic names which are used all the

3 time. Fighting against enemy with 20 men outside of a barracks, in order

4 to do that you would have to have Special Forces rather than the old men

5 that we had at our disposal. We tried to secure Konjevic Polje as a

6 barracks as best as we could, but even without an order and let alone

7 with an order issued to that effect, the barracks had to be secured, all

8 of it. And as for the minefield, it began to the right of Konjevic Polje

9 in the direction of Bratunac. So on the right-hand side, between the

10 brook and the road, that was where the farthest guard post was. So we

11 were supposed to close it off and not to let anyone pass through the

12 minefield. It was a problem at night because we could not even change

13 the guard. It was a greater problem at night. And it was rather a

14 problem to secure all this. And the man who drew up this document wanted

15 to illustrate the way that we had to work in the field or rather in

16 Konjevic Polje, and once again, it's clear that we had to be engaged more

17 in the field when it says, "Continue the work in which units of the 5th

18 Engineering Battalion are charged with," it means that we were continuing

19 to do one and the same thing, because when the superior command did not

20 order us to bring back our men from the construction site, that meant

21 that we normally just had to continue working as we had been doing up

22 until that moment.

23 MS. HASAN: Thank you. It's 10.30 and perhaps a good time to

24 take the break.

25 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you very much. Could you indicate how much

Page 9463

1 time you will need after the break to continue and finish your

2 examination-in-chief?

3 MS. HASAN: I won't need -- I will probably need about 15 minutes

4 to complete my examination-in-chief.

5 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you. Mr. Gajic?

6 MR. GAJIC: [Interpretation] Mr. President, I just noted a small

7 mistake, on page 1 in line 21, it says, "Rule 74 bis" and it should say

8 "Rule 94 bis."

9 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you very much. It was a long time ago at

10 that parts of the transcript. Before we break, I just would like to put

11 one question to the witness.

12 If we take it that you signed this document, did you sign it

13 after having read it?

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] How should I tell you? I rarely

15 read those documents. Actually I didn't read them. Because what was

16 important or at least what I was told that was important is that we

17 should simply write it out, everything where the G unit was engaged so

18 that we could perform the duties that we can bearing in mind the number

19 of men we had. And after each task we had to draft a report and that was

20 the most difficult part to do. The most important thing to write out was

21 how much fuel we spent because that was the most critical element in the

22 whole setup. Excuse me, so I'm not an active officer. I'm a reserve

23 officer. So there are some of my signatures that I indeed I did write

24 down, although actually if you ask me I think it wasn't up to me to sign

25 it as a deputy, because if the commander wasn't present, we would not do

Page 9464

1 the handover. I don't know why he left and there was no handover which

2 means that actually he was still a commander, not me. So this document

3 should have been signed by a commander and then my signature should have

4 been there as signing for the commander.

5 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you. We must have our first break now and

6 we will resume at 11.00.

7 --- Recess taken at 10.33 a.m.

8 --- On resuming at 11.02 a.m.

9 JUDGE FLUEGGE: So as you can see, the Chamber is now complete

10 again.

11 Ms. Hasan, please continue.

12 MS. HASAN: May we just have 65 ter 1910 displayed on the screen

13 again?

14 Q. Sir, the fuel that we've been discussing, referenced in

15 subparagraph 6, as well as paragraph 9, does that fuel relate to the

16 mentioning in paragraph 1 of the people that were killed?

17 A. No. It does not relate to that. Since it is the logistics

18 people who were requesting it, and this is the logistic department, they

19 are simply requesting it from the higher command. I think that this was

20 drafted by a professional man who heard that there were some killed

21 people and decided to request it. If we receive such a request, then the

22 use of this fuel can only be in accordance with a special order. As far

23 as I know, we did not receive such an order and also we did not receive

24 this fuel. It's a small quantity and nobody brought it over to us, as

25 far as I know. So this wasn't actually used. And this thing that it

Page 9465

1 says here, that it has been resolved, it means that somebody else wrote

2 it. Only they know why it was done and how it was done. We didn't do

3 it, and as far as I know, I'm not sure whether it was actually used.

4 Q. Sir, in relation to the first paragraph, which refers to the

5 people being killed, why did you, when you first were shown this document

6 by the Office of the Prosecutor, say, "Oh, my God"?

7 A. Because at first, I didn't read the whole of the report. In the

8 first moment I thought that it was this unit who did it. And to me, it

9 was a crazy thought that 20 soldiers, old and weak, could do something

10 like this, while we only performed the tasks related to the security of

11 the barracks. That's why I reacted like this. Because I have to

12 emphasise it once again, I'm a reserve officer, and I simply took this as

13 a template. Actually, I didn't write it myself. This is how these

14 things were done all the time. And the administrative person drafted it

15 in this particular way simply because I think that somebody had started

16 it earlier on, probably the commander, and then the reports were drafted

17 in this way. If you ask me, it's illogical that the

18 5th Engineering Battalion would have to contain anything related to the

19 police company, because we didn't know anything about it. I don't know

20 why it found its place in this report. Except maybe in order to inform

21 the higher command that the police company is here in case they didn't

22 know.

23 Q. Sir, you've mentioned a few times now that you were a reserve

24 officer but can you tell us what your position was at the time this

25 report was sent to the Drina Corps command?

Page 9466

1 A. All the time, I performed the function of the deputy commander of

2 the Engineering Battalion. I said that at the beginning. We divided the

3 tasks between us and we used the same system of work all the time. So

4 I did all the construction works, while other works related to

5 administration and the military part of business so to speak, that's how

6 I used to call it, I didn't do because I didn't know how to do these

7 things. So it was the commander who did these things.

8 Q. This document that we are looking at, as the deputy commander,

9 were you responsible for the information contained in that report that

10 went to the Drina Corps command?

11 A. Well, according to the engagement of this unit and the rules of

12 engagement of this unit, I suppose I should be, but take a look at this.

13 How could I be responsible for this police company that is also mentioned

14 in here? There was no connection between the military and the police at

15 this level. It never existed. I also said it already, I think, I don't

16 know if you can probably find it in some transcript, but there was even

17 some antagonism between the military and the police because the police

18 used to be better supplied than the military, and also had at its

19 disposal a far better logistics. So this antagonism actually grew by

20 day.

21 Q. Sir, I'm not quite sure I understand your answer to my question

22 which was not whether you're responsible for the police but whether you

23 were responsible, having signed this document, for the information

24 contained in the report.

25 A. I don't know how to answer. That's the essence of the problem.

Page 9467

1 Am I responsible for information here? Well, take a look. Here, we find

2 the police company mentioned, about which I know nothing. It was the

3 administrative person who drafted it, who took care of all these things,

4 and I simply signed it in hurry or sometimes even I signed blank papers

5 so that they could go out as quickly as possible. This report wasn't

6 really that important. We had separate reports for each construction

7 site and that was important. When you drafted a report about the

8 construction site, that was something very important, and then you really

9 had to stand behind every single litre of the fuel reported, every single

10 man-hour reported, and for that we had very accurate logs.

11 Q. Sir, you testified here that you were -- you arrived in

12 Konjevic Polje after the two soldiers of your battalion were wounded.

13 Can you tell me when did you hear about these 1.000 to 1.500 men as

14 mentioned in paragraph 1 of this document having been killed?

15 A. I didn't say that I learned about it. That's what happened that

16 day, I suppose. Because the 14th of July means that it happened the day

17 before it, because I suppose that when you write a report on the 14th of

18 July then you actually report about what happened on the 13th of July.

19 So it was simply rumours among our soldiers, and that's why it found its

20 place here.

21 Q. Do you believe, sir, that 1.000 to 1.500 people were killed, as

22 stated in this paragraph?

23 A. I can't either believe or disbelieve this. We don't have an

24 organ which could determine that. This was more of an information to a

25 superior command telling them that we learned that. And they can then go

Page 9468

1 on and undertake certain measures in order to verify this information

2 because we didn't have an intelligence organ or any other person who

3 would be qualified to check this information because if we knew then we

4 would probably say where they were and what they were doing.

5 Q. Okay. I would like to tender this document as the next exhibit.

6 JUDGE FLUEGGE: It will be received as an exhibit.

7 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honours, this document shall be assigned

8 Exhibit P1769. Thank you.

9 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Please -- I would like to have it on the screen

10 because I would like to put an additional question related to this report

11 to the witness. Ms. Hasan, have you finished this document?

12 MS. HASAN: Yes, I have and I was going to offer the original to

13 Your Honours if you would like to take a look at it.

14 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Yes, please. And I would like to ask the

15 witness, this document is from the 14th of July. Where have you been

16 that day?

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I can't remember where I was that

18 day. I said that after the wounding, I arrived, and that I found out

19 only when I arrived that there were wounded. As far as my movements are

20 concerned, I moved to all construction sites. You can see it here in the

21 report, it says that the works are continuing on all the construction

22 sites, and I had to go and ensure that the works went on, and those

23 construction sites were quite far apart from each other. I had one in

24 Bisina barracks, in the Sekovici municipality, then one above Vlasenica,

25 then there was another construction site below Vlasenica, what's its

Page 9469

1 name, Krecana and then there was another construction site that was in

2 the preparation phase in Vlasenica so I had lots of work to do, and it

3 wasn't my job simply to sit in Konjevic Polje. I had my tasks that I had

4 to perform. That is why I can't tell you with any precision now where

5 I was in each moment.

6 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Have you been in Konjevic Polje that day?

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] You mean the 14th?

8 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Yes.

9 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It's possible.

10 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Can you recall having been in the administration

11 of your battalion, where those people who are responsible for the

12 administration are located?

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, that's where we used to sit.

14 We used a smaller house that had been destroyed earlier and then we

15 converted it into small offices, and that's where we performed part of

16 our tasks, when we were in Konjevic Polje.

17 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Have you been in this location that day, 14th of

18 July?

19 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I have to tell you again that

20 I really cannot remember for this date. It was a long time ago and I

21 cannot remember all the dates and where I was on those dates. If I was

22 there on the 13th, late in the evening, I probably wouldn't go back in

23 the night. Maybe I would then go again to visit the construction sites

24 in the morning on the 14th because that was the kind of programme

25 I usually had so it is possible that I was there for a part of the 14th.

Page 9470

1 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Who was your commander?

2 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] My commander was Milenko Avramovic,

3 the commander.

4 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Where was he that day?

5 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] He was not in the unit. I already

6 said that. He was on leave, I think, that his wife and his child visited

7 him and I think that he was somewhere in Serbia with them.

8 JUDGE FLUEGGE: That means you were really in charge as the

9 acting commander of your unit; is that correct?

10 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, in a sense, conditionally

11 speaking, yes, because wherever I was at the construction site, I was

12 also in charge of that construction site. You know, when my commander

13 left, we didn't do any formal handover of duties. He continued to be the

14 commander and I continued to be the deputy, and we continued performing

15 our tasks in accordance with our agreement, meaning that I would do the

16 construction part of the business and he would take care of the military

17 part, and administrative part.

18 JUDGE FLUEGGE: You told us that it happened that you signed

19 blank pieces of paper. Do you recall how frequently you did that?

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, I couldn't do it often.

21 There were just a few combat reports. When I had to leave earlier, and

22 then I would simply sign a blank paper in order not to leave the combat

23 report undrafted. You know, all these reports basically repeat its

24 contents, and I was told that the most important part was the part about

25 the use of the unit, meaning what the battalion was doing, but the rest

Page 9471

1 simply contains information.

2 JUDGE FLUEGGE: How did you know in these cases when you signed

3 blank pieces of paper where to put your signature?

4 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, since the administrative

5 person was a professional, he had an idea about how much text there was

6 going to be approximately, and then he fitted it in.

7 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Who was this administrative person you are

8 referring to?

9 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It's written here, MB/MB. It was a

10 staff sergeant who used to do all these things for us. He was old. He

11 was either already retired or just about to retire. His name was Mirko

12 but I don't know his last name. We used to call him Zajo.

13 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Was he in a position to determine how many litres

14 of oil you will need for carrying out this task?

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No. This is the logistics. He

16 simply picked up those data. He would simply collect all the data from

17 everybody and then he would formulate it into the sentences and the text

18 later on. And then he would draft a report like this one.

19 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Tell me: Is it permitted for a deputy commander

20 to sign a report without knowing the text of the report? That means a

21 blank piece of paper.

22 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Let me tell you: You know, we

23 would usually agree the contents, what he was going to write. We would

24 agree on that beforehand. And this is not the kind of document -- or at

25 least I was told so, the kind of document that would be important,

Page 9472

1 because it wasn't a combat unit. This unit did not take part in carrying

2 out the tasks. So we didn't really have to spell out each task. The

3 only important thing was to say where the unit was and where the unit was

4 used so that we wouldn't get a task that we would not be able to carry

5 out due to insufficient manpower. So in most cases, these combat reports

6 were rather stereotypic and simply repeated their contents.

7 JUDGE FLUEGGE: You just told me, in line 14 through 16, "You

8 know, we would usually agree the contents, what he was going to write.

9 We would agree on that beforehand."

10 Was it the case with this report as well?

11 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] When I say "agree," what I mean is

12 each of us who had to take part in this would write a certain part. For

13 instance if there were some changes in the kind of the use of this unit.

14 And then you would write what had to be changed in relation to the

15 previous report. I also didn't know where all the units exactly were and

16 where they were engaged. So the guy in charge of the logistics would

17 write his own part, he would collect all these other data, and then he

18 would draft it into the shape of a combat report.

19 JUDGE FLUEGGE: I would like to understand your -- the sentence,

20 "each of us would who had to take part in this would write a certain

21 part." Did you write a certain part?

22 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, that's why I'll telling you

23 all this. If you take, for instance, the use of the unit, if there were

24 some changes or a part of the unit would arrive to Konjevic Polje, then

25 I would only write down this particular part. For instance, the 1st

Page 9473

1 Pioneer company arrived from carrying out a task. Or if I had issued an

2 order or assigned a task, then I would write it down, and if there are no

3 changes, then he would incorporate this and simply copy the parts that

4 hadn't been changed.

5 JUDGE FLUEGGE: I understand your position. Can you nevertheless

6 tell me which part of this report was written or drafted by you?

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I told you, take for instance item

8 number 2(A). Most probably it was I who said that this unit returned

9 from de-mining of Zeleni Jadar. Most probably it was I who said that.

10 He may have known it but I wrote it down because I knew it. If a unit

11 goes to perform a certain task, it is done in accordance with an order

12 because they have to act in accordance with that order. And then also

13 this administrative person knows that such an order has been issued and

14 he knows who went there and to carry out what task.

15 JUDGE FLUEGGE: And who was it who wrote the paragraph item

16 number 1, "The enemy"?

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I don't know. It must be the staff

18 sergeant who wrote this, most probably, based on what he heard, because

19 all of us heard this in Konjevic Polje, you know, people were talking

20 about it. People were talking about certain problems, that there were

21 some killed people, some captured people, and most probably he wrote it

22 in in order to draw attention to this because there were very few of us

23 in the barracks. So we were not secure and things were going around,

24 around us, and we didn't know which things exactly were going around.

25 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Are you saying that you were reporting rumours?

Page 9474

1 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, we had no other way to do

2 things because our unit did not have an intelligence organ who could go

3 out and establish this or double-check it.

4 JUDGE FLUEGGE: How could the Drina Corps command rely on your

5 report signed by you, probably signed by you, in this combat report if

6 there are only rumours? It's an official, regular, combat report.

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, there are rumours. I told

8 you that if there was a need to double-check this, then the corps would

9 go and double-check it, or if they thought there was a need to

10 double-check it and if they knew that that was a fact then they wouldn't

11 double-check it and then they would have to act in accordance with their

12 own conclusion to see whether we are safe or not. If we were safe, the

13 20 of us, then they probably wouldn't even write to us, and in case we

14 why not safe and secure then they would issue us some other order, if

15 that was necessary in their view. They could maybe even call some other

16 forces who would then come and help us to secure the barracks in

17 Konjevic Polje.

18 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Did you come across an instance where somebody in

19 your unit or somebody else signed instead of you, using your signature?

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, let me tell you, I didn't

21 really check these things.

22 JUDGE FLUEGGE: It seems to be quite important, that this is your

23 signature or the signature of another person. Did you authorise another

24 person to use your signature at any point in time?

25 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, I never authorised anybody.

Page 9475

1 I told you my signature is never the same. Every time it turns out

2 slightly different. I never thought that this signature was really

3 something important.

4 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Ms. Hasan, I would like to give back the original

5 version of the report. Please carry on, Ms. Hasan. Judge Mindua has a

6 question, sorry.

7 JUDGE MINDUA: [Interpretation] Yes, sir. I don't know, you might

8 have already answered this question. In the first paragraph, referring

9 to the enemy, I see that it says that about a thousand to 1500 enemy

10 civilians and soldiers were arrested and killed. Do you recall whether

11 your battalion unit had arrested and then killed civilians?

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Sir, at no point did I say that our

13 battalion made the arrests. Those 20 or so soldiers could not have done

14 that. Our battalion only provided security for the barracks in

15 Konjevic Polje, and that is the only task that we could have comfortably

16 carried out in view of our numbers and the weapons that we had at our

17 disposal. When I speak about our numbers, I also want to mention the age

18 of the soldiers who were there. And again, it doesn't state there,

19 "arrested and killed." What is meant there is that they were taken out

20 of operation, but it's not known how many of them were killed or wounded

21 or captured.

22 JUDGE MINDUA: [Interpretation] Fine. So you had about 20 men

23 with you. But you haven't answered my question. Was it usual to arrest

24 people and then to kill them? Have you ever seen such things, so people

25 being arrested and then, afterwards, being executed?

Page 9476

1 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I did not see that. And I think

2 that this is not something usual. This should not be a usual thing.

3 JUDGE MINDUA: [Interpretation] Okay. The Presiding Judge has

4 already asked the question that I wanted to ask, meaning why did you sign

5 this paper, but you've already answered this question. Thank you.

6 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Ms. Hasan. Sorry, Judge Nyambe has a question.

7 JUDGE NYAMBE: Thank you. I just need to understand your

8 testimony regarding to the compilation of a regular combat report as the

9 one on the screen. Is it your evidence that more than one person

10 contributed to the contents of this report?

11 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] According to what I said before,

12 and according to what was required, it had to be a number of people. I

13 can also say something that I forgot to mention before, and that is that

14 this report is drafted in the Ekavica dialect, and I, you may have been

15 able to notice, speak in the Ijekavica dialect. This automatically means

16 that a number of persons participated in the drafting of this report.

17 I'm not a professional in those tasks. Perhaps I would have drafted a

18 different report which would not correspond to what was required. And

19 that's why there was a person there who was entrusted with doing that

20 job, with drafting the report -- reports.

21 JUDGE NYAMBE: Okay. So you have different people writing the

22 reports, inputting in this final report. How exactly did you input? Did

23 you sit down, type your own portion, or did you write your report and

24 give it to the person who finally finalised the report?

25 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, nobody really wrote it

Page 9477

1 properly. These would be just done along the general lines, adding only

2 changes for a certain day, perhaps somebody requests -- would request

3 that a certain change would be made in a particular part so this would be

4 done very quickly and then the person would draft the report. At least,

5 the way I understood it, the report doesn't have any weight because after

6 that, it is used by the corps or by a larger unit, to understand what is

7 going on in the field, in a particular unit, what the situation is, and

8 what they would need to do. For example, to improve security or if

9 people are not fully engaged to engage them on some other task and so on

10 and so forth.

11 JUDGE NYAMBE: Finally, we have a document on the screen, which

12 is a combat report, in which you had an input as an individual. Did you

13 actually type this portion on the report or somebody else typed it?

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] When I mentioned it before who

15 drafted it and who typed it, usually at the end of the combat report you

16 would have initials. Here it's MB/MB, so that would be the answer to

17 your question, that would be the person who drafted the report. That

18 person did everything. If it hadn't been for him, we wouldn't even have

19 half these documents done in this particular way. Perhaps we would have

20 done them, yes, this is it.

21 JUDGE NYAMBE: Thank you very much.

22 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Now I have a follow-up question, sir.

23 You said, answering a question by Judge Nyambe, "Perhaps somebody

24 requests -- would request that a certain change be made in a particular

25 part." How can I understand this answer? What does it mean? Somebody

Page 9478

1 requests, particular -- to make a change in a particular part of the

2 report? A change -- was there first a first draft and then a second

3 draft after having made a change or was it a regular report sent every

4 day and just with some additional remarks or what are you talking about?

5 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I don't know what you mean, change

6 the report. I didn't mean for anybody to change the report. What

7 I meant was, for example, if there were changes then, for example, just

8 briefly I would say the unit returned from de-mining, so then he would

9 know which unit and then he would put that in, if that happened when

10 I was there. If I wasn't there, he would gather all the information

11 himself and write -- write it in the report.

12 JUDGE FLUEGGE: I have to put to you what you said to one of the

13 last questions. Page 43, lines 17 and the following. "Well, nobody

14 really wrote it properly. These would be just done along the general

15 lines, adding only changes for a certain day, perhaps somebody

16 requests -- would request that a certain change would be made in a

17 particular part." What does that mean? I'm referring to your own words

18 about changes. What kind of changes are you talking about?

19 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Additions, something -- for

20 example, I mentioned the 1st Pioneer company, the new thing would be that

21 a part of that unit, I don't know how many men, came back from de-mining.

22 So that would be a change in reference to a previous situation. So if

23 I wrote that, I would write that just briefly, in case the person who was

24 writing the report didn't know, then they would put that into the report.

25 This is what I meant. Something new.

Page 9479

1 JUDGE FLUEGGE: You just said, "So that would be a change in

2 reference to a previous situation." Do you mean a previous situation or

3 a previous report?

4 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] If it's not stated in the previous

5 report, it would need to be put in the current report. Then we write

6 down what happened. If I knew that such and such a unit returned,

7 actually that group of people who went to Zeleni Jadar and Skelani for

8 de-mining, I would just write, "The group returned from assignment in

9 Pribicevac." And then he would just enter that, if it wasn't entered

10 before.

11 JUDGE FLUEGGE: This doesn't help me to clarify the situation,

12 especially in relation to the first paragraph.

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It's like this: Something that is

14 new -- something new that happened, so if something new happened then

15 that would be written in. I don't know if that would be entered into the

16 previous day's report. I would write that just put it in general lines,

17 write it by hand, saying a part of the unit came back from demining in

18 Zeleni Jadar/Skelani and that was sufficient for him to check to see if

19 he had entered that particular thing in the report from the previous day,

20 whether that was something that he had already reported, and if not, then

21 he would enter that regarding the engagement of the 1st Pioneer company.

22 JUDGE FLUEGGE: And the other colleagues of your unit who

23 contributed to this report, did they do that in the same way as you did?

24 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Most probably, if he wasn't there

25 he -- if he was there, he would write it in, if he wasn't there he would

Page 9480

1 give it to someone else saying, "Put that in, put that in," and that

2 person would put that in and then do it, because who would know -- who

3 else would know what was required by the logistics unit, what was

4 lacking, what needed to be replenished, so on and so forth.

5 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Who was it, I ask this question again, who gave

6 the information which was put into paragraph 1, item 1, the enemy? There

7 is a reference to the units of the 5th Engineering Battalion and the MUP.

8 Who was it who gave this information so that the man who is just sitting

9 in the office would be able to write that down?

10 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] This information is something that

11 we heard from soldiers who were returning to Konjevic Polje from their

12 rest period. They conveyed this information to us. And that man entered

13 it most probably in order to draw attention to events that were taking

14 place around us. We didn't know anything about that, whether we were in

15 danger or not and to what degree we were in danger. That was supposed to

16 indicate that the superior command would need to check and issue a -- an

17 adequate order if necessary, order to us, how to behave. It was our

18 duty, as soon as we came to Konjevic Polje, to provide security for those

19 barracks. I don't know whether that would be something that would be

20 done with six soldiers or four soldiers at the guard posts, depending on

21 the number of men.

22 JUDGE FLUEGGE: If I understood you correctly, you and some

23 others of your unit, you learned about this -- these 1.000 to 1.500 enemy

24 people from your soldiers returning from the field; is that correct?

25 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] From the rest period. They would

Page 9481

1 go home to rest for two or three days, then they would come back, they

2 would report to Konjevic Polje, and then proceed to executing the same

3 assignment or would be transferred to a different assignment.

4 JUDGE FLUEGGE: That was not my question. I wanted to know, if

5 I understood you correctly, that you learned about these 1.000 to 1.500

6 people from the soldiers coming back; is that correct?

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes.

8 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Judge Mindua has a final question.

9 JUDGE MINDUA: [Interpretation] Yes, Witness. I would like to put

10 a question to you. You see that this document has triggered many

11 questions and, of course, the Chamber has to find out about this

12 document, and as far as I'm concerned, it's the first paragraph, where it

13 is stated that between 1.000 and 1.500 civilians and soldiers were

14 arrested and killed. And the Chamber has to find out what has happened.

15 So I've listened to what you said very carefully. You said that there

16 was a person who was drafting the report, and I understand that this

17 person had to draft the main parts of that report. Even in this

18 Tribunal, when the Registrar submits a report to New York, many people

19 contribute to the drafting of the report, many sections contribute to the

20 report. But the person, the final person, who signs the document has to

21 checkup and has to find out whether he's not giving wrong information to

22 his superiors, so you are an educated man, sir. What does a signature

23 mean for you? You may sign any document and then you can send them to

24 your superiors and you never check what's in it? Because this is not a

25 propaganda document which was sending to the radio or the television, you

Page 9482

1 were informing your superiors in order for them to give follow-up orders.

2 So I would like to ask you for a last time a question: Did you check up

3 the information about the thousand to 1500 people, we are talking about

4 civilians and soldiers, who were arrested and killed? So this would be

5 the last time that I would ask you this question, witness.

6 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Sir, I replied and told you what I

7 know, and that is that -- how we found out about it and what we found

8 out. The unit where I was did not have any trained people who would be

9 able to check this because this is something that is done, checked by the

10 intelligence organ. We didn't have such an organ in the unit, and we had

11 to somehow protect ourselves or, in a way, inform the superior command

12 that we had heard that something was happening and that we didn't know

13 what it was and that, of course, we were concerned about how things would

14 develop. This is why this was put in, so that the superior command could

15 check it because they also knew that we didn't have an intelligence organ

16 who would be able to provide relevant data there that would be accurate.

17 This is generally what we heard and what we reported to the superior

18 command, and it was up to the superior command to react if there was a

19 problem relating to the security of the unit.

20 JUDGE MINDUA: [Interpretation] Fair enough. So the report was

21 not properly drafted. You might have used the verb "may" or "might"

22 about a thousand to 1500 people might have been arrested and killed. Or

23 for the first sentence, you could have said, "A large -- it is possible

24 that a large enemy group was infiltrated," and then you could have added

25 that you hadn't double-checked the information because for me, I still --

Page 9483

1 I still have a doubt, I'm still sceptical about the number of people who

2 had been arrested and killed as stated in your report.

3 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I mentioned that it was some 20

4 people. It's impossible that they would be able to do something like

5 that, to provide security for the barracks and to do this. This is why

6 this was put into the report so that the superior command would have to

7 do something if they assessed that we were under threat because there

8 were only a few of us. We were not properly armed, and elderly people

9 could not really fight seriously in any type of enemy attack.

10 JUDGE MINDUA: [Interpretation] So in other words, you wanted to

11 disinform the superior command in order for them to react and you were

12 expecting a positive reaction from them?

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, I was not able to establish

14 whether this was erroneous information from the soldiers or not who were

15 returning. I already mentioned that we didn't have an intelligence organ

16 and this is why. Had I had an intelligence organ in the unit, then this

17 would have been processed by the intelligence organ and they would have

18 said, "Well, this is erroneous information. Please do not write that in

19 the report." This is at least what I think and what I know about the way

20 official correspondence is carried out in the military.

21 JUDGE MINDUA: [Interpretation] Thank you very much, sir.

22 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Ms. Hasan, sorry for this lengthy interruption.

23 You should proceed now.

24 MS. HASAN:

25 Q. Sir, are you familiar with Kravica?

Page 9484

1 A. You mean the place? The settlement of Kravica?

2 Q. Yes.

3 A. Yes. I know it. It's a settlement between Konjevic Polje and

4 Bratunac.

5 Q. How many kilometres away from Konjevic Polje is Kravica?

6 A. I don't know precisely. I think it's about halfway between

7 Konjevic Polje and Bratunac.

8 Q. Sir, you work in that area. Approximately how many kilometres is

9 it from Konjevic Polje?

10 A. If I said halfway, then it's about 12, 13, 14 kilometres. That

11 would be that, more or less.

12 Q. And have you seen the famous video that's been -- that was

13 broadcast all over the world of dead bodies piled up in front of the

14 Kravica warehouse? Have you seen that video?

15 A. I think that I didn't see that video footage, but I heard on

16 television that they talked about it and about what was done there in

17 Kravica.

18 Q. Were you aware that 1.000 plus bodies were exhumed from a mass

19 grave in Glogova?

20 A. I did hear that after, once this exhumation was completed. Until

21 then I wasn't aware of it.

22 Q. And how many kilometres is Konjevic Polje from Glogova?

23 A. Glogova, the place, is near Bratunac, as far as I know. It's

24 very near Bratunac. It's some three to four kilometres from Bratunac,

25 which means that it's some 20 kilometres away from Konjevic Polje,

Page 9485

1 Glogova.

2 MS. HASAN: Your Honours, that concludes my examination-in-chief.

3 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you very much.

4 Mr. Tolimir, you may commence your cross-examination now.

5 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you, Mr. President. Peace in

6 this house, peace to all present. I would like today's day and the

7 entire trial ends in accordance to God's will and not as I wish.

8 I welcome the witness, I would like to wish him a pleasant stay here

9 amongst us and also a pleasant and fortunate return home. I thank him

10 for coming.

11 Cross-examination by Mr. Tolimir:

12 Q. Since we are speaking the same language I would like to ask you

13 after I put the question to you and say thank you, I would like you to

14 pause for some five seconds with your answer until the interpreter has

15 translated and then you will be able to see actually the pace by watching

16 the screen, which will show the progress of the translation. So you wait

17 until the typing on the screen stops before you begin answering.

18 After the examination-in-chief, today I -- the Prosecutor,

19 Ms. Hasan, for you to be able to follow more easily I'm going to start

20 from the more recent questions that were put to you.

21 On page 50 of this transcript, today, Judge Mindua - actually on

22 page 48, line 1, Judge Mindua asked you about the number of prisoners

23 your administrator entered as a piece of intelligence data into the

24 collective daily report that was submitted to the corps command. You

25 were also asked whether you checked this information. On the basis of

Page 9486

1 that, my question is: Data about the enemy that is submitted to the

2 superior command on the basis of your information, was that something

3 that was checked by you or was that sent to the commands to be checked?

4 If you don't have an intelligence organ, who is supposed to actually

5 check the information that is being submitted? Thank you.

6 A. Well, you are much more knowledgeable in this area than I am, and

7 that is why you're putting this question. I'm trying to explain this the

8 whole time because we, in the unit, did not have a single organ that

9 would be capable of checking this information. I, as a layman, if I can

10 call myself that, in relation to military administration, was told that

11 this would be something that the superior command would check and that

12 they will give us information about how to proceed further. This is

13 something that this warrant officer knew for sure, he was also a

14 professional, so this is the way he did this particular thing.

15 Q. Thank you. Are you able to tell us if anyone of your

16 acquaintances from the unit, from your lower-ranking units or superior

17 unit, was accountable for providing inaccurate information about the

18 enemy in each item of the report? Thank you.

19 A. I'm not aware that anyone was held accountable for inaccurate

20 information that was submitted on the enemy situation. I was not held

21 accountable, nor was I ever called out by anyone for providing this

22 information.

23 Q. Thank you. Can you please tell us whether the information about

24 the enemy, which is the first item of every report, are submitted on the

25 basis of the information collected up to that point, and if they are not

Page 9487

1 checked, can anyone be held responsible for that by the superior command?

2 Thank you.

3 A. Well, I don't know that anyone was held responsible. I tell you

4 that again. But we didn't have any way to check and this is why we would

5 send them unchecked information and we waited for the response of the

6 superior command.

7 Q. Thank you. Did you have soldiers from the entire zone of

8 responsibility of the Drina Corps in the composition of your unit? Thank

9 you.

10 A. Yes, we did. The soldiers were from all areas of the

11 Drina Corps's zone of responsibility.

12 Q. Thank you. Did you have construction areas which you had to

13 carry out works at in all areas of the zone of responsibility?

14 A. Yes. In all places except in Zvornik.

15 Q. Thank you. Did your desk officer always state the information

16 which he received from the field from the soldiers who would come back

17 from the places where they were taking rest, whether it was at home or

18 from the construction sites?

19 A. Well, we only had information about the enemy in that area and at

20 that time. We didn't have anything else. And the information was only

21 based on what we were told by the soldiers who were coming back from rest

22 or from leave.

23 Q. Thank you. Can you please tell us, for the transcript, though,

24 one can conclude from your answer, did your soldiers take rest in the

25 barracks or did they go to their homes? Thank you.

Page 9488

1 A. All soldiers who were sent to take some rest were taking the rest

2 at their homes. Depending on how long they had worked, that would

3 determine the number of days that they were given for rest.

4 Q. Thank you. If you remember, we heard a lot of information about

5 what you just said but I would like to introduce some new information and

6 something new that you learned. Can you answer my question, please? Did

7 your desk officer always enter the new activities of the unit and the new

8 information as compared to the previous one, or would he mention that the

9 task that had been issued earlier would be stated once again? When you

10 said that he did not enter any changes, the changes only had to do with

11 actual changes of activity, not the changes in terms of the contents of

12 the report. I'm not sure if you understood me and can you please answer

13 this question? Thank you.

14 A. All the works that we had to carry out would still be entered,

15 but if there was a change, then it would be added. So let me explain.

16 If, for example, we worked on a passive reflector and if one unit had to

17 work about that, but the road and bridge unit also some work to do at Vis

18 and in some other places, that would remain in a report but an addition

19 would be added that the unit which completed its part of the task had

20 returned to the barracks or had now moved to another construction site.

21 Q. Thank you. Can you please tell the Trial Chamber, and for the

22 transcript, whether the managers of construction sites in various places

23 within your zone of responsibility and platoon commanders of the

24 engineer's company did make any contributions for the daily report to the

25 desk officer who would collate all the information to produce the daily

Page 9489

1 report for the whole brigade?

2 A. Sometimes they would. If somebody wasn't there, myself or

3 somebody else, they would directly give the information they had to the

4 desk officer, for example that they returned or that they were going to a

5 specific construction site in accordance with a specific order.

6 Q. Thank you. Are you aware whether your desk officer sometimes

7 called parts of the unit on the telephone, because they were dispersed

8 across the whole zone, to ask them what they were doing and what was the

9 new task in which they would be engaged and how much time they would need

10 to complete the previous task?

11 A. When it was possible, he sometimes did that, because he also had

12 various tasks to perform. He wasn't just sitting there and typing up

13 reports. But our communication line was very poor, and most of the time

14 it wasn't working. I said that we had a field telephone where the cable

15 was on the ground, and we generally had a problem communicating with the

16 higher-ranking units.

17 Q. Thank you. We have in front of us your report dated the 14th of

18 July 1995. It's 65 ter --

19 THE INTERPRETER: Can the accused please repeat the number of the

20 document.

21 MR. TOLIMIR: [Interpretation]

22 Q. And can we please slow it on the screen? Thank you.

23 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Mr. Tolimir, are you asking for P1769? That's on

24 the screen now.

25 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] That's right, Mr. President, and

Page 9490

1 thank you.

2 MR. TOLIMIR: [Interpretation]

3 Q. Now, witness, if we would now have a look at this, this is the

4 report dated the 14th of July 1995. Is that so?

5 A. Yes.

6 Q. As for the two soldiers who are mentioned in the report, were

7 they wounded on the 14th or on the 13th? Thank you.

8 A. On the 13th.

9 Q. Thank you. Does that mean that the report was only written on

10 the following day, on the 14th, that is to say one day after they were

11 wounded? Thank you.

12 A. It couldn't have been written in any different manner. It was

13 written on the following day.

14 Q. Thank you. It doesn't say here when this report of yours was

15 submitted to the corps command. But was it submitted by the 1500 hours

16 on that day, the 14th? Thank you.

17 A. I don't know exactly when it was submitted, but sometimes the

18 reports were late. We always had problems because of this, because they

19 would just tell us a few words to upbraid us and it would end there.

20 Q. Thank you. Does that mean that the report could have been

21 written on the basis of information that was available as early as on the

22 13th? I mean that the desk officer who drew up these reports had them?

23 Thank you.

24 A. Yes, yes.

25 Q. Thank you. On several occasions, you said that sometimes you

Page 9491

1 would sign blank documents that were to be turned into reports as the

2 deputy commander or that sometimes you signed it without even glancing at

3 it knowing that the warrant officer was a professional so I won't ask you

4 anything more about that, but I will ask you the following: Do you know

5 if you look at the last page of this report, and can we please show it on

6 the screen, here it is, it says, down there, MB/MB. Do you know that the

7 MB means that these are the initials of the person who drew up the

8 document and the initials of the person who typed it up? On the left

9 side, it's the person who signed it, and the right initials are the

10 initials of the person who drew up the report. Do you know that this is

11 the rule for official correspondence?

12 A. No. I'm not aware of that. But I once accidentally asked about

13 that and it was told to me that the persons of those who drew up the

14 document and wrote it were placed there.

15 Q. Thank you. We'll have a look later on at the reports which were

16 written by the corps commander and other officers so we'll see that it's

17 always -- the initials of one person that are on the left and the other

18 one on the right. The one who is writing should be on the left and one

19 who is typing it up should be on the right so that one could know through

20 whom secret and confidential military information could flow or leak.

21 Thank you. As it says here, MB/MB, does it mean that one and the same

22 person drew up and typed up this document? Thank you.

23 A. Well, judging by what's here, that is so.

24 Q. Does it mean that on the 14th of July 1995, this person, whose

25 initials are MB/MB, typed up this daily report which was sent to the

Page 9492

1 corps?

2 A. Yes.

3 Q. Thank you. I will not ask you much about item 1 because both the

4 Prosecutor and the Trial Chamber asked you about that and you answered as

5 you have. I will ask you just one question. The first item, concerning

6 the enemy, does it include all the information that the unit has about

7 the enemy both in the field and in the zone?

8 A. This is how they explained to me, write everything you know, and

9 then as you don't have an organ who will check that, then either the

10 superior command will check it and send you feedback about the unit's

11 further activities.

12 Q. Thank you. Could we please see in e-court the following

13 document? P1603, which was sent by the Drina Corps command to the

14 Main Staff so that we could see whether your information was included in

15 the amalgamated daily report which was sent out from the corps. Thank

16 you.

17 Thank you. We can see it now. This is the report to the

18 Drina Corps command written on the 14th of July 1995. It is actually

19 addressed to the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska and it is

20 called the regular combat report. You can see item 1, concerning the

21 enemy, which talks about the northwestern part of the front where I shall

22 quote:

23 "In the general Kalesija area, Pohunjak, Osredak and Kutici a

24 large buildup of enemy forces was observed, their objective by attacking

25 from the front is to link up with a group which had pulled out from the

Page 9493

1 Srebrenica enclave."

2 And the following sentence says, "In the morning, the enemy from

3 the Gorazde enclave fired with infantry weapons on the Sjenokos and

4 Crvljevac [phoen] village sectors but it did not affect our forces. It

5 is quiet in the remaining part of the front in the corps's zone of

6 responsibility."

7 This is all that it says about enemy and it's the information

8 dated the 14th of July 1995.

9 My question is this: Do we see anywhere here the information

10 about the enemy which you submitted? Thank you.

11 A. Here, I cannot see a single information that came from us.

12 Q. All right. Thank you. My command [as interpreted] is then this:

13 Did the corps command then make a selection of what they would report

14 about and what may be interesting for the Main Staff and what they will

15 report to the Main Staff and also about the truth of the information that

16 it could send?

17 A. Yes, they probably made their own assessment and selection of the

18 information about the enemy that they would include here.

19 Q. All right. Can you see in the first sentence here, that by

20 observation, a large buildup of enemy forces was observed? And then they

21 go on to discuss the aim of their attack. So do they talk about exact

22 information and exact intentions of the enemy here or is this just the

23 assessment?

24 A. Well, decidedly, this is the exact information and also the

25 intention of the enemy, which is stated here.

Page 9494

1 Q. Thank you. Can we now please show page 2 of this document in

2 e-court? Thank you. Can you see under item 8, that it says,

3 conclusions, forecasts and decisions for further action? Thank you.

4 A. Yes.

5 Q. Thank you. Was it a duty of each battalion and each unit, which

6 submitted information to the corps, to make the conclusions, forecasts

7 and decision for further action which was then collated by your desk

8 officer? Thank you.

9 A. Well, on the basis of the information we had because we didn't

10 receive any other information it was his duty to draw some conclusions.

11 Q. Thank you. On several occasions you were asked about the meaning

12 of these conclusions, whether the conclusions were conclusions, forecasts

13 and intentions or, as in this case, decisions of the corps command which

14 is a higher command and which does make decisions. As for your specific

15 report, was it also a possibility for the person who drew up the document

16 to freely make some conclusions and assessments?

17 A. Yes. He was free to do that because we did not receive any

18 instructions or orders.

19 Q. Thank you. I'm sorry, thank you. During the

20 examination-in-chief, the Prosecutor asked you the following, about item

21 8 in your report, which is entitled, "Conclusions, forecasts and

22 decisions," and you were asked this: Whether someone could be held

23 responsible and whether you are aware that anyone was held responsible,

24 prosecuted or held responsible on the basis of chain of command for the

25 conclusions and decisions if they were contrary to the main order for

Page 9495

1 carrying out certain tasks. Thank you.

2 A. Well, our conclusion was not made on the basis of the main order,

3 but on the basis of our view, and if we made a mistake, then the superior

4 command should suggest this to us in the appropriate manner.

5 Q. Thank you. Do you say clearly in the last sentence:

6 "Continue with carrying out the works which the units of the 5th

7 Engineers Battalion is carrying out and increase the measures of security

8 and vigilance in Konjevic Polje sector"?

9 A. I wrote that for this reason; if I hadn't received a new order

10 that means that the previous orders were priority, and I had strict

11 deadlines for completing works on specific facilities, and this is why

12 I mentioned that in the conclusion, that we were continuing to carry out

13 the works on the previous tasks we had been issued.

14 Q. Thank you. If on the previous day two of your soldiers were

15 wounded as the report says, is it then logical that, as you said here,

16 the measures of vigilance and security in the Konjevic Polje sector where

17 they had been wounded would be increased? Thank you.

18 A. Well, the situation was out of control. As soon as you have

19 wounded men, then that's the factual situation, you have to take measures

20 to protect other soldiers and workers in Konjevic Polje because it was no

21 longer an assumption. Now we had two wounded men. We had a conflict

22 that had broken out in the Konjevic Polje barracks.

23 Q. Thank you. In item 8 of your report, in conclusions, forecasts

24 and decisions, do you make these on the basis of actual elements of what

25 happened and which could threaten the unit for the security of which you

Page 9496

1 were responsible?

2 A. Well, in my view, that was the actual factual situation because

3 if you had two wounded men, then you could have more. I didn't know what

4 the intentions of the enemy were. He could attack the barracks. So you

5 could -- you had to take all the possible measures that you had at your

6 disposal to defend the barracks.

7 Q. Thank you. As the enemy also knew that the barracks was situated

8 there, and that it's possible that they knew which mines and explosives

9 were there, was there a danger that they might seize these mines and

10 explosives in case the enemy took over the barracks? Thank you.

11 A. Not only that, not only the ordnance within the warehouse, but

12 they maybe could have de-mined the minefields and then used them for

13 their own purposes.

14 Q. Thank you. Did you go towards the enemy or did the enemy arrived

15 in the zone of the barracks in Konjevic Polje on its own?

16 A. We did not go anywhere from Konjevic Polje. They came to us.

17 Q. Were your soldiers wounded while performing duty at the guard

18 posts or were they wounded in some other sort of combat activity?

19 A. My soldiers were wounded at the guard post number 6, while

20 performing the task of securing the barracks.

21 Q. Thank you. So item 5, written on the 14th of July at 0800 hours

22 where it mentions the wounding of those two soldiers at guard post number

23 6, is it true?

24 A. As I already told you, I wasn't there but those who were there,

25 they wrote exactly what happened that day at -- at the 0800 hours.

Page 9497

1 Q. Thank you. Take a look at the report that is currently on the

2 screen in front of you. And can you take at the bottom of the page,

3 where it said, "received," can you see when the encryption people in the

4 Main Staff received it? Look at this. 14th of July 1945.

5 A. I can see that.

6 Q. And you can also see the signature. Does that mean that this

7 report arrived to the Main Staff only at 1945 on the 14th?

8 A. According to this, yes.

9 Q. So does that point to the conclusion that every day a report

10 would have to be filed with the Main Staff until 8.00 in the evening?

11 A. That's most probably true but I wouldn't know that.

12 Q. All right. You don't know that. But can you tell us, would you

13 allow for the possibility that your unit also received a certain deadline

14 for filing its reports so that they could be then incorporated in a

15 report going higher up?

16 A. Probably yes.

17 Q. Thank you. Can we now take a look at 1D571?

18 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Just a moment, before we do that, I would like to

19 put a question in relation to this document on the screen. Can we have

20 back item 8 in both languages, please? In English, it's page 2, I think.

21 I would like to receive a comment on this part, with the headline,

22 "decision." The second sentence is the following.

23 I quote: "Part of the forces in coordination with the MUP,

24 Ministry of Interior, will check the territory behind the lines. Detect,

25 block, arrest and disarm, disperse, Muslim forces" and so on.

Page 9498

1 Next sentence, I quote: "Part of the forces will check and set

2 up ambush operations with the MUP along the Muslim group's axis of

3 withdrawal completely secure the" and there is mentioning a certain line.

4 I see here a decision of a higher level above you about the

5 coordination of the army and the MUP. We talked about a possible

6 coordination of these units earlier today. Can you comment on that?

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Sir, are you referring to my report

8 and not this report sent to the Main Staff?

9 JUDGE FLUEGGE: In your report, there was also a mentioning of

10 cooperation with the MUP and you said you didn't know anything about

11 that. Now we see here in this report also a decision about a common

12 cooperation of these different units. And I would like to know what you

13 know about that.

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] If you were listening carefully,

15 and I think you did, you would have noticed that I emphasised that there

16 was a permanent police check-point at the intersection in Konjevic Polje.

17 They controlled part of the intersection and whatever else they

18 controlled. Our first neighbour, looking from the guard post number 6,

19 is this very check-point. In between there is a minefield. Not

20 literally in between but slightly up there. So you could say that one of

21 our guard posts controlled one end of the minefield so that nobody could

22 enter into the barracks using the path between them and the minefield.

23 They were our neighbours, you know we couldn't kick them out because they

24 too were part of the forces securing this area of Konjevic Polje.

25 JUDGE FLUEGGE: I was not asking about the presence of these

Page 9499

1 units but about the cooperation. Here it is said, "part of the forces in

2 coordination with the MUP, will check" and so on. Was there a

3 coordination or not?

4 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] If we talk about coordinated

5 action, we can only talk about it if we understand it that they have to

6 observe one part of the minefield that was in Konjevic Polje. That was

7 the only coordinated action. If they were defending that part then it

8 was quite logical that they would also be taking part in securing it.

9 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Thank you. Now we should -- Judge Mindua has a

10 question.

11 JUDGE MINDUA: [Interpretation] Yes, Witness. I would like to go

12 back to Exhibit P1603, which is the regular combat report issued on the

13 14th of July 1995 by Major-General Radislav Krstic. And in this report,

14 the enemy is mentioned, and General Krstic does not talk about the 1.000

15 or 1.500 civilians or soldiers that were arrested and killed. Of course,

16 this could be explained in such a way that having checked the information

17 in the report, he felt that it was not accurate. But I note that in your

18 report, which is Exhibit P1769, we have the same date, 14th of July 1995.

19 So exactly the same date as that of Major-General Krstic's report. So

20 I'm rather at a loss. I'm wondering why the Major-General's report does

21 not mention the civilians that are mentioned in your report. Could that

22 be, and this is a possibility, so I'm asking for your input here, could

23 it be that your 14th of July report arrived in the evening while the

24 Major-General's report was sent to his superiors beforehand, which means

25 that the Major-General did not have time to include what was mentioned in

Page 9500

1 your report? So my question is the following: I would like to know when

2 the report reached the 2nd Corps. I'm talking about your 14th of July

3 report.

4 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Our reports, as I have explained,

5 did not go regularly, but I think that they would always arrive during

6 the day. They would always arrive to the corps during the day. And if

7 not, then there would be problems with us. We would be singled out for

8 criticism. I didn't see it written here, but I think that they should

9 have read our report, and I think that they have formed their opinion on

10 it, if they deemed it necessary, or if they thought that it was truthful.

11 So if this report doesn't contain it, if, as you say, our report arrived

12 too late, then it should be contained in the following report of theirs.

13 Here, I don't see any such mention. Now I had a chance to read it in

14 more detail. And he says that the main body of the forces from the

15 Srebrenica enclave had already passed Konjevic Polje and reached Udrc so

16 obviously he must have had some assumptions and information and he must

17 have made some checks because Udrc is higher than Cerska in the direction

18 of Tuzla. It's quite far away from Konjevic Polje.

19 JUDGE MINDUA: [Interpretation] Thank you very much.

20 JUDGE FLUEGGE: We need our second break now and then you should

21 continue with the next document, Mr. Tolimir. We will resume five

22 minutes past 1.00.

23 --- Recess taken at 12.33 p.m.

24 --- On resuming at 1.05 p.m.

25 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Mr. Tolimir, please go ahead.

Page 9501

1 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you, Your Honour.

2 MR. TOLIMIR: [Interpretation]

3 Q. A moment ago, you said, if something was not entered into your

4 report going towards the corps and into the report of the corps going

5 upwards on the 14th, then you should be able to find it in the report

6 written on the 15th. So let us take a look at the following. When was

7 it that you sent the first information on the wounded to the corps? Can

8 we take a look at P1768? Thank you. So here we can see that your unit

9 informed the corps command on the 13th that Spaso Bandjur and

10 Milan Orasanin were wounded. Can you see that?

11 A. I can see it.

12 Q. Do you know did the corps command receive this report?

13 A. Well, they should have, it should have arrived.

14 Q. Thank you. Can we have now P1767? Thank you. Okay. Here we

15 can see another report, sent by your battalion, and in the first

16 sentence, we see the following. "Pursuant to your record strictly

17 confidential 05/1-207 of 16th of June" and so on and so forth, "We are

18 forwarding you the data on the wounded members of the

19 5th Engineering Battalion." So my question is as follows: Judge Mindua

20 asked you why you sent two reports. Do we find here exactly what is the

21 basis for sending reports?

22 A. Well, if we take a look at this, you can see it. I don't really

23 know this order. I haven't seen it. But if you take a look at it, you

24 will see that there was a change in the system of registering killed and

25 wounded. I assume that, most probably, there is also another form that

Page 9502

1 went as an attachment to this report, and then it was obviously sent

2 pursuant to the order 05-1-207. And it was sent on the 14th of July.

3 Q. Thank you. Now, let us take a look at what you said just before

4 the break. If something wasn't included on the 14th, it should have been

5 included on the 15th. Can we take a look at P1604? That's the report

6 for the 15th. Report sent by the Drina Corps to the Main Staff. Thank

7 you. So this is the report to the 15th of July. And we can see item 1,

8 the enemy. The first paragraph contains the information of the -- about

9 the Kalesija-Kladanj part of the front. The second paragraph talks about

10 the front facing Gorazde. The third paragraph talks about the Zepa

11 enclave and the last paragraph describes the activity of the enemy on the

12 Tuzla-Zvornik and Orlovo-Kladanj axis. You can see the commander here

13 announces an interim report. So can you see anywhere under item 1 the

14 information provided by your analyst from your battalion? Thank you.

15 A. I don't see any of the information that we had forwarded to them.

16 Q. Can we find anything in this report that pertains to wounded or

17 killed Muslim soldiers in Konjevic Polje?

18 A. We cannot find any such thing in this report.

19 Q. Thank you. Can we now take a look at page 2 of this report?

20 Thank you. All right. We are waiting for the second page. Here at the

21 bottom you can see that it was received on the 15th of July at 1945, just

22 like the report of the previous day. It was also at 1945. In English

23 it's the following page. Thank you.

24 So we can see from this that the corps reports arrive to the

25 Main Staff mostly until 2000 hours, which means that a lower units send

Page 9503

1 their reports to the corps command earlier; is that so?

2 A. Well, it must be like that, otherwise how would they report the

3 final report -- how would they compile the final report?

4 Q. Here we can see again conclusions, projections and decisions for

5 further action. So that was what the commander decided on the 15th that

6 is to be done on the 16th. Can you find here at any place the zone where

7 your barracks is located or are they simply talking about Udrc which is

8 the territory further on towards Tuzla, further on from Konjevic Polje

9 where the enemy had already evacuated by that time?

10 A. Here you can only see the mention of Udrc and there is no mention

11 of our territory.

12 Q. Thank you. Can you tell us how far is Srebrenica from Konjevic

13 Polje?

14 A. There is about 35 kilometres between Srebrenica and

15 Konjevic Polje, and then Udrc is - now let me calculate - about 15

16 kilometres from Konjevic Polje.

17 Q. In order for us to gain a clear picture, especially for those who

18 never visited that area, looking from Srebrenica, what is further away,

19 Udrc or Konjevic Polje?

20 A. Well, if you add the two values, you get the distance between

21 Srebrenica and Udrc which means that Udrc is about 50 kilometres from

22 Srebrenica, meaning it's further away than Srebrenica.

23 Q. Thank you. You've been asked whether you, in your report, under

24 item 8, mention the cooperation with MUP. Can we have now on the screens

25 your report so that we can see whether there is anything like that

Page 9504

1 contained in it. That was your first report, P1 -- it's the report dated

2 the 14th of July, sent by your battalion to the corps command, one

3 second, I'll find it, it's 1769, yes. Thank you, Aleksandar.

4 Thank you. Could we look at page 2, please, in e-court? Thank

5 you.

6 We can see at page 2, item 8, where it says, "Conclusions

7 forecasts and decisions." Can you please read it for yourself and then I

8 will put some questions to you. Thank you.

9 A. I've read it.

10 Q. Thank you. My question is: In paragraph 8, Conclusions,

11 forecasts and decisions, did you make any kind of decision or conclusion

12 regarding the cooperation of your unit with the MUP forces?

13 A. I didn't bring -- make any conclusions or issue any orders in

14 relation to cooperation with the MUP.

15 Q. The person who wrote the report for your activities that day, did

16 they state anything about your cooperation with the MUP?

17 A. There was nothing else written about cooperation with the MUP

18 other than what is written here.

19 Q. I was thinking of paragraph 8. I was imprecise, perhaps.

20 I apologise for that.

21 A. Yes.

22 Q. Could the Trial Chamber please have document 0190 and P1604?

23 JUDGE FLUEGGE: We should stay for a moment with this document,

24 please. I would like to see the next page in English. And now I would

25 like to see the first paragraph again in both languages, the first

Page 9505

1 paragraph. Could you please comment on the first paragraph, "A large

2 enemy group was infiltrated in the region of Pobudje Brdo and the region

3 of Konjevic Polje. Units of the 5th Engineering Battalion and the MUP

4 successfully resisted the enemy." Could you comment on that?

5 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] What is primarily meant here is

6 this: Since there were no losses, there were no deaths, and the enemy

7 did not enter the barracks, so this was considered a success.

8 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Mr. Tolimir, now you should continue with the

9 document you wanted to see on the screen.

10 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. Thank you,

11 Mr. President. I would like to see 1D571 on the e-court, please. And

12 while we are waiting I would like to say that this is an interim report

13 by the corps command for the 14th of July, signed by General Krstic.

14 MR. TOLIMIR: [Interpretation]

15 Q. We are looking at this report and it should include the data,

16 this is a report General Krstic sent to the Main Staff, and the

17 Drina Corps command. This is sent by General Krstic, interim combat

18 report, the first paragraph contains data about the enemy, it says:

19 "The enemy put up a strong resistance to our forces, particularly

20 on the Podzeplje-Brloznik axis and so on. And it said it fired on Zepa

21 and around Zepa and also it relates to Krstic's answer where he says, "I

22 have decided after ordering the combat alignment at the achieved lines to

23 forcefully extend the attack and capture Zepa as soon as possible."

24 Could the second page of the document please be shown in e-court?

25 Thank you.

Page 9506

1 JUDGE FLUEGGE: I take it that there is no English translation

2 available at the moment.

3 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. Actually, we don't need

4 to look at page 2. What we need to do is just to look at the bottom of

5 this page to see when the document was sent to the Main Staff. We can

6 see at the bottom that the document was sent on the 14th of July and that

7 it was received at the Main Staff at 2312 hours, which means that up

8 until the 14th at 2312 hours there are no other data on your unit; is

9 that correct?

10 A. Yes, that is correct, that is what is stated here.

11 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Ms. Hasan?

12 MS. HASAN: Mr. President, there is an English translation of

13 this document, and perhaps when discussing it we should display that one

14 as well.

15 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Yes. That would be very helpful.

16 We have on the screen only two times the same B/C/S version.

17 MS. HASAN: It seems that the English version was not uploaded on

18 to e-court, so it is available on Sanction, and Janet tells me that that

19 can be displayed.

20 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Now we should put both side by side, if that is

21 possible. I was told it's not possible to see -- to look at both at the

22 same time because it is not uploaded in e-court yet. The problem can be

23 solved later. At the moment, it's not possible to put both on the

24 screen. If necessary, we could try to print one version and put it on

25 the ELMO and then we switch -- or we can switch from one to the other. I

Page 9507

1 don't know how to deal with that. Mr. Tolimir, please carry on.

2 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you. You can look at the

3 copy in English. I have the original in my hand. After that, because

4 there is a translation, I would like to tender this document. Thank you.

5 JUDGE FLUEGGE: But first you should continue your questioning to

6 this document or have you finished that already?

7 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Yes. Thank you, I would like to

8 put my last question to the witness regarding this document.

9 MR. TOLIMIR: [Interpretation]

10 Q. Does this interim report contain any data relating to the

11 activities or the zone in which your unit is located? Thank you.

12 A. When I read this, I didn't see anywhere that anything referred to

13 the area where our unit was.

14 Q. Thank you.

15 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I would like to tender this interim

16 combat report by General Krstic of the 14th of July at this point. Thank

17 you.

18 MR. TOLIMIR: [Interpretation]

19 Q. My question to you is, on the basis of --

20 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Please be patient for a moment. We will mark it

21 for identification. It will be then very shortly received into evidence

22 when we have the official translation uploaded into -- in e-court.

23 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honours, this document shall be assigned

24 exhibit number D156, marked for identification pending translation.

25 Thank you.

Page 9508

1 JUDGE FLUEGGE: Please continue.

2 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you.

3 MR. TOLIMIR: [Interpretation]

4 Q. Witness, on the basis of the documents that we've seen of the

5 13th, 14th and 15th that was dispatched to the Main Staff, does any of

6 those documents contain any information about your unit, its activities,

7 or anything else other than the data about the wounding of two soldiers?

8 Thank you.

9 A. Well, no, I didn't read any data like that about my unit

10 anywhere.

11 Q. Thank you. And your soldiers, were they wounded at the permanent

12 guard post number 6 or were they away from the guard post when they were

13 wounded?

14 A. They were wounded while they were at the permanent guard post

15 number 6.

16 Q. Thank you. Could you please explain to the Trial Chamber what

17 does it mean, permanent guard post? Is that a location in the barracks

18 in order to provide security for the barracks?

19 A. When we were transferred to Konjevic Polje, the commander issued

20 an order to provide security for the barracks. It would be combined

21 security for the barracks, consisting of minefields and guard posts.

22 There were six permanent guard posts and if there were more soldiers, for

23 example sometimes in the winter there were more of us, and in order to

24 utilise all the soldiers present, then there would be two more temporary

25 guard posts that would be included under that particular order.

Page 9509

1 Q. Thank you. During the examination-in-chief, on page 4, line 10,

2 you said, "We learned that a group of the B and H army was passing." On

3 the basis of that, my question is: Did you learn about this only after

4 they opened fire at your guards near your barracks, or did you get this

5 information from soldiers who were coming from different areas back to

6 your unit after resting?

7 A. We found out about it from soldiers who were coming back. The

8 wounding that occurred after that, confirmed that there was something

9 there that could present a problem for our unit, in our barracks, and

10 that is why this was followed by the conclusion that combat readiness

11 measures should be increased.

12 Q. Thank you. You used the term "passing". Does somebody who is

13 passing by wound soldiers at the guard post or were they actually trying

14 to get through to the area under the control of the B and H army?

15 A. We used the term "passing through" or "passing by" there because

16 up until then we didn't have any problems. They were passing by next to

17 us before. As for places where there were some combat actions and

18 contact with our soldiers, that did happen, but when this happened, when

19 our soldiers were wounded, that meant that this was a direct contact

20 between the two sides and then this was followed by these two soldiers of

21 ours being wounded.

22 Q. Thank you. The activities of the enemy in relation to a

23 stationary unit, when two soldiers are wounded, which constitutes 20 per

24 cent of the overall number of soldiers who were in your barracks, does

25 that constitute just passing by or does that constitute an attack on your

Page 9510

1 barracks and your unit?

2 A. We constituted -- we understood that to be a direct attack, as

3 they were passing by our barracks. We didn't have enough men or weapons

4 so we had to pay attention to that more than anything else, any kind of

5 sabotage in terms of our depot could be devastating for all the people in

6 that area. So then this was a problem, like I said -- I mentioned we

7 also had two minefields that were about two kilometres in length, I don't

8 know how broad they were. And if you didn't guard those minefields they

9 were also exposed to de-mining and to being utilised on the part of the

10 enemy.

11 Q. Thank you. [French on English channel]. In the area of

12 combat --

13 JUDGE FLUEGGE: For a moment we had French translation on our

14 channel but now it's correct again. Please continue.

15 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you.

16 MR. TOLIMIR: [Interpretation]

17 Q. Do combat rules provide for a unit in combat, which is deployed

18 somewhere or which is at a permanent location and is secured by

19 minefields, by a wire fence and other protection, depending on what other

20 protection it has, is that provided for under the rules?

21 A. According to what the commander told us and he probably put that

22 in writing as well, since he informed us about this, what he said was

23 that all means are to be used to secure the barracks, and its surrounding

24 area, amongst other things, since we didn't have enough personnel and we

25 knew that we would be working on all of these construction sites, we knew

Page 9511

1 that there would be a problem with forces and that is why the defences

2 were strengthened by the minefields. We didn't have anything else

3 available so this is why we laid down the minefields and we put up the

4 permanent guard posts as well for the same purpose. Later he took all of

5 us to show us the exact location of the minefield so that we wouldn't

6 activate the mines ourselves.

7 Q. Can you please tell the Trial Chamber was this minefield laid

8 down immediately after the unit deployed at Konjevic Polje or was this

9 something that was laid down on the 13th? Thank you.

10 A. This was done immediately when we came to Konjevic Polje. As

11 soon as we created conditions for any kind of stay in Konjevic Polje, the

12 commander ordered for the fortifications to be built in that area which

13 was inaccessible because of the size and the lay of the area, so he

14 decided, because it was inaccessible, to augment the guard posts with the

15 minefields.

16 Q. I'm sorry for being imprecise, can you please tell us what time

17 that occurred, what time of the year, what date it was?

18 A. I think that we came in 1994, as far as I can remember.

19 Q. Let's clarify for the transcript, the minefields that you were

20 questioned about here, were they laid down in 1994 and 1995 on the day of

21 the attack by the Muslims who were trying to get past by you after

22 leaving Srebrenica?

23 A. The minefields were laid immediately, in 1994, in order to

24 compensate for the low number of personnel there so that we could step up

25 the security during our stay in Konjevic Polje.

Page 9512

1 Q. Thank you. During the examination-in-chief you were asked about

2 the locations that are closer to Konjevic Polje and so on. My question

3 would be this: Did your soldiers who were in Konjevic Polje on the 13th,

4 leave the barracks in Konjevic Polje? Thank you.

5 A. As far as I know, they did not leave the barracks. They stayed

6 there and the result of that was that the people who were standing guard

7 at night had good relations with them because fear is stronger in the men

8 during the night which is normal so they didn't leave their guard posts

9 nor Konjevic Polje nor the barracks.

10 Q. Thank you. Do you know whether your soldiers from the location

11 where they were went into action in any way, did they fire at all,

12 because you explained that they had old weapons.

13 A. As far as I know, they did not fire and that would include the

14 two who were wounded. They had no time to react because they were

15 wounded first.

16 Q. Thank you. Can you tell me, as the Prosecutor asked you several

17 times, why you said during some interview, "Oh, my God"? Was it a

18 surprise for you when you saw the piece of information that made you

19 exclaim, "Oh, my God"?

20 A. Well, it was the order itself, I didn't read it in detail so at

21 first I thought that it said that our unit had done that and I knew that

22 it wasn't capable of something like that, particularly considering the

23 number of men we had at our disposal at Konjevic Polje at the time.

24 Q. As the officer who was in charge of the unit at the time, do you

25 think on the basis of your military expertise, that the person who

Page 9513

1 entered the information about the enemy while typing up the report did

2 not explain how he came to the information which he included in the

3 report and then submitted to the corps command? Thank you.

4 A. Well, now, when I read it, I think that perhaps he should have

5 processed that in much more detail, but at the moment, we just thought

6 that it should be mentioned probably, just mention it and then the

7 superior command is the one to react or not to react, and then we would

8 know what the situation in the territory that was around us was like.

9 Q. Thank you. Considering the general situation in the field at the

10 time, did the members of your unit feel any concern about their safety

11 during the night and during the day and so on and so forth considering

12 the rumours that were going around and which you forwarded to the corps

13 command?

14 A. How could they not feel concerned? Once the rumours start going

15 around, then things become inflated and once they reach the last person

16 who hears this, the news becomes alarming. You have such problem in the

17 army, when there is had hear say that was the situation. I was afraid

18 someone might panic and leave Konjevic Polje which would really be a

19 problem but no one left their posts including the guards which means that

20 this had an effect on them because we never had the change of guard

21 during the night. A certain number of men would stay in their posts as

22 guards throughout the night.

23 Q. Thank you for the answers you have provided during your

24 testimony. Thank you for coming here. The Defence asked as many

25 questions as it believed was necessary. I wish to thank you. I wish you