Tribunal Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Page 259

1 Thursday, 11 January 2007

2 [Open session]

3 [Prosecution Opening Statement]

4 [The accused entered court]

5 --- Upon commencing at 2.27 p.m.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Please call the case, Mr. Registrar.

7 THE REGISTRAR: Good afternoon, Your Honours. This is

8 case number IT-98-29/1T, the Prosecutor versus Dragomir

9 Milosevic.

10 JUDGE ROBINSON: May we have the appearances.

11 MR. WHITING: Good afternoon, Your Honours. We have quite a few

12 people here today. To my left is Mr. Stefan Waespi. Behind me is Ms.

13 Carolyn Edgerton. To my right is Ms. Maxine Marcus, Mr. Manoj Sachdeva.

14 Our case manager is Ms. Jasmina Bosnjakovic. And my name is Alex Whiting.

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you.

16 And for the Defence.

17 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Good afternoon, Your Honours. I

18 am Branislav Tapuskovic, attorney-at-law from Belgrade. I am Defence

19 counsel for Mr. Dragomir Milosevic. On my right is my colleague, an

20 attorney-at-law from Paris, who is my co-counsel. And on my left is Ms.

21 Ruzica Jovanovic, our legal assistant. Thank you.

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you.

23 Mr. Whiting, we'll hear your opening address.

24 MR. WHITING: Thank you, Your Honours. I will be doing just part

25 of the opening address, just the beginning, and Mr. Stefan Waespi will be

Page 260

1 doing the better part of the second half of it.

2 Mr. President, Your Honours, distinguished counsel for the

3 Defence, this is a case of the city of Sarajevo and its people that was

4 kept under siege, a blockade, for 44 months, the last 15 months of which

5 were under the direction of the accused in this case, Dragomir Milosevic.

6 It is a case of a city that was exposed to a relentless military campaign

7 of shelling and sniping against its civilian population by a superior

8 military force that surrounded it on the higher points. It is a case of a

9 city whose people were constantly terrorised as they were exposed to a

10 calculated, modulated campaign of sniping and shelling, the primary purpose

11 of which was to inflict terror.

12 The campaign of shelling and sniping was modulated so that firing

13 could be increased or decreased at unpredictable times, thus subjecting the

14 civilian population to severe psychological trauma. No one knew of any

15 place in the city that was safe for themselves for their families or

16 friends, regardless of gender, age, or ethnicity. Every day, civilian

17 activity, such as gardening in one's home, shopping at the market, or

18 riding the tram, was a hazardous endeavour, potentially subject to a

19 barrage of shells and bullets from the besieging forces.

20 This is a trial ultimately of the accused, General Dragomir

21 Milosevic, who was one of the most senior military commanders of the Army

22 of Republika Srpska, the VRS, reaching the apex of his career when on or

23 about August 1994, he was appointed commander of the Sarajevo Romanija

24 Corps, the SRK, the corps that surrounded the city of Sarajevo since 1992.

25 This accused was a professional and well-trained career officer

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1 and experienced military commander, educated in the well-organised system

2 of the JNA, the Federal Army of Yugoslavia. As part of his training, the

3 accused - like his fellow commanders and staff officers - knew his

4 obligations under the Geneva Conventions and the laws of war. Like few

5 others, however, the accused was intimately familiar, not only with the war

6 in Bosnia, but specifically with the siege of Sarajevo.

7 During the first months of the siege in 1992, the accused became

8 the commander of one of the brigades included in the SRK that surrounded

9 Sarajevo. Already then, he worked closely with General Ratko Mladic, the

10 overall commander of the VRS, who later became his direct superior. Then

11 in July of 1993, the accused became Chief of Staff to the then-SRK

12 commander, General Galic. A little more than a year later in August of

13 1994, the accused succeeded General Galic, and himself became commander of

14 the SRK.

15 Given this record, the accused could have been under no illusions

16 about the type of campaign that he inherited when he took command of the

17 SRK in August of 1994.

18 The accused remained the commander of the besieging forces of

19 Sarajevo from about 10 August 1994 until November 1995, and as stated in

20 the amended indictment, Your Honours, the accused was both the de jure and

21 de facto commander of the professional force of some 18.000 soldiers and

22 officers, other affiliated VRS units operating in the Sarajevo theatre, and

23 a substantial weapons arsenal. For over 15 months, the accused deployed

24 this force of soldiers and military weaponry to conduct a deliberate

25 campaign of attacks against civilians in the city of Sarajevo and its

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1 immediate surroundings, some 350.000 people, designed to spread terror to

2 the population and resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and the

3 maiming of thousands more. This he also did with the knowledge and

4 experience gained in the different positions occupied by him from 1992

5 onwards in Sarajevo.

6 Let me begin by very briefly putting the events described in the

7 amended indictment into the proper historical context in the war of Bosnia

8 and Herzegovina. This war had its origins in the disintegration of a state

9 in 1991, Yugoslavia, and the emergence of a new state, Bosnia and

10 Herzegovina. Both the Bosnian Serbs and Croats made it clear that they

11 would have recourse to armed conflict rather than accept minority status in

12 a Muslim-dominated state.

13 Following a referendum held in February of 1992, sponsored by the

14 Bosnian Muslims with some support from the Bosnian Croats but boycotted by

15 the Bosnian Serbs, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence in

16 March of 1992. In anticipation of this outcome, on the 9th of January,

17 1992, the Bosnian Serb political leadership proclaimed a Serbian republic

18 of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which later became known as Republika Srpska.

19 Hostilities escalated between the factions assigned to these groups, and

20 armed conflict broke out after the European Community recognised Bosnia and

21 Herzegovina as a sovereign state on the 7th of April, 1992. On or about

22 that date, the city of Sarajevo was heavily bombarded by artillery, tanks,

23 and mortar of the JNA -- mortars of the JNA deployed in locations

24 overlooking or in the range of the city. On the 2nd of May, 1992, a major

25 JNA attack on the centre of Sarajevo occurred, thereafter the town was

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1 continually exposed to heavy shelling and sniping activity.

2 On the 12th of May, 1992, the Assembly of the Serbian Republic of

3 Bosnia and Herzegovina in Banja Luka considered a plan to ensure that

4 Sarajevo became the political capital of the republic and adopted strategic

5 objectives, one of them being the division of Sarajevo into Serb and Muslim

6 parts. It was understood that Sarajevo must be divided or razed to the

7 ground. At the same meeting, the Assembly created the VRS, designating

8 General Ratko Mladic chief of its General Staff. The nucleus of the VRS

9 was constituted from the 2nd Military District of the JNA which withdrew

10 from Bosnia-Herzegovina shortly thereafter, on or about the 20th of May,

11 1992. As an offspring of the JNA, one of the most professional armies in

12 eastern Europe, the VRS was able to rely, to a very large extent, upon JNA

13 resources and experiences. Indeed, the VRS took over JNA doctrine and

14 regulations almost verbatim.

15 On the 22nd of May, 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina was admitted as

16 a member state of the United Nations. The Security Council called for the

17 withdrawal of foreign forces, including the JNA, from its territory. That

18 same day, General Mladic ordered the formation of the SRK, one of the five

19 constituent corps of the VRS. The SRK was formed mainly from elements and

20 materiel of the former JNA 4th Corps that had previously been garrisoned

21 and deployed in and around Sarajevo. The accused, as we know, took over

22 the SRK in August of 1994.

23 Let me focus now on what happened in Sarajevo and let me begin by

24 providing just a little bit of background information about the city

25 itself. We have provided Your Honours with a map book, a number of maps,

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1 that we will be using with various witnesses during the trial. As you

2 know, Sarajevo is Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital city and its largest

3 city, and it epitomised the republic's diversity.

4 The city is dominated by steep surrounding mountain slopes. To

5 the east, the Bascarsija area, difficult to pronounce, there is a dense

6 city centre making up a residential and commercial old town which spreads

7 up the adjacent hill-sides, while the new municipalities with commercial

8 development and extensive residential accommodation are on the more open

9 ground to the west of the city.

10 By 1990, the city consisted of ten municipalities, six of which

11 were genuinely urban communities that had either been part of the city for

12 centuries or had been urbanised during the 20th century. Four others had

13 been made part of the city in 1977 but were peripheral to the urban core,

14 but were gradually undergoing urbanisation but nonetheless large tracts of

15 rural, mountainous terrain on the city's periphery.

16 Sarajevo was largely integrated residentially and home to a

17 flourishing communal life, to use the socialist-era term for the phenomenon

18 that later became more widely known as multi-ethnic life. Certainly by

19 1990, the urbanised centre had become ethnically mixed and many Sarajevans

20 lived in high-rise apartment buildings without regard to national identity.

21 Members of various ethnicities mingled freely in everyday affairs, honoured

22 one other with mutual visits on appropriate holidays. Sarajevo's communal

23 life was highlighted by their shared pride in hosting the 14th Olympic

24 winter games in 1984.

25 A 1991 census indicated that the city and immediate surroundings

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1 had a population of some 525.988, with an ethnic composition of 49.3 per

2 cent Muslim, 29.9 per cent Serb, 6.6 per cent Croat, 10.7 describing

3 themselves as Yugoslav, and 3.5 per cent other groups. Sarajevo accounted

4 for 11 per cent of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

5 In sum, Your Honours, from every Sarajevan who will testify

6 before you in the next few months, you will here that before 1992, Sarajevo

7 was a blooming multi-ethnic community and a cultural and economic centre in

8 the former Yugoslavia. Sarajevo is a great city with a rich history going

9 back for nearly 2.000 years. It has always proudly displayed its tolerance

10 and respect for its inhabitants.

11 Your Honours, the mentioned topographical characteristics of the

12 city made Sarajevo extremely vulnerable to the SRK military as by April and

13 May 1992, it had positioned its forces on the high ground encircling the

14 valley, giving it a significant advantage over the defending forces in

15 Sarajevo, the Bosnian Army, which I will refer to as the ABiH. Thought the

16 siege -- throughout the siege, Sarajevo remained vulnerable to bombardment

17 from the hills north and south.

18 I already mentioned the start of the shelling and sniping

19 campaign as of April 1992. The objective of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia

20 and Herzegovina in relation to Sarajevo was clear by May 1992, according to

21 the stated objective of division or destruction. This objective was

22 repeated and was acted upon. The minister of health of the Serbian

23 Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated as follows: "I am for the

24 destruction of the Kosevo hospital so that the enemy has nowhere to go for

25 medical help." The Prosecution will demonstrate that such words were not

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1 empty words.

2 Your Honours, to quote from the report of Prosecution expert

3 Robert Donia: "The Bosnian Serb leaders used their military and geographic

4 advantages to shell Sarajevo periodically, to damage and destroy its

5 cultural and religious monuments, and to deprive its civilian population of

6 food, water, electricity, gas, and transportation. The city's diminished

7 population became dependent on international humanitarian aid to sustain

8 life. Widespread starvation was averted owing to the efforts of UNPROFOR

9 and the ingenuity of Sarajevo's defenders."

10 For the next three and a half years, the two opposing armies

11 fought to a position of stalemate, and apart from a few flare-ups the

12 confrontation lines became static, reflect the protracted stranglehold of

13 the SRK. Although the ABiH in Sarajevo had four times as many troops as

14 the SRK, with some 75.000 soldiers defending the city, the SRK had a

15 weapons advantage and by early 1993 had surrounded the city with mortars,

16 tanks, howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, and other heavy weapons. The accused

17 commanded some seven infantry brigades, a military police battalion, a

18 light artillery regiment, an anti-tank battalion, in addition to the

19 several corps command departments that he controlled. The Bosnian

20 government forces defending Sarajevo --

21 THE INTERPRETER: Kindly slow down for the interpreters. Thank

22 you.

23 MR. WHITING: I apologise. I will slow down.

24 The Bosnian government forces defending Sarajevo, namely the ABiH

25 1st Corps commanded by General Vahid Karevelic, was also organised into

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1 brigades which were located throughout the city of Sarajevo.

2 The Prosecution will bring ample evidence showing that the SRK

3 employed trained snipers or sharpshooters within their ranks who targeted

4 civilians in Sarajevo from long distances. As a clear example of the

5 employment of snipers within the SRK, the Prosecution will offer into

6 evidence an order signed by the accused on the 19th of January, 1995,

7 wherein he organised the transport of instructors or trainers were snipers

8 to be transported to military barracks in Jahorina so that they could

9 commence their work. Just preceding that order, on the 15th of January,

10 1995, the commander of the 3rd Sarajevo Infantry Brigade sent a request to

11 the accused for sniping training of their soldiers. The Prosecution points

12 out that for purposes of this case "sniper," the term "sniper," does not

13 just refer to a person with a rifle or direct-fire weapon with an optical

14 sight, rather that sniping is the direct targeting of individuals at a

15 distance from a concealed or partially concealed position by a small-

16 calibre weapon, such as a rifle or a machine-gun; in other words, from

17 single- and multiple-shot weapons.

18 In addition, by April 1995, the SRK introduced into its arsenal

19 weapons known as modified air-bombs, that - as will be discussed later -

20 possessed great destructive power but which were unguidable and therefore

21 completely inaccurate. They added another dimension to the already

22 existing state of terror to which the civilian population of Sarajevo had

23 been reduced.

24 The campaign to inflict terror and fear on the civilian

25 population of Sarajevo was orchestrated by the accused through both

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1 shelling and sniping simultaneously. Civilians riding on trams in downtown

2 Sarajevo were just as much at risk of death and injury from sniping or

3 other small arms fire as the civilians who lived in the Sarajevan suburb of

4 Hrasnica south-west of the city were from modified air-bombs. The twin

5 campaign of shelling and sniping was pervasive and enveloped the whole

6 city. Some areas, due to their topographical and geographical

7 disadvantage, were more prone to attacks than others, such as the

8 residential settlement of Sredenik to the north-east of the city, which was

9 a prime target from the infamous snipers at their nest at sharpstone.

10 The timing of the shelling and sniping could not be predicted,

11 only that a week would not go by without civilians being shelled or sniped

12 at. Some periods were more intense than others, such as the barrage of

13 modified air-bomb attacks in the summer of 1995. But generally, and as the

14 Prosecution intends to prove with the illustrative incidents detailed in

15 the two schedules of sniping and shelling appended to the amended

16 indictment, the campaign of shelling and sniping continued throughout the

17 tenure of the command of the accused. Even when NATO strikes were called

18 in and the international community enforced a weapons exclusion zone in

19 September of 1995, the Prosecution will bring witness and documentary

20 evidence to show that the attacks continued.

21 It is thus important to stress, Your Honours, that this case is

22 not about legitimate military actions against military targets; it's about

23 targeting civilians through direct, indiscriminate, and disproportionate

24 fire. The period of the amended indictment is co-extensive with the period

25 during which the accused was the commander of the SRK. And during that

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1 period, the SRK did launch attacks against legitimate military objectives

2 within the environs of Sarajevo. These attacks do not, however, form any

3 part of the charges against the accused, even where such attacks may have

4 resulted in proportionate or incidental civilian casualties or fear.

5 What the accused is charged with, however, is the campaign he led

6 against the civilian population of Sarajevo. In doing that, Your Honours,

7 the accused violated one of the key principles of international

8 humanitarian law, the principle of distinction. Every military commander

9 has the duty to make a distinction between military targets and civilian

10 targets -- or, in other words, to distinguish between soldiers and

11 legitimate military objectives, such as weaponry or headquarters on the one

12 side, and civilians and civilian objects, such as apartment houses, on the

13 other. As commander in 1994 and 1995, the accused, General Milosevic, knew

14 this basic and crucial tenet of international humanitarian law.

15 What are indiscriminate attacks, Your Honours? These are aimless

16 attacks in the sense that shells were fired into residential areas without

17 directing them at any particular targets at all and without regard to the

18 high possibility of excessive civilian casualties.

19 Were civilians targeted? Yes. You will see at the end of this

20 opening a few graphic images of Sarajevo with civilians being exposed to

21 sniping fire. Victims will testify as to their own experiences. In

22 addition, the seige of Sarajevo was witnessed by many international

23 military and civilian observers, some of who will appear shortly before

24 Your Honours to tell exactly what they witnessed. For these officers, the

25 deliberateness of the terror inflicted on Sarajevo was palpable.

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1 Was it possible that the weaponry was inaccurate and the gunners

2 made mistakes? The Prosecution will present expert and fact witness

3 evidence to prove that although mortars are typically indirect-fire

4 weapons, the SRK gunners were able to deploy them to such an accurate

5 standard that a target could be hit at first attempt. A mortar shell is

6 specifically designed to kill and maim people. The SRK mortars encircling

7 Sarajevo on the high ground remained in the same positions throughout the

8 conflict, their base plates were dug-in, and so targets had been recorded.

9 By the time the accused took command, such targets could be engaged with a

10 high degree of accuracy.

11 Of course, the issue of accuracy is even less applicable to

12 modified air-bombs, as will be shown during the trial with expert and fact

13 witnesses. These weapons were so inaccurate and unguidable that their use

14 in an urban environment, such as Sarajevo, was, the Prosecution says, per

15 se illegal, as the risk of excessive civilian casualties was so high.

16 A clear indication of the fact that the SRK engaged civilian

17 targets rather than legitimate military ones will be proved by Prosecution

18 evidence showing that known military installations of the defence of

19 Sarajevo were left untouched. For instance, the headquarters of the ABiH

20 1st Corps, the military opponent of the SRK, was only hit once during the

21 entire conflict. The headquarters' location was well-known to anybody in

22 the Sarajevo war theatre. In sum, the purpose of the SRK's military

23 campaign was not primarily to hit military targets. The civilians were the

24 main targets in Sarajevo, and they were targeted because the SRK was

25 carrying out psychological warfare on civilians to force a capitulation of

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1 the enemy.

2 One of the many experienced international military witnesses who

3 was in Sarajevo in the summer of 1995, Mr. Fortin, and who will appear

4 before you shortly will testify that sniping was a very efficient military

5 tactic in warfare. However, he thought that it was used in Sarajevo more

6 as a terror tactic.

7 In sum, why would a military force fire shells into a

8 predominantly residential area of Sarajevo with complete abandon as to

9 where the shells would land and with complete disregard as to whether

10 civilians were killed or injured as a result? The reason is that it did

11 not matter what was hit. The primary purpose of the attack was to terrify

12 the civilian population, and in that objective the SRK succeeded.

13 Taking up this thought, Your Honours, I would like to devote the

14 next few minutes - and it's the last part of my part of this opening

15 statement - to the victims.

16 What was daily life like in Sarajevo under Dragomir Milosevic's

17 tenure as the commander of the SRK?

18 Day-to-day activities continued to be life-and-death situations.

19 Throughout the icy winters of the war, Sarajevans had to make the daily

20 choice between freezing in their homes from the cold or risking their lives

21 to venture out to collect firewood or water. Moving through the city in

22 search of a loaf of bread was a death-defying act. As family members

23 headed out into the besieged Sarajevo streets for day-to-day supplies, it

24 was always a question whether they would return.

25 The Prosecution will present evidence from the survivors of the

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1 Markale Market massacre of 28th August 1995, which is scheduled incident

2 number 23, the second time a civilian marketplace was shelled by the SRK,

3 the first time being on 5th February, 1994, under the commander of General

4 Galic. At the end of today's opening, you will watch footage and hear

5 witnesses describe the scene of carnage, destruction, panic, and terror.

6 The Prosecution will present testimony from several tram drivers

7 who took daily risks to bring Sarajevo civilians in and around -- in and

8 out of the centre of the city. The bend in the tracks in front of the

9 Holiday Inn where the tram slows down was a notorious target of SRK snipers

10 under the command of the accused. The Prosecution will bring -- will bring

11 evidence of scores of civilian victims of tram shootings and shellings. At

12 the end of today's presentation, to illustrate, Your Honours will see a

13 short video footage about attacks at trams.

14 The Prosecution will also present the testimony of several

15 witnesses who fell victim to the modified air-bombs. They will describe

16 the physical horrors of the devastation caused by these weapons, including

17 the massive scale of the damage. You will hear of one incident where a

18 modified air-bomb severely damaged 11 houses, causing injury and death to

19 civilians within that radius, and another incident where one modified air-

20 bomb completely destroyed three floors of a building, causing damage also

21 to other buildings in the vicinity. Again, in this case, civilian

22 casualties were extensive.

23 You will also watch civilians grouped at intersections, summoning

24 up the courage to run for their lives across an opening which exposed them

25 as targets in the SRK line of fire. When some fell victim, others ran

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1 across to bring the injured to safety.

2 When civilians, including the elderly, children, and women, were

3 shot by SRK snipers or shelled by SRK forces, often rescue workers or local

4 authorities could not reach them to bring them to safety and medical

5 treatment because the sniping and shelling continued, targeting the same

6 people who had already been hit as well as their rescuers.

7 The Prosecution will present witness testimony and show footage

8 of such rescue attempts; the injured victims of SRK sniping and their

9 rescuers both under attack by SRK forces under the command of the accused.

10 Those who made it to the hospital, in spite of the ongoing sniping and

11 shelling, received whatever treatment could be given. The floors of the

12 hospital were frequently lined with injured civilians. Even when victims

13 were buried, loved ones risked their lives, standing at the graves in line

14 of sight of SRK snipers. Civilians were killed while attending funerals.

15 Your Honours, not only the victims, the civilians of Sarajevo

16 will come and testify about the terror they experienced on a daily basis.

17 In support of and to corroborate the account of the local witnesses, you

18 will hear the testimony and be presented with reports from a number of

19 members of the international community. I'll quote just one report dated

20 the 8th of July, 1995, drafted by a witness who is going to be called in

21 this case, David Harland, in which he says the following: "Despite the

22 reduction in military activity around the city, the harassment of the

23 civilian population continues almost unabated. Sniping and mortaring are

24 still at a reasonably high level. This seems to have no particular

25 military value but contributes to a general atmosphere of terror in the

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1 city. Almost no civilians now use the city's main east-west thoroughfare

2 'sniper alley,' so much so that snipers who used to work that area now seem

3 to have relocated."

4 Your Honours, that concludes my part of the opening statement. I

5 will now turn to Mr. Waespi who will talk to Your Honours about -- more

6 specifically about the accused and about the indictment in this case. I

7 thank you.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Mr. Whiting.

9 Mr. Waespi.

10 MR. WAESPI: Mr. President, Your Honours.

11 Born in Serbia in 1942, Dragomir Milosevic, the accused, was a

12 competent commanding and staff officer at all times and in all functions

13 during his considerable career in the JNA and the VRS. His progress on his

14 career path indicates that his superiors valued his professional skills and

15 leadership qualities.

16 As stated earlier, he had been an officer in the JNA before the

17 armed conflict, having served as a regimental Chief of Staff and then

18 brigade Chief of Staff of the 49th Motorised Brigade at Lukavica of the 4th

19 Corps, 2nd Military District. At least from September 1990, he was the

20 commander of the 216th Mountain Brigade, again within the 4th Corps,

21 located in Han Pijesak.

22 With the creation of the Sarajevo Romanija Corps in May 1992, the

23 216th Mountain Brigade was renamed the 1st Romanija Infantry Brigade and

24 the accused remained the commander of this brigade until the beginning of

25 1993. The accused was later - as we already heard - Chief of Staff of the

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1 Sarajevo Romanija Corps from at least 4th of July, 1993, until 10th August,

2 1994, when he became the commander of the Sarajevo Romanija Corps. For his

3 services, the accused, in the same year he took over command of the SRK,

4 was awarded with the star of Karadjordjevic, the 1st Order.

5 Your Honours, you will hear testimony that the accused was a

6 proper, professional, and brave officer. Witnesses will describe the

7 accused as a hands-on commander, who often visited his troops in the field

8 to learn more about the tactical situation and to boost morale. For this,

9 the accused was respected by his soldiers and his orders were followed

10 throughout the ranks.

11 Sarajevo's untold horrors were not new to Dragomir Milosevic when

12 he took over his position as the corps commander in August 1994. As

13 mentioned, the accused had not only been the commander of a brigade of the

14 SRK, with elements, Your Honours, located conveniently in Grbavica,

15 incidentally a notorious source of SRK fire during the siege, in early

16 summer 1992 when the first shells were launched on to Sarajevo. Even more

17 significantly, in July 1993, the accused became the Chief of Staff to the

18 then-SRK commander, General Galic.

19 Of course, Your Honours, the accused is not charged with crimes

20 that were committed outside the timeframe of this indictment and before he

21 took over command of the SRK. However, Your Honours, it's the

22 Prosecution's case that in particular, the fact that the accused occupied

23 the key role as a corps Chief of Staff over the extended period of time of

24 over a year, during which horrible crimes were committed, is relevant in as

25 much as from day one of his tenure as corps commander he was put, to the

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1 very least, on notice of the terror campaign that was led by his

2 predecessor. As the number two in the SRK structure, and second only to

3 the commander, as General Galic's right-hand man, the accused was privy to

4 information, including day-to-day details of SRK movements and activities.

5 His signature appears on daily combat reports as early as 6th July 1993, in

6 this case he signed as deputy SRK commander.

7 Your Honours, the moment the accused assumed command of the SRK

8 by virtue of the past positions he had, he was thoroughly apprised of the

9 numerous military issues relating to the Sarajevo theatre. In particular,

10 he knew of any significant ABiH 1st Corps locations, such as headquarters,

11 and therefore potential military targets. He knew in full detail the

12 inventory of SRK weaponry, his own assets; where the heavy weapons were

13 located; and how and when to acquire more weaponry. He was clearly

14 supremely knowledgeable, as was his job, of the various brigade and

15 battalion locations within his corps. He knew of their commanders and

16 regularly met with them. The accused was also familiar with the location

17 of the confrontation lines and corps logistical issues and the lines and

18 practice of reporting up and down the chain of command. In short, Your

19 Honours, the accused's previous positions within the SRK rendered him more

20 than capable of taking steps to deviate from the policy of shelling and

21 sniping of civilians so as to spread terror if he so wanted, but as the

22 evidence will show, Your Honours, he did not; rather, he perpetuated it.

23 As commander of the corps, the SRK, the accused performed - and

24 we will show you ample evidence of that - command and control functions

25 through an arrangement of personnel, equipment, communications, facilities,

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1 and procedures by way of planning, directing, coordinating, and controlling

2 forces under his command. He had full command over the SRK and other

3 subordinated units. The notion of full command covered all aspects of

4 military operations and administration. In the context of his operational

5 command, he could assign tasks to subordinate commanders, deploy units, and

6 retain or delegate operational or tactical control as he felt necessary.

7 And I will show you an example later today. By regulating the process of

8 combat reporting, the accused addressed an essential element of the

9 commander's ability to exercise operational command: Awareness of the

10 tactical and operational situation. As a corps commander, the accused had

11 all prerogatives, de jure and de facto, to exercise his authority to

12 establish and maintain a level of discipline foreseen for a professional

13 army.

14 How does the Prosecution intend to prove its case, Your Honours?

15 The Prosecution will seek to prove its case bearing in mind

16 several factors, all of which have been taken into account in the

17 development of the Prosecution's case thus far.

18 First of all, the charges, Your Honours. The Prosecution has

19 charged the accused with a campaign of shelling and sniping, the primary

20 purpose of which was to spread terror among the civilian population. The

21 nature of these charges, crimes against humanity, and violation of the laws

22 or customs of war, requires the Prosecution to prove this to the Court

23 beyond a reasonable doubt, not only the specific elements of each crime,

24 but also the so-called common elements of war crimes and crime against

25 humanity. Proving its case requires admitting both crime base evidence,

Page 278

1 evidence of the mass scale of these crimes, and finally the link directly

2 to the accused, proving his individual criminal responsibility for the

3 crimes he's charged with. As in the Galic case, the common elements of the

4 crimes charged, the campaign, will be partially proven through the use of

5 illustrative sniping and shelling incidents, as outlined in the two

6 schedules of the indictment.

7 Thus, the Prosecution case will necessarily include evidence to

8 prove each of our scheduled sniping and shelling incidents beyond a

9 reasonable doubt, but will also include pattern and overview evidence of

10 the terror campaign wrought by Dragomir Milosevic and his SRK subordinates

11 against the civilian population of Sarajevo, as well as evidence of the

12 criminal role of the accused in carrying out the campaign.

13 A second factor, Your Honours, of which the Prosecution is also

14 aware is the need to streamline our cases to ensure a speedy trial, which

15 protects the rights of the accused.

16 Thirdly, the Prosecution is keenly aware that evidence of the

17 suffering of civilians from the same type of criminal activity in Sarajevo

18 has been presented in other cases before this Tribunal, and that some of

19 the same witnesses who have testified in prior cases would also provide

20 evidence of the crimes charged in the indictment against the accused,

21 Dragomir Milosevic. Significantly, the Prosecution notes that it is always

22 a difficult and traumatic endeavour for victims of crimes to come and

23 testify live, so the Prosecution has borne this in mind when deciding on

24 its witnesses.

25 The Prosecution has thus sought to balance all these factors in

Page 279

1 determining its methodology for proving this case.

2 To address the individual crime-base evidence, the Prosecution

3 will lead evidence of crime-base witnesses, victims, eye-witnesses, local

4 investigators, and international personnel present at particular sniping or

5 shelling incidents. However, Mr. President and Your Honours, in doing so,

6 the Prosecution will seem to apply the mechanisms allowed by the Rules and

7 practice of this Court to reduce the necessary court time. The Prosecution

8 will thus be seeking to admit most of the evidence of crime base witnesses

9 pursuant to Rule 92 bis and ter with the witnesses, if Your Honours so

10 order, present in court to confirm their prior statements and to be cross-

11 examined.

12 As this Court is aware, the Prosecution has already reduced the

13 number of shelled incidents from 23 -- shelling incidents down to 15, and

14 the number of illustrative sniping incidents from 20 down to 12, with the

15 ultimate aim of streamlining the case and reducing the number of courtroom

16 hours needed by the Prosecution by a third of the original estimate.

17 These remaining shelled incidents will be proven not only through

18 witness testimony but also through video footage, UN reports, and reports

19 of other international organisations, photographs, hospital records, and

20 criminal investigation reports. Some witnesses, Your Honours, have

21 particular circumstances, like age or health issues, which may require the

22 use of videolink to enable them to testify; this will not, however,

23 preclude the Prosecution from seeking to limit the length of required court

24 time for their testimonies through the use of Rule 92 ter and it will

25 ensure they are available for cross-examination by the Defence.

Page 280

1 Pattern evidence of the campaign, Your Honours, to satisfy the

2 common elements of the crimes charged, will be presented by the Prosecution

3 through the testimony of international personnel, primarily former UN

4 military observers and former officers of UNPROFOR, journalists, local

5 police, investigators, and expert witnesses. All of them, Your Honours,

6 will provide evidence beyond the limited number of scheduled incidents and

7 talk about other unscheduled examples of the many incidents of attacks

8 against the civilian population during the period of the amended

9 indictment.

10 Finally, and most importantly, the Prosecution will bring

11 evidence of the individual criminal responsibility of the accused.

12 Witnesses who will testify to the role of the accused in carrying out the

13 terror campaign of sniping and shelling will include individuals who worked

14 closely with the accused in conducting the campaign, witnesses who were

15 present at times when action was taken in pursuit of the policy of the

16 campaign, and also international personnel, including high-level UN

17 officials who protested directly to the accused, either in writing or in

18 person. Again, Your Honours, the Prosecution will be seeking to admit much

19 of this evidence pursuant to Rule 92 ter, to ensure presentation of its

20 evidence in as efficient as possible a manner.

21 Before I turn to the specific counts of the indictment, Mr.

22 President and Your Honours, I would like to make you a bit more familiar

23 with the layout of the city as it relates to the charged, selected

24 scheduled incidents.

25 May I ask you, Mr. President, Your Honours, to go to that picture

Page 281

1 book my colleague, Alex Whiting, talked about which had been facilitated to

2 you yesterday, the same pictures and photos and charts will be available on

3 your computer screen as well.

4 The first map you see on the screen, Your Honours - and it's

5 actually map number 2 in your booklet - shows you what Mr. Whiting talked

6 about, the layout of the city and the municipalities. Old town in the

7 middle, other settlements outside, notably Pale to the east.

8 The second map, Your Honours, relates to the military activity of

9 the accused. You have heard from Mr. Whiting about the VRS. The VRS had

10 at that time, in 1995, six corps. One of the corps, the SRK, Sarajevo

11 Romanija Corps, was led by the accused, and you can see on this map - and

12 it's map 4 in your bundle - you can see the outline of the Sarajevo

13 Romanija Corps, and I have to say and there will be witnesses who can be

14 more accurate if required.

15 The next map, Your Honours, and that's number 6 in your bundle,

16 and again it does appear on your computer screen as well, is by way of

17 example a contemporaneous map from the ABiH, the 1st Corps, it's called a

18 working map of the staff of this 1st Corps. And you will hear from its

19 commander, Mr. Karevelic, who can explain the features on this map. It

20 shows, not very easily visible, the layout of the city, the way the AbiH,

21 in broad sense, had its own brigades allocated inside the city, and it

22 shows the confrontation lines as well.

23 The next map, Your Honours, is map number 6 -- in fact,

24 beforehand, the previous map was number 5. I apologise for the oversight.

25 This is map number 6, Your Honours, and this is an UNPROFOR map. There

Page 282

1 will be several UNPROFOR, that was a UN force, peacekeeping force in

2 Bosnia. Several witnesses will testify before Your Honours, high-ranking

3 commanders, but also lower-ranking soldiers. And this is a map which was

4 created by them. It shows from their perspective the confrontation lines

5 around the city in July of 1995.

6 What I want to do with this map, Your Honours, just very briefly

7 show you a few of the key locations witnesses as early as next Monday will

8 talk about. Your Honours might be familiar with many of them because of

9 your previous experience in Sarajevo-related cases. Nevertheless, here are

10 the features.

11 The first one, Your Honours, you see an arrow now on the

12 computer; that's the Butmir area, that's the airport of Sarajevo. The

13 second arrow, Your Honours, is Lukavica. That was the headquarters of the

14 accused, the headquarters of the Sarajevo Romanija Corps, where the accused

15 had its office -- his office. The next point of interest, Your Honours, is

16 the PTT building along -- that long road leading east/west, Sniper Alley as

17 it is called. You will hear extensive evidence about that location. The

18 PTT building, Your Honours, was the headquarters of the military observers.

19 The next feature for you to know is the TV building, again

20 important because it was attacked during the war under the orders of the

21 accused and we will show you one specific example of that, TV building.

22 Next feature, Your Honours, that's the Holiday Inn where many

23 foreign journalists were located during the war. You will hear a picture

24 and see a picture later today because it's right in front of a very

25 important location where sniping activity was going on all the time.

Page 283

1 The next location is Stari Grad, the old town. Alex Whiting has

2 talked about that. The arrow just points to the word Stari Grad, the old

3 town, obviously is a little bit more north of that arrow.

4 And the last location is Grbavica. You can see that settlement

5 south of the river, almost kind of an enclave. It was held, as you can

6 see, by the Sarajevo Romanija Corps because it's south of the front lines

7 and it's a very well-known - and you will hear evidence of that - location

8 of sniper fire.

9 Your Honours, how does the Prosecution intend to present our

10 incidents, the shelling and sniping incidents? Let me first talk about

11 sniping as it relates to Counts 2 and 4 of the amended indictment.

12 The nature of the individual crimes which constitute the crime

13 base for the indictment are such that they are difficult to convey into a

14 courtroom. In the case of sniping, Your Honours, they involve persons

15 being shot in the open. In circumstances where the killer is secluded, in

16 the case of shelling, the use of indirect fire means that those who were

17 present at the place where the shell landed generally did not see where the

18 shell emanated from. In order to better assist the Trial Chamber, the

19 Prosecution has prepared a video of each of the shelling and sniping

20 incidents. In relation to the number -- numbered shelling and sniping

21 incidents, if the victim survived and is available to give evidence, the

22 victim was videoed at the scene, pointing out precisely where they were at

23 the time they were hit by the bullet. The exercise was undertaken in

24 summer 2006.

25 If, however, Your Honours the victim was fatally wounded, an eye-

Page 284

1 witness to the incident appears on the video, pointing out to the best of

2 their recollection where the victim was at precisely the moment that they

3 were shot. A tripod was erected at the exact location of the victim's

4 position he or she was shot, and the camera lens fixed at the height

5 approximately the height of the point of entry on the body of the victim of

6 the bullet. A professional photographer then took photographs depicting a

7 360-degree view from that position, the position where the bullet entered

8 the body of the victim.

9 These photographs were later joined up so that a continuous 360-

10 degree image can be made available to the Trial Chamber. Defence counsel

11 was invited to attend the filming of some of these incidents in the summer.

12 The scheduled shelling incidents were videoed in a similar fashion. All of

13 those who participated in the shooting of these videos will be made

14 available by the Prosecution to give evidence and to attest to the truth of

15 what they heard to say on the video and what they did on the video.

16 I will take you now, Your Honours, to one sample incident using

17 this technology and the incident is scheduled incident number 5. The

18 schedule for that incident reads as stated in the First Schedule to the

19 amended indictment.

20 "18 November 1994. Dzenana Sokolovic, a woman aged 31 years,

21 and her son Nermin Divovic, a boy aged 7 years, were fired on while walking

22 in Zmaj od Bosne. Ms. Sokolovic was wounded with a bullet in the abdomen.

23 The bullet passed through her and hit her son in the head, killing him.

24 They had been walking home from Hrasno, where they had gone to collect

25 firewood the previous day." End quote, from the indictment.

Page 285

1 Dzenana Sokolovic, in 1994 she had a 7-year-old son and a teenage

2 daughter. Dzenana and her children hardly moved from her home between 1992

3 and 1995, she will tell the Court during her testimony. They were afraid

4 to even open their front door due to the instant sniping and shelling which

5 targeted the civilian population. Dzenana did all she could to protect her

6 family from these constant attacks, but in the end her worst nightmare came

7 true. Dzenana and her children had hardly anything to eat and lived in

8 constant fear. They lived in anticipation of being attacked any time of

9 the day. On the 18th of November, 1994, at approximately 11.00 in the

10 morning, Dzenana emerged from her house to collect firewood. It was a time

11 of a cease-fire, and the Sokolovic family urgently needed wood to provide

12 them with heat in the cold November weather.

13 Dzenana and her children went to the mother-in-law's house to

14 collect firewood. As they returned with a bundle of wood, Dzenana's son

15 was to her left and her daughter just behind them. Suddenly, the three

16 came under fire from SRK forces. Dzenana heard shots, saw the other

17 civilians around her falling to the ground, and then felt a pain, a sharp

18 pain in her abdomen. She also noticed her son fall to the ground.

19 UNPROFOR personnel were nearby, and as they attempted to rescue Dzenana and

20 her children, they all came under continuous SRK sniper fire.

21 Dzenana was finally rushed to the hospital, where she underwent

22 surgery. Only later when she awoke did she learn that her son had died on

23 the spot; the bullet had gone through her stomach, her own stomach, and

24 into her son's head. Dzenana's son Nermin was buried on the 21st of

25 November, 1994, whilst Dzenana was still in hospital. She was unable to

Page 286

1 attend his funeral.

2 Your Honours, I would like to demonstrate to you, using this

3 example, how the Prosecution intends to present this incident to you in

4 this trial. A selection of print-outs, again, Your Honours, is contained

5 in the picturebook we have provided you before today.

6 The first map, Your Honours, and this is master map number 7 in

7 your bundle, but it might be easier if you look at it on the computer

8 screen, is a map that contains all the scheduled incidents the Prosecution

9 will prove beyond a reasonable doubt, both shelling and sniping.

10 And I think if you look closely, the sniping incidents are red

11 dots and the shelling incidents are green dots, and it's covered from the

12 area of Hrasno, which is to the left, low left, up to the top right, the

13 old city of Sarajevo. That's representative, illustrative, of the campaign

14 the Prosecution will prove that occurred.

15 Now, you can later, when you have the technology, DVD, click on

16 any of those four inserts and you'll get closer to the single incidents.

17 We would like to look closer, as I explained, to incident number 5. So we

18 will look at insert number 3. Here, again, Your Honours, you have the map

19 in your book, but it's also on the screen. You see various sniping

20 incidents in the same area. This is map number 10 in your bundle, Mr.

21 President and Your Honours.

22 Now, if you look at the screen you will see two red markings we

23 added, and the first one a red circle, Mr. President, shows the location of

24 sniping incident number 5, where the victim Ms. Sokolovic and her son were

25 shot at, and the arrow points to the confrontation line, the pink line,

Page 287

1 that's the confrontation line.

2 And again, I want to point out in this location, Mr. President,

3 Your Honours, there were several other sniping incidents. You can see from

4 the numbers, number 1, number 6, number 8, number 13, number 14, all of

5 them will be proven through the same means.

6 Now, Mr. President, I explained to you before the way our

7 investigators went to see these victims and asked them to come to the spot

8 where they were shot so that a footage could be recorded, and I would like

9 to show you the footage we were -- we took in summer this year with Ms.

10 Sokolovic.

11 If the video could be played, please.

12 [Videotape played]

13 "Witness, at this time I would like to ask you to please stand in

14 the location where you were shot on the 18th of November, 1994.

15 "Can you please point in the direction in which you were

16 walking.

17 "And can you please point to where the bullet hit you and where

18 it exited your body.

19 "Could you please point with your right hand to where it hit you

20 and with your -- and then with your right hand to where it left your body.

21 First where it hit you; second, where it left your body.

22 "Thank you. And could you please point to where your son was

23 walking beside you at that time.

24 "Thank you. And finally, could you please point in which -- in

25 the direction from which you believe the shot came from on that day."

Page 288

1 MR. WAESPI: Your Honours, that's one example of the videos we

2 made in relation to all these sniping incidents and similar videos were

3 taken in relation to the shelling incidents. Now, I just want to complete

4 this incident by showing you what you can do and what we will show you in

5 relation to these incidents using photos, also involving a certain

6 technology. Now you've seen, Your Honours, and perhaps if the picture

7 could be moved a little bit back, more, yes.

8 We will see that on the map later, Your Honours, the victim is

9 standing in front of the Holiday Inn and you will see image of that. On

10 the right side, Mr. President, Your Honours, is the national museum and on

11 the left side, Your Honours, is the faculty or philosophical faculty. The

12 victim, as she explained to you, faces eastwards, that's where she was

13 walking, eastwards towards the old town. And this shot was taken from the

14 north, looking south, towards Grbavica. You will see it on a map. And the

15 road is called Franje Racog Street, the road you see here covered by trees.

16 Those are the features you can see from this picture.

17 If we now move on again to the chart which is interactive.

18 You can click then, Your Honours - and we'll be doing that for

19 each incident - on the area where sniping incident number 5 occurred. And

20 here, Your Honours, you can see on your screen but there is also again a

21 sample photo in your bundle, you can see the spot with circles where the

22 victim Sokolovic, and also related victims, was standing.

23 A couple of important features again for you to note because they

24 will be mentioned throughout the trial, starting as early as Monday, the

25 yellow building is the Holiday Inn. From the Holiday Inn leading towards

Page 289

1 the middle of the picture, you can see the Franje Racog Street, the street

2 I just showed you a moment ago and the two bigger buildings, and we have a

3 better photograph later for Your Honours are two buildings called Metaljka

4 buildings which are located south of the confrontation lines. I can direct

5 you later to that just to note for Your Honours at this point in time.

6 Now, if we click, Your Honours, on to the spot you can see on

7 your screen again, and again you have an example in your booklet, you can

8 see on the screen sniping incident number 5, the exact spot where Dzenana

9 Sokolovic and her son were shot. Again, Your Honours, Mr. President, you

10 see locations of the other incidents which occurred in the same place. On

11 the left side, the philosophical faculty, on the right side, the museum,

12 and the building in front, just you see the roof of it. On the bottom of

13 it is the Holiday Inn.

14 Now, Mr. President, we can click again on number 5, the spot

15 where the victim was shot, and here you have this panoramic view which you

16 don't have in your bundle. This is a 360-degree panoramic view taken from

17 the spot, location, where the victim was spot by the bullet, the entry of

18 the bullet into the body of the victim. You can, once you have that DVD,

19 Your Honours, and we do it right now as a demonstration, you can turn now

20 with a mouse click and you see the line of sight the sniper had in order to

21 hit the victim. Here, if we can freeze it for a moment, again you see the

22 Holiday Inn, the yellow building, the two Unis towers, right of it, that's

23 a famous feature of Sarajevo will be referred to by other witnesses. If we

24 continue. Now we are facing north. Now we are facing west. That's again

25 the museum, Mr. President, Your Honours. And here we stop. That's -- you

Page 290

1 remember that was the location the victim said she was standing and that's

2 again the road called Franje Racog Street, pointing towards Grbavica.

3 Now, if we move to the next image. You can see again the same

4 features and I think we are now ready to show you with arrows where the

5 witness was standing again, Ms. Sokolovic, that's the first arrow to the

6 right. And the second arrow only seen on your screen, Mr. President, is

7 the likely source of fire, that's the Metaljka building. And as you will

8 hear and see evidence during trial, the situation in terms of trees,

9 vegetation, was obviously different in November of 1994. And you can see

10 that perhaps in our last picture. You can see the street now again from

11 the Holiday Inn at the bottom towards the building, and perhaps that can be

12 marked by an arrow. The two arrows, first the location of the victim, the

13 bottom, and north, the Metaljka building, likely source of fire. And the

14 confrontation line is the river which runs just across - perhaps that can

15 be marked as well manually - in the middle of those trees, that's where the

16 river is which was at the same time the confrontation line.

17 We can maybe return to the map for a last time, if that's

18 possible.

19 Yes, I think you have seen the point, Mr. President and Your

20 Honours, that's a way the Prosecution the present shelling -- sniping

21 evidence in relation to each single piece of -- incident we want to prove.

22 Let me continue with shelling, Mr. President and Your Honours.

23 At this point, the Prosecution underscores that the shelling component is

24 part of the overall campaign of attacks against civilians, along with

25 sniping, the primary purpose of which was to spread terror among the

Page 291

1 civilian population. It is also not confined to the illustrative incidents

2 set forth in the Second Schedule of the indictment, but it will also be

3 evidenced by more general, overview evidence of deliberate, indiscriminate,

4 and disproportionate attacks against civilians.

5 The Prosecution will present detailed evidence relating to 15

6 shelling incidents which are illustrative of the campaign. These incidents

7 will demonstrate that the location and timing of the shelling attacks were

8 launched in such places as to predictably cause extensive civilian

9 casualties. Or, in the case of indiscriminate fire, with complete

10 disregard to the possibility of excessive civilian casualties, rendering

11 these actions the deliberate targeting of civilians. The illustrative

12 incidents show that the campaign of shelling was conducted during business

13 hours where public markets were located on a water distribution point

14 provided for the civilians to access a source so limited due to ongoing

15 blockade and bombardment by the accused's subordinates of the SRK, on a

16 medical facility, a television tower where local and foreign journalists

17 worked, and on exclusively residential areas within the city. Civilians of

18 both sexes, of all ages, including children and the elderly, of all

19 ethnicities, and of all professions, were the target.

20 Further, the Prosecution will present evidence that for each of

21 these incidents there was no military target in the area or military

22 activity taking place at the time of the shelling. There was also no

23 military necessity. No one and nowhere were immune from artillery and

24 mortar attacks in Sarajevo during the indictment period. No area could be

25 presumed safe for the civilian population.

Page 292

1 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Waespi, I think this may be a convenient

2 time to take a break for 20 minutes. We'll adjourn.

3 --- Recess taken at 3.58 p.m.

4 --- On resuming at 4.24 p.m.

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: You may continue, Mr. Waespi.

6 MR. WAESPI: Thank you, Mr. President.

7 No example of the sheer terror and destruction visited upon the

8 civilians of Sarajevo by the firing and exploding of mortar bombs is more

9 graphic than the firing incident on the marketplace on 28th August 1995.

10 The Prosecution will show that on that bright summer's day, SRK fired a

11 120-millimetre mortar bomb on a crowded, bustling market close to noon in

12 broad daylight, killing 43 civilians and injuring 75 more. The site of the

13 massacre was just opposite to a similar heinous mortar attack by the SRK

14 that occurred at the outdoor Markale Market on 5th February 1994. Markale

15 II, as it became to be infamously known, was no less terrifying and no less

16 destructive as you will see from a video footage which I will show to you

17 at the end of today's opening address.

18 The Prosecution, Your Honours, will call eyewitnesses to testify

19 about the human carnage and destruction depicted so graphically on this

20 video clip. It will also present evidence that will show that the time --

21 that at that time, there was no military target in the vicinity of the

22 marketplace and that the preponderance of those injured and killed were

23 civilians. It's worth noting that this incident sent shockwaves around the

24 world, and governments and the United Nations were united in their swift

25 condemnation of the incident and the extensive human casualties caused. In

Page 293

1 fact, once the investigations established that the SRK had fired the

2 killing round, this finally tipped the scales with NATO seeking permission

3 to commence air-strikes on VRS military positions in Pale and elsewhere.

4 Your Honours, the Prosecution will bring expert and fact witness

5 evidence that will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that subordinates of the

6 accused fired this 120-millimetre mortar from the mountain of Trebevic

7 situated towards the south of the city. United Nations military observers

8 and local police inspectors will provide details of their in-depth crater

9 investigations, establishing the probable angle of descent and direction of

10 fire, and crucially an UNMO, United Nations military observer, will be

11 called to testify that while on observation along the established direction

12 of the mortar in ABiH-held territory, he did not hear the firing of a 120-

13 millimetre mortar at the relevant time from the area, a firing sound he

14 would have heard if it had been fired from within ABiH territory. This

15 was, Your Honours, a deliberate attack perpetrated by SRK members as part

16 of a campaign of terror orchestrated by the accused.

17 As if the mortar and artillery attacks against civilians were not

18 sufficiently destructive and terrorising, in April 1995, well into the

19 tenure of the accused's command and after a succession of deadly mortar and

20 other artillery attacks in the latter part of 1994, the SRK, on the orders

21 and organisation of the accused, started to deploy and launch a more

22 sinister weapon called modified air-bomb. These weapons were of great

23 destructive powers, Your Honours. They killed numerous civilians and

24 caused extensive damage to buildings, such as houses and apartments. Their

25 deployment clearly perpetuated and even increased the terrorisation of the

Page 294

1 civilian population of Sarajevo.

2 Prosecution will present expert and fact witnesses -- witness

3 evidence from both the SRK and ABiH or Bosnian police that will demonstrate

4 that this makeshift weapon was incapable of being guided, as it was a

5 projectile designed to be dropped from an aeroplane, but instead, on most

6 occasions, fired from the back of a truck with rockets strapped on it. A

7 member of the accused's corps command, corps staff, will give evidence of

8 the inaccuracy, the inherent inaccuracy, of these modified air-bombs. Such

9 was the inability to guide the modified air-bombs at all. The

10 Prosecution's case is that even if the intention was to direct them at

11 legitimate military targets, this could not be done and thus the

12 possibility of extensive civilian casualties was so excessive in an urban

13 environment such as Sarajevo, that their use at all, regardless of the

14 intended target, was contrary to international humanitarian law and

15 illegal, as the principle of distinction could not have been applied.

16 The Prosecution will present evidence from ABiH personnel,

17 experts, and SRK personnel that only the SRK possessed and used these

18 modified air-bombs in the city of Sarajevo. In this regard, it is the

19 Prosecution's case then -- that whenever a modified air-bomb was used and

20 exploded within the city or in areas, such as Hrasnica, a residential

21 settlement on the outskirts of the city, south-west, the firing area of

22 origin was always SRK territory under the effective control of the accused,

23 and that their use was either known or - as I will show in a moment -

24 directly ordered by the accused.

25 In this regard, the Prosecution will bring expert evidence

Page 295

1 showing that whenever these modified air-bombs were fired, they made a huge

2 sound that could easily be picked up. If these bombs had been fired from

3 within the ABiH front lines, it could not have been undertaken without

4 triggering a response from the scores of United Nations observers and other

5 internationals within the city. There is no evidence, Your Honours, that

6 this was the case.

7 The accused's shelling campaign with these unguided, modified

8 air-bombs commenced in earnest in April 1994 [sic] and continued with high

9 intensity and frequency throughout the summer months of May, June, July

10 1995. During that narrow period, as the illustrative allegations in the

11 amended indictment show, the SRK launched modified air-bombs that on at

12 least 13 occasions caused civilian casualties and building damage. From

13 the 13 incidents appended to the amended indictment, some 104 casualties

14 were caused by the explosion of modified air-bombs, with thousands more

15 terrorised.

16 The Prosecution will bring witness and contemporaneous

17 documentary evidence that show beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused

18 knew that artillery, mortar fire, and modified air-bombs that could not be

19 guided were being deployed against civilian targets. Senior United Nations

20 military commanders and civilian officials will give evidence of how they

21 relayed to the accused in written form and verbally, Your Honours,

22 unequivocal protest of the use of air-bombs and shelling generally against

23 civilian targets. A little later on, Your Honours, I will show you just

24 one such protest when UNPROFOR Colonel Robert Meille wrote to the accused

25 on the 1st of July, 1995, just after an SRK attack on the TV building that

Page 296

1 killed one person and injured 28 persons.

2 Your Honours, just to note that this incident, this attack on the

3 TV tower, is scheduled incident number 15 in our amended indictment. In

4 this letter, Mr. President, Your Honours, Colonel Meille also vehemently

5 protested over a subsequent attack by mortar rounds on the residential

6 areas of Alapasino Polje and an attack on the PTT building which was, as I

7 told you earlier, the headquarters of UNPROFOR, Sector Sarajevo. In this

8 protest, Colonel Meille reminds the accused and his subordinates to:

9 "Moral and legal obligations to adhere to the Geneva Conventions ..."

10 specifically referring to Article 85 of the Protocol I of the Geneva

11 Conventions.

12 In fact, the accused already knew what he was told about by

13 Colonel Meille. His knowledge came from his own troops, as is evidenced in

14 a, and I quote the title, "Report on the Situation at the Front," drafted

15 by the accused and dated 30th June, 1995, when the accused commends the

16 heroism of his units, specifically mentioning that in one such incident on

17 the 28th of June, 1995, his artillery units hit the BiH TV building. Your

18 Honours, this is a good example of actual knowledge of the accused of

19 activities of his subordinate troops, as would be expected from a corps

20 commander. The Prosecution will be introducing this document in due

21 course.

22 The Prosecution will also bring evidence that the accused himself

23 ordered the possession, deployment, and indeed launching of modified air-

24 bombs. These heavy weapons were controlled at the higher levels, and it's

25 inconceivable that one could be launched without it being either ordered by

Page 297

1 the accused, the SRK command, or without the knowledge -- or without the

2 knowledge of the accused.

3 In one such glaring example, the accused orders the firing of a

4 modified air-bomb from Ilidza into Hrasnica on 6th April 1995. This is,

5 again, one of the only four documents I will be showing you in a moment.

6 True enough, Your Honours, on the following day, 7th April, 1995, a day

7 after the order of the accused, indeed a modified air-bomb was fired on

8 Hrasnica residential neighbourhood, killing one person and injuring three,

9 as well as causing severe damage to the dwellings. Your Honours, this is

10 scheduled shelling incident number 6, as charged in the amended indictment,

11 and you will hear victims' testimony about that during the course of this

12 trial. A crime, Your Honours, directly ordered by the accused, the SRK

13 corps commander. The Prosecution alleges that the lethal bomb was fired

14 from SRK-controlled area of Ilidza, the area of responsibility of the

15 brigade to which the accused had sent the order the day before.

16 Your Honours, I would just like to show you four documents - I

17 intended five but we will skip one - four documents to see the types of

18 evidence the Prosecution intends to show during the trial in terms of

19 documents. All these documents will be introduced by various means, live

20 witnesses or perhaps from the bar table as self-propelled documents, as

21 they are called sometimes.

22 Let me go to the first document, Mr. President, Your Honours, the

23 65 ter number is 1969, and it's a document of 12th August 1994, authored by

24 the accused. You can see on your screen first the B/C/S original version

25 of the document, two-page document, but I'll lead you through a few points

Page 298

1 of the English translation.

2 Mr. President, Your Honours, this is the third day the accused

3 was in command of the corps, and he issues this order of considerable

4 relevancy to this case. The accused brings selected units of his corps to

5 full combat readiness. The reason, Your Honours, is obvious, as you see in

6 paragraph 1 of the order: Any attacks from the encircled ABiH units had to

7 be prevented.

8 The first important feature of this order for you to note is -

9 still in paragraph 1 - the fact that the accused, as the overall

10 responsible commander of the Bosnian Serb forces around Sarajevo, addresses

11 his order for full combat readiness, not only to all genuine SRK military

12 units on the positions and in the regions of deployment around Sarajevo,

13 but also, and I quote, "MUP units and people under work obligation." This

14 is consistent, Your Honours, with the Prosecution's case, as stated in the

15 amended indictment, that the accused had effective control over all Bosnian

16 Serb forces around Sarajevo.

17 Paragraph 5, Your Honours, further reinforces this point where

18 the accused orders that among SRK units --

19 JUDGE ROBINSON: Although, Mr. Waespi, just -- I noted that the

20 purpose of ordering full readiness those forces was a preventive one, but

21 you're citing it for another purpose?

22 MR. WAESPI: That's fair enough. It just shows that the accused

23 could, in fact --

24 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

25 MR. WAESPI: -- give orders to these MUP forces for whatever

Page 299

1 purpose.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you.

3 MR. WAESPI: The paragraph 5, Mr. President, further reinforces

4 this point, where the accused orders that among SRK units, also the MUP -

5 the police, as you're aware, Your Honours - is to be engaged under the

6 orders of the SRK. Mr. President, that's again the same argument I made

7 before. Incidentally, I invite Your Honours to note what the accused

8 orders his subordinates to do: "To plan forces to block UN units."

9 There are other important features of this document which Your

10 Honours should be aware of, apart from the fact that the document mentions

11 quite a number of units under the accused's overall command.

12 Paragraph 7 illustrates a point made earlier that the SRK command

13 kept their artillery assets on a very tight leash: "Fire to be opened

14 according to the order of the Sarajevo Romanija command post."

15 The order in paragraph 9 also underscores the obvious point when

16 it refers to military doctrine: "Reports on measures undertaken and

17 development of the situation in the mentioned areas are to be made

18 regularly and extraordinarily."

19 In essence, Your Honours, this order shows the way the accused is

20 about to conduct his command for the next 15 months during the period

21 covered by the indictment: A corps commander willing to keep things under

22 firm control from day one. As mentioned, the accused issued this order on

23 his third day in command.

24 Let me skip the anti-sniping agreement. Mr. Harland, who was a

25 participant in the ceremony of signing the document, will be our first

Page 300

1 witness. He can tell you all about the anti-sniping document. Let me move

2 to the next document, it's 65 ter 2105, 6 November 1994, a document ordered

3 by Mr. Mladic. Perhaps the B/C/S version can be shown first.

4 That's, Your Honour, the original version, and it is a document

5 addressed to the SRK command, corps command of the accused, and carries the

6 heading: "Combat operations in the heavy weapons exclusion zone, order."

7 It reads as follows, and I suggest that Your Honours read it in

8 full because it carries some considerable weight in our submission. I

9 quote -- Mladic says: "I have been informed that the leadership of the

10 Serbian Sarajevo local authorities met with the commander of the SRK in the

11 Vogosca on 5th November 1994, where they adopted a decision to blockade the

12 UNPROFOR, capture the heavy weapons under the UNPROFOR control, and use

13 them to fire at civilian targets in the city of Sarajevo."

14 Mladic then goes on: "Bearing in mind that such decisions could

15 have far-reaching negative effects on the Serbian people and that these

16 combat operations are being planned without my knowledge, I hereby

17 order..." and he orders four points. Mladic, as you know, is the commander

18 of the VRS, the immediate superior of the accused, Dragomir Milosevic.

19 He orders: "1. I forbid all activities aimed at the blockade of

20 UNPROFOR and the seizure of heavy weapons under their control without my

21 specific order and approval.

22 "2. I forbid the planning and carrying out of any offensive

23 combat operation without the approval of the Main Staff of the Republika

24 Srpska army or the implementation of operations planned without the

25 agreement and approval of the Main Staff."

Page 301

1 And the third point, a significant one, Your Honours: "I forbid

2 firing from large-calibre weapons at civilian targets in Sarajevo without

3 my approval." Third point.

4 And then the fourth paragraph is: "The Sarajevo Romanija Corps

5 commander and his immediate subordinates are personally responsible to me

6 for implementing this order. The SRK commander shall inform his immediate

7 subordinates of this order."

8 Your Honours, this is an amazing document. It not only shows

9 that the SRK command was clearly aware that civilian targets were being hit

10 in their area of responsibility. This document is an admission that the

11 accused, together with local authorities, indeed decided to deliberately

12 target civilians. The Prosecution says that this is a decision made by the

13 accused since it affects his heavy weaponry; it could not have emanated

14 from the local authorities. And the planned attacks on civilians were to

15 be carried out with heavy weaponry stolen from the protection of UNPROFOR,

16 whose task it was to prevent exactly that, the shelling and sniping of

17 civilians.

18 I would like to move on to the next document, Your Honours, this

19 is 65 ter number 2279; it dates 6 April 1995; author, the accused Dragomir

20 Milosevic. And the document is addressed to the Ilidza Infantry Brigade

21 one of the subordinate units of Dragomir Milosevic. I quote from the

22 document: "In order to thwart the enemy and give them a warning so that

23 they are forced to accept this truce, I hereby order:

24 "1. The Ilidza Brigade will immediately prepare a launcher with

25 an aerial bomb and transport the bomb for launching. The most profitable

Page 302

1 target must be selected in Hrasnica or Sokolovic colony where the greatest

2 casualties and material damage would be inflicted.

3 "Inform me personally of readiness for implementation of this

4 task."

5 That's an order by the corps commander, the accused Dragomir

6 Milosevic.

7 The document, Your Honours, speaks for itself. The accused

8 orders his subordinates to employee this most heinous of weapons - a

9 modified air-bomb - with the aim of inflicting the greatest casualties and

10 material damage.

11 As mentioned earlier, Your Honours, the Prosecution alleges that

12 air-bombs designed to be dropped from aeroplanes were altered to enable

13 them to be launched from the ground. These weapons, Your Honours, have no

14 guidance system; in other words, they cannot be aimed. As such, they are

15 entirely inappropriate for deployment into heavily populated urban areas,

16 precisely where the accused ordered his subordinates to deploy them,

17 Hrasnica and Sokolovic colony, residential areas.

18 The Prosecution will present throughout this case extensive

19 evidence of devastating consequences of the launch of air-bombs targeting

20 the civilian population of Sarajevo.

21 I would like to conclude the presentation of these four documents

22 by showing you one of the protest letters addressed directly to the

23 accused, and I have already briefly referred to the letter a moment ago.

24 The document is dated the 30th of June, 1995. It's under the auspices of

25 UNPROFOR, as you can see from the letterhead. 65 ter number, I should add,

Page 303

1 is 2491, and it was drafted by then-acting UNPROFOR Sector Sarajevo

2 commander, the highest military official in Sarajevo from the United

3 Nations, Colonel Robert Meille. And he tells Dragomir Milosevic: "On the

4 28th and 29th June, 1995, the Bosnian Serb forces of the Romanija Corps

5 launched several attacks on civilian targets in the city of Sarajevo, using

6 very powerful bombs as well as heavy artillery." Then he lists three

7 specific targets that were hit all in residential areas.

8 The letter continues, Your Honours: "This ill-considered and

9 irresponsible escalation continued on the evening of 29 June when three

10 high-power projectiles struck the PTT building, the HQ of commander Sector

11 Sarajevo."

12 It continues: "The seriousness of the events of the past 48

13 hours obliges me to remind both you and your officers most earnestly of

14 your moral and legal obligation to adhere to the Geneva Convention as well

15 as the agreements and assurances made to the peacekeeping forces. Protocol

16 I of the Geneva Convention states, particularly in Section 2, Article 85,

17 that deliberate attacks on the civilian population constitute a serious

18 breach of the convention, rendering their perpetrators liable to trial by

19 an international court."

20 The letter concludes: "I strongly protest against these

21 bombardments carried under -- carried out on your orders, and I demand that

22 you immediately halt all attacks directed at either the civilian population

23 or UNPROFOR."

24 I really have no comment, Mr. President, other than to say that

25 the letter was done both in English and B/C/S or Serbian, the language the

Page 304

1 accused perfectly understood.

2 Let me address a few issues, Mr. President, about the Defence

3 case so far as we are aware of it at this point in time. We only received

4 a brief pre-trial brief, but there were a couple of points raised there, at

5 least one which I would like to address, Mr. President.

6 The Prosecution underscores that at all times the SRK and the

7 accused had to abide by the we will-known tenet of conduct of hostilities

8 principles and the bedrock of international humanitarian law, that

9 civilians may not be the object of attack. And you have just seen a letter

10 by Colonel Meille, reminding the accused of his obligations. This

11 obligation, Mr. President, Your Honours, did not change or diminish

12 depending on whether the ABiH, the defending forces of Sarajevo, themselves

13 perpetrated wrong-doing, such as firing mortars or other heavy weapons into

14 Bosnian Serb areas where civilians were hit. This fact could not entitle

15 the accused and his subordinates to do likewise. There can be no tu quoque

16 defence. The Prosecution accepts that the ABiH had sniping resources and

17 heavy weapons, and particularly mortar weapons, and there was indeed a

18 legitimate conflict ongoing in Sarajevo. Having said that, Prosecution

19 will bring evidence that shows that at any time did the ABiH fire shells

20 from within the confrontation lines at their own people, the persons they

21 were supposed to defend.

22 The Prosecution also accepts that on some occasions the ABiH may

23 have fired mortars from within the hospital grounds of the Kosevo hospital;

24 however, Mr. President, Your Honours, this would not have entitled the

25 accused to send in barrage of shells at the hospital complex in

Page 305

1 retaliation. Typically, where hospitals are used to commit military acts,

2 they would lose their protection under international humanitarian law only

3 after due warning and a reasonable time-limit to cease military activities.

4 But once the attack ceases, the hospital would revert to its status as a

5 civilian target. In any event, in relation to the Kosevo hospital, the

6 institution comprised a series of buildings in a large complex and so if

7 mobile mortars were used from a small part of the ground, this would not

8 give the SRK licence to fire shells on to the whole target, where the

9 anticipated civilian casualties would have been excessive to any military

10 advantage gained.

11 According to the Defence pre-trial brief, Your Honours, the

12 accused appears to raise the defence of alibi, specifically stating that

13 from the 10th August, 1995, through to the 15th September, 1995, 45 days,

14 he was not present in the Sarajevo theatre, but rather in Belgrade

15 undergoing medical treatment. Even if the Prosecution were to accept this,

16 we have seen no direct evidence of this yet, it does not affect the guilt

17 of the accused.

18 This case, Your Honours, does not concern crimes committed within

19 a month period -- within a one-month period, but rather a campaign of

20 shelling and sniping that took place over an extended period of time during

21 which the accused created the conditions conducive for the commission of

22 crimes through direct orders, as we have seen them, to attack civilians and

23 omissions to act when those crimes were committed. By the time he would

24 have left the theatre, the lawless environment was in place, and given the

25 free reign the accused had permitted his subordinates to shell and snipe

Page 306

1 civilians, any crimes committed during the period of absence, especially

2 the attack on the Sarajevo marketplace on 28th August 1995 are a direct

3 result of the accused's actions and omissions. Further, when the accused

4 returned just after the NATO strikes as a result of the market attack, the

5 Prosecution will bring evidence to show that no steps were taken by the

6 accused to initiate an investigation or to punish the perpetrators.

7 Your Honours, the Prosecution's case is that the accused is

8 individually criminally responsible for ordering and planning the crimes

9 contained in the amended indictment. He implemented and/or further ordered

10 the campaign of shelling or sniping civilians in order to primarily spread

11 terror among the population -- civilian population of Sarajevo.

12 It is the Prosecution's case that the accused inherited a pre-

13 existing strategy of deliberate sniping and shelling of civilians. While

14 this campaign or strategy was inherited, it was fine-tuned and ruthlessly

15 implemented and perpetuated by Commander Stanislav Galic and, when he took

16 over, the accused, Dragomir Milosevic.

17 During the tenure of General Galic, as we know, the accused was

18 brigade commander and, critically, the Chief of Staff of the SRK. During

19 his time as Chief of Staff, the Prosecution will show that by virtue of

20 this position he would have been privy to all decisions and issues

21 pertaining to military operations and the commanding of the corps. The

22 accused, therefore, when he became commander on 10th August 1994, clearly

23 knew of the campaign against the civilian population.

24 Through direct orders down the chain of command of his tightly-

25 run and professional army corps, the accused furthered the campaign of

Page 307

1 attacks against the civilian population. The characteristics of the

2 campaign remained the same as before, but with the introduction of modified

3 air-bombs into the SRK arsenal, it was carried out with more destructive

4 force and terror than ever.

5 The Prosecution will present ample documentary evidence of direct

6 orders from the accused related to the obtaining, deployment, and launching

7 of modified air-bombs that prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused

8 called the shots when it came to the use of these weapons. In one such

9 order which we will present to Your Honours in trial, the accused orders

10 for the deployment of 50 air-bombs.

11 The Prosecution will bring direct and circumstantial evidence

12 that the accused planned the firing of these and other heavy weapons, as

13 well as the firing of direct-fire small-arms weapons against civilian

14 targets.

15 Even in the absence of further written orders directing the

16 campaign against civilians, it will be clear from the evidence that the

17 campaign of attacks against the civilians of Sarajevo continued, despite

18 the anti-sniping agreement of 14th August 1994 and numerous protests from

19 the UN and the international community. One UN military commander will be

20 called before Your Honours and give evidence that in a six-month period, he

21 protested to senior VRS commanders, including the accused, no fewer than 50

22 times about the sniping and shelling of civilians. The evidence of the

23 pattern and the scale of the campaign will emerge through the testimony of

24 surviving victims, UN monitors, and other eyewitnesses that will establish

25 a convincing case based on direct and circumstantial evidence that

Page 308

1 civilians were deliberately targeted and that the accused exercised

2 effective control over his infantry and artillery assets, in particular the

3 modified air-bombs.

4 Also, the Prosecution's case rests upon the inevitable and

5 inescapable conclusion that the targeting of civilians by sniping and

6 shelling could not have happened for so long and in a fashion which was

7 observed to be responsive to his actions unless the accused had ordered it

8 in the first place.

9 As mentioned earlier, the Prosecution will bring evidence that

10 the accused was repeatedly warned about civilian casualties as a result of

11 sniping and shelling, but they continued, nevertheless, for the 15 months

12 or so that the accused was in command. The accused could have been taken

13 steps to prevent the attacks or discipline or punish his soldiers, but he

14 did not, leaving the only inference that he had directly ordered the

15 campaign.

16 Dragomir Milosevic's position of effective control will prove to

17 be indisputable. The Prosecution will show that from the time he took over

18 the command of the SRK, he instituted a tight reign on the corps, from

19 ordering his subordinates to preparing firing positions and monitor firing

20 components to instituting regular meetings with his brigade officers. He

21 had, at all times, the material about to prevent the commission of crimes

22 and to investigate and punish his subordinates for the commission of

23 crimes. He certainly had the power and material ability to investigate and

24 to punish. Evidence will be presented that he did, indeed, initiate

25 disciplinary measures against his soldiers like handing down prison

Page 309

1 sentences for deserters and similar offences. Yet, at the same time, the

2 accused did never initiate any steps in his powers to investigate the

3 crimes committed by his subordinates against the civilian population in

4 Sarajevo.

5 In conclusion Mr. President, Your Honours, General Milosevic held

6 one of the highest military positions in the Army of Republika Srpska.

7 When he assumed command of the SRK in August 1994, he inherited a pre-

8 existing campaign to target civilians, of which he was aware by his prior

9 positions. During his tenure as corps commander, the accused not only

10 failed to prevent the campaign of attacks against civilians but also failed

11 to punish the perpetrators. To the contrary, he continued the campaign of

12 terror against the city of Sarajevo and its population.

13 As mentioned, Mr. President and Your Honours, I would like to

14 conclude the Prosecution's opening statement by showing a few

15 contemporaneous video-clips. Let me clarify, as I have done before, that

16 it's the Prosecution's case that the campaign of shelling and sniping

17 against the civilian population is a continuous activity, starting in

18 summer 1992 and spreading over 44 months into winter 1995. Therefore, Your

19 Honours, the Prosecution will lead evidence that covers the campaign's

20 entirety rather than specifically to the indictment period, which

21 corresponds to the accused's tenure as corps commander of the SRK. Indeed,

22 the collage of video-clips will predate the indictment period as well as

23 portray events during it. It's only six minutes, by the way. The reasons

24 are three-fold.

25 Firstly, it is the Prosecution's case - and I say it for the

Page 310

1 third time - that the accused inherited a pre-existing strategy of

2 deliberate sniping and shelling of civilians. Secondly, the

3 characteristics of the campaign before and during his tenure are

4 essentially identical. Thirdly, I mean to place the accused's actions in

5 their proper historical context. Fourthly, by virtue of his prior

6 positions, the accused is put on notice about the ongoing campaign he

7 inherited. But I repeat, Your Honours, the accused is only accountable for

8 the responsibilities which fell to him as a result of his period as the

9 commander of the SRK.

10 These clips, Mr. President and Your Honours, will provide you

11 with a realtime impression of how it was. The first few clips are from the

12 pre-indictment period. It starts with pre-war images of Sarajevo, the

13 situation it was as described by Alex Whiting. Then shows images of the

14 beginning of the campaign, during which the accused already had senior

15 positions within the SRK. You will see some fabulous vantage positions the

16 SRK had over the city showing that Sarajevo was at the mercy of the snipers

17 and gunners. All war-related clips will illustrate to you the way sniping

18 and shelling affected life; for instance, as trams were hit. And the clips

19 will show, in particular, children as victims of this terror.

20 You will also see footage from the Markale II massacre of 28th

21 August 1995, exchanges shelling incident number 23, that cost the lives of

22 so many people. The last clip, Your Honours, concerns Prosecution's

23 scheduled incident number 5, sniping, the crime that occurred on the 14th

24 November 1994 in front of the museum -- the national museum. That's the

25 incident, Your Honours, whose characteristics I have explained to you

Page 311

1 earlier today in some detail showing 360-degree, you saw Mrs. Sokolovic

2 talking to the investigator.

3 Now, Your Honours, you will see the way it looked on the day it

4 happened only seconds after the 7-year-old boy Nermin was shot by a sniper.

5 The Prosecution wishes to draw your attention specifically to the rescue

6 effort and the ongoing shooting which continued throughout.

7 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honour.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Tapuskovic.

9 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] May I just speak for a minute?

10 May I have the floor for a minute? I don't mind --

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

12 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] -- having all of this shown, of

13 course, but only the other day we had a meeting with the OTP when I was

14 asked to agree to having evidence presented by the Prosecution, and I

15 thought that I could not agree to that without going into any other

16 reasons, namely it had to do with events from 1992 and 1993. What I'm

17 trying to say is that this film should not be shown at all before you deal

18 with its admission into evidence, especially not in the context of having

19 this as evidence to prove that Dragomir Milosevic took part in all of this,

20 that the learned Prosecutor Stefan referred to. This really should not be

21 presented now. It is for you to judge, but I have to object at this point.

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Waespi, let's hear you.

23 MR. WAESPI: Yes, Mr. President. I accept the comments from my

24 learned colleague, but this is an opening statement, Your Honours, and this

25 is not evidence. What I'm saying just comes out of my mouth and is an

Page 312

1 outline of what the Prosecution is to present. All these documents I have

2 shown, the videos I intend to show, witness quotes I made, that's argument

3 from my side. And only when we start the trial on Monday, evidence will be

4 presented. So this is just for Your Honours to see what is coming, the

5 video, this is not evidence, the video.

6 Mr. Tapuskovic is perfectly fine to challenge the moment a

7 witness is going to tender these video-clips. He can say it's whatever,

8 it's not accurate, or it's not reliable, that's the time for him to

9 challenge this video, but certainly not during the opening. It's not

10 evidence.

11 [Trial Chamber confers]

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Tapuskovic, I hear your argument, but the

13 practice here is to allow some latitude in opening statements, which do not

14 constitute evidence. Accordingly, the Prosecutor can show the video.

15 MR. WAESPI: Thank you very much, Mr. President.

16 [Videotape played]

17 MR. WAESPI: Perhaps if the lights could be dimmed in the

18 courtroom so we can see it more clearly.

19 [Videotape played]

20 MR. WAESPI: Mr. President, Your Honours, Prosecution is

21 confident that once all the evidence is in, the Chamber will render the

22 only verdict that is justified by the evidence presented and that the

23 accused, Dragomir Milosevic, is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of all he

24 counts of the amended indictment.

25 Your Honours, this concludes the Prosecution's opening statement.

Page 313

1 Thank you.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Mr. Waespi.

3 Mr. Tapuskovic, my understanding is that you do not wish to make

4 a statement now. May I have that confirmed.

5 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honour, I shall confirm

6 that for you, and I believe that that is something that we will do only

7 prior to our own case. Also, I can say to you straight away that Dragomir

8 Milosevic, the accused, is not [Realtime transcript read in error "now"]

9 going to avail himself of the right given to him by the Rules to perhaps

10 state something on him on his own.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you.

12 It still remains for me to inquire of you, Mr. Tapuskovic, what

13 your position is on that second Prosecution 65 ter motion where the witness

14 is scheduled to give evidence next week. Do you remember we discussed that

15 yesterday? 92 ter motion, I should have said, and I think you had -- we

16 discussed two, and the position is that the time for your response had not

17 yet expired and the witnesses are scheduled to give evidence next week. In

18 relation to one you said there was no difficulty, but I believe you

19 indicated that you would let us know today what your position was in

20 relation to the second.

21 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] If we are talking about Witness

22 Fortin.

23 MR. WAESPI: Mr. President, in relation to Witness Fortin, I

24 think Mr. Tapuskovic indicated his approval of the Prosecution's plan and

25 you were meant to ask him about David Harland.

Page 314

1 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Harland.

2 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Oh, I said last time that I'm

3 not opposed to having that witness heard at all. It was my understanding

4 that he would be the first witness that is to be called on Monday, that is

5 witness 56. Is that not right?

6 MR. WAESPI: Yes, that's correct, but the issue is that we have

7 recently filed a motion to have his testimony in the Slobodan Milosevic

8 case admitted, selected parts of it, admitted under 92 ter. So our

9 examination-in-chief will be fairly brief, and if the Defence agrees and

10 Your Honours rule so, it will be fairly brief. But if the motion is

11 denied, you know, we have to lead him for a considerable length of time.

12 That's the issue. Mr. Harland will come to testify Monday. The issue is

13 whether the Prosecution is allowed to lead him via the Rule 92 ter -- 92

14 ter it's called, yes.

15 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Well, Your Honours, I think that

16 last time -- well, obviously there is some misunderstanding here because I

17 responded to the Trial Chamber straight away that I absolutely agree to

18 that, to having that admitted according to 62 -- no, 92 ter. I don't know.

19 Obviously this is some kind of misunderstanding. I agreed to that, so I

20 really don't know now.

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Mr. Tapuskovic. I should have relied

22 on my own recollection which is consistent with what you just said just

23 then. Very well. We are ready to start on Monday of next week.

24 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Oh -- I would have a question --

25 I mean, it's not even procedural. It's more of a technical nature. You

Page 315

1 said very clearly last time that if we have documents or evidence that is

2 longer than 100 pages, I believe, that in that case we have to submit

3 everything that will be the subject of our cross-examination 72 hours in

4 advance, yes.

5 Now, working on the examination of this witness Harland, I have,

6 for example, two documents. I have two matters, rather, that I would like

7 to have admitted. One is the statement that he gave as far back as 1997 or

8 1998 that he was questioned on. I'm not going to have many questions on

9 that, it's about 25 pages. But I have, for example, a document, an

10 UNPROFOR report that is on the 92 -- no, 65 ter list, and that is 55 pages

11 long. And now, from that document, I just have a few sentences that I wish

12 to use. Now, since that is already among the material presented by the

13 Prosecution, according to their rules that have to do with evidence, now if

14 I want to bring in these two documents that have almost 100 pages, is it

15 that I can do nothing about this, or is it that I can just introduce these

16 two pages? I do apologise, but this new electronic system is quite a new

17 thing to me as well. If I was to introduce these two documents, then I'm

18 totally paralysed, you see.

19 [Trial Chamber confers]

20 JUDGE ROBINSON: Are you in a position to indicate now what are

21 those pages to which you will make specific reference?

22 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Microphone not activated].

23 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please, microphone.

24 JUDGE ROBINSON: Microphone.

25 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honours, for instance, as

Page 316

1 far as witness Harland is concerned, first of all, I want to ask him about

2 some things that he had already spoken about. Of course I'm not going to

3 repeat any of that. These things I'm going to ask him about has to do with

4 sniping. Precisely the agreement referred to by my colleague the

5 Prosecutor, Mr. Stefan, there was this agreement that was signed, that

6 General Dragomir Milosevic actually assumed his duty three days after that,

7 so I would like to deal with that subject with a witness who is supposed to

8 come in. He spoke about that he knows a great deal about this, special

9 about the agreement of the 12th of August, so it's two days upon assuming

10 his duty.

11 [Trial Chamber confers]

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Very well, Mr. Tapuskovic. You should indicate

13 by tomorrow the specific parts of the documents to which you will make

14 reference.

15 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Thank you very much.

16 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Whiting.

17 MR. WHITING: Yes, Your Honour. I have to say I think the --

18 from our point of view the record is a little unclear with respect to

19 whether the accused wants to make a statement or not because I -- what I

20 heard in my earphones was that he was not going to avail himself of that

21 right but on the record it says he is now going to avail himself of that

22 right. Just for the purposes of the record whether he is going to make the

23 statement or not.

24 JUDGE ROBINSON: He said not. There was a T and a W confused.

25 MR. WHITING: So that clarifies the record then.

Page 317

1 MR. TAPUSKOVIC: [Interpretation] Your Honour, if I understand the

2 Rules correctly, he cannot use this statement at any other point in time --

3 but at no other point in time, just now. If he doesn't use it now, he

4 cannot use it again. And in principle, he does not intend to avail himself

5 of that right of his at right, the right that belongs to him on the basis

6 of these Rules.

7 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you. That clarifies it.

8 We'll then adjourn until Monday morning, 9.00 a.m.

9 We are adjourned.

10 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 5.37 p.m.,

11 to be reconvened on Monday, the 15th day of

12 January, 2007, at 9.00 a.m.

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