Page 5805
1 Monday, 11th August 1997
2 (10.00 am)
3 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. We
4 are back this morning. Mr. Niemann, where will we start
5 now?
6 MR. NIEMANN: We are ready to proceed, your Honour.
7 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: We will have the appearances first.
8 MR. NIEMANN: If your Honour pleases, my name is Niemann, and
9 I appear with my colleagues Ms. McHenry, Mr. Turone and
10 Ms. Van Dusschoten for the Prosecution.
11 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: For the Defence, please.
12 MS. RESIDOVIC: Good morning your Honours, I am Edina
13 Residovic, counsel on behalf of Mr. Zejnil Delalic. My
14 co-counsel is Eugene O'Sullivan, professor from Canada.
15 Thank you.
16 MR. OLUJIC: Good morning, your Honours, my name is Olujic.
17 I appear on behalf of Mr. Mucic. Regrettably my
18 colleague Michael Greaves is ill today and will not
19 appear in the courtroom today. We wish him a speedy
20 recovery and with your leave your Honours I should like
21 to ask that my assistant Mr. Niko Duric who had been
22 following this trial from the gallery could be with us
23 until Michael Greaves returns. We shall as necessary
24 submit his Procuration. Thank you.
25 MR. KARABDIC: Good morning, your Honours, I am Salih
Page 5806
1 Karabdic, attorney from Sarajevo appearing on behalf of
2 Hazim Delic. My co-counsel is Mr. Thomas Moran from
3 Houston, Texas.
4 MR. ACKERMAN: Good morning, your Honours, my name is John
5 Ackerman and I represent Esad Landzo. My co-counsel is
6 Cynthia McMurray from Houston.
7 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Thank you very much. There is nothing
8 coming through on the transcript. What is happening?
9 I think before you commence, we give leave to the
10 assistant of Mr. Olujic to stand in while Mr. Greaves
11 cannot work.
12 MR. NIEMANN: As your Honour pleases.
13 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Let us begin.
14 MR. NIEMANN: Your Honours, I would like to start by making
15 an application, if I may, to interpose a witness by the
16 name of Harraz, who is the next on the list,
17 your Honours. The basis of the application we depose is
18 because -- there is two grounds, firstly the witness
19 himself is anxious to give his evidence today and go, he
20 has other commitments which he has to attend to, but
21 perhaps more importantly, special arrangements have had
22 to be made, your Honour, in respect of interpreters.
23 The witness speaks Arabic and we do not have Arabic
24 interpreters in house and special provision has been
25 made to bring them in. I am informed, your Honours,
Page 5807
1 that the cost of the Arabic interpreters is very very
2 high and they have to be paid in respect of whether or
3 not they are used. They are here today to do this
4 interpreting and if we do not proceed to use them now,
5 we still have to pay the costs -- the Tribunal has to
6 meet the costs of their attendance, which is very
7 extensive. That cost, of course, does not apply for the
8 witness we are seeking to have postponed at the moment,
9 your Honour, so on both those grounds, your Honours, we
10 make this application.
11 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: We will grant leave so that you can
12 change the order and call your next witness.
13 MR. NIEMANN: As your Honour pleases.
14 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Let us have the witness.
15 MS. McHENRY: Good morning your Honours. The Prosecution
16 calls Mr. Harraz.
17 MS. McHENRY: With respect to the oath, your Honours, and
18 the Registrar, I would advise that this witness does
19 speak some English, so I believe he would be able to
20 take the oath in English, if that would be easiest to
21 have it in his own words.
22 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: He has an interpreter?
23 MS. McHENRY: Yes, sir, he does speak some English but
24 indicates he would not feel comfortable testifying in
25 full in English.
Page 5808
1 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Kindly make the interpreter take the
2 oath first.
3 THE INTERPRETER (sworn)
4 ASSA'AD HARRAZ (sworn)
5 Examined by MS. McHENRY
6 Q. May I proceed, your Honours?
7 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Yes, you may, please.
8 MS. McHENRY: Sir, may I please ask you to state your full
9 name?
10 A. Assa'ad Harraz.
11 Q. Do you have any nicknames or other names you go by also?
12 A. No, I have none.
13 Q. What is your nationality?
14 A. Egyptian.
15 Q. What is your age, sir?
16 A. I am 42 years old.
17 Q. What is your profession?
18 A. Journalist.
19 Q. When you publish is it always under your name,
20 Mr. Assa'ad Harraz, or do you sometimes use another press
21 name?
22 A. Assa'ad Taha.
23 Q. That is a name you sometimes use when publishing, is
24 that correct, sir?
25 A. Taha is my father's name so I am also called Assa'ad
Page 5809
1 Taha.
2 Q. Sir, were you in the former Yugoslavia in 1992?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. Who were you working for at that time?
5 A. I was working for several newspapers as a freelance
6 journalist.
7 Q. Sir, what languages do you speak?
8 A. I speak Arabic, a bit of English and a bit of German.
9 Q. In the former Yugoslavia in 1992, did you have occasion
10 to visit Konjic in Bosnia-Herzegovina?
11 A. Yes, I did visit Konjic at that time.
12 Q. Can you state when approximately it was that you went to
13 Konjic?
14 A. May 1992.
15 Q. Just to clarify to make sure that I did not have any
16 interpretation error, did you say May, sir, of 1992?
17 A. Yes, as far as I remember, I was there in May 1992.
18 Q. Can you briefly explain how this trip was arranged, who
19 went on the trip, just a little bit about the logistics
20 of the trip?
21 A. Initially nothing had been prepared in view of the
22 circumstances prevailing at the time in the region as
23 there was the war on. I went to Split and from Split
24 I met certain friends or certain people who helped us to
25 go to areas of the conflict. We did not intend to go to
Page 5810
1 Konjic in particular, we intended to visit some areas
2 where battles were going on.
3 Q. Who accompanied you, sir, on this trip?
4 A. I was accompanied by some Bosnians, I do not remember
5 their names now. There was also another person that
6 I met and who worked as a cameraman.
7 Q. Do you know the name of this other person and where he
8 was from?
9 A. Ahmed Aamish.
10 Q. Do you know where he was from?
11 A. I think he was Libyan.
12 Q. When you say he was a cameraman, was he a cameraman
13 working for you or was he working on his own?
14 A. He was working alone, but I met him in Zagreb.
15 Q. When you say he was a cameraman, am I correct in
16 assuming he therefore had some sort of video camera?
17 A. Yes, he has a professional camera, a professional one.
18 Q. Sir, did you also have an interpreter with you?
19 A. Yes, I had an Arabic interpreter. I met him in Split,
20 but I would like to rectify something I said in the
21 beginning. I was in Bosnia in May 1992, but in Konjic
22 I was at the end of June or July, I do not remember
23 exactly.
24 Q. Thank you. Sir, with respect to your interpreter, when
25 you say he was an Arabic interpreter, am I correct in
Page 5811
1 assuming that this person could speak Arabic and
2 Serbo-Croatian and he was of Arabic origin, is that what
3 you mean?
4 A. Yes, he was an Arab student studying there, so he spoke
5 quite well the local language and, of course, he spoke
6 Arabic.
7 Q. Sir, did you have a camera with you, not a video camera
8 but just a regular camera?
9 A. Yes, I did have a camera.
10 Q. Then Konjic, sir: where did you go on this trip?
11 A. After Konjic I went back to Split and from there went on
12 to Zagreb.
13 Q. Before you went to Konjic, did you visit any other areas
14 of Bosnia?
15 A. I remember that I went to Mostar and I am not sure
16 whether at that time I visited Zenica.
17 Q. Can you estimate how long the entire trip took from
18 Split, during the time you were within Bosnia?
19 A. I think it was under a week, perhaps five days.
20 Q. Can you just briefly describe where you went and what
21 you did on this trip?
22 A. We arrived in Konjic in the evening. We met one of the
23 people in charge, Rusim Haji. We spoke with him, we had
24 an interview with him, and then on the next day, we went
25 to the camp. Perhaps there was something else that I do
Page 5812
1 not remember now but after that, at the end of the day,
2 we visited the commander of the area.
3 Q. Do you know the name of the camp that you went to?
4 A. No, I remember that it was a camp for detainees, but
5 I was not given any particular name for it.
6 Q. Did you write any articles setting forth your
7 experiences on this trip?
8 A. Yes, and it was published in the Asharq Al-Awsat
9 newspaper.
10 Q. Can you just please briefly tell us with respect to this
11 newspaper where it is published, what language it is
12 published in?
13 A. It is a daily newspaper that issued in Arabic from
14 London and it is financed by Saudi financiers.
15 Q. How long after your trip were the articles published,
16 sir?
17 A. I think between the beginning of the trip and the
18 publication of the article, between one to two weeks
19 past.
20 MISS McHENRY: With the usher's assistance, I would like the
21 witness to be shown -- I would like this to be marked
22 for identification purposes and then shown to the
23 witness, thank you. The Defence has previously been
24 provided copies of these.
25 THE REGISTRAR: It is marked as document 167 and the
Page 5813
1 translation 167A. (Handed).
2 A. This is the article that was published for me in the
3 Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
4 MISS McHENRY: Sir, can you briefly say what is the subject
5 matter of this article?
6 A. In this article I describe what I have witnessed in this
7 camp in Konjic, approximately the scenes that I have
8 witnessed at that time in that camp.
9 Q. Sir, what is the date that the article was published?
10 A. The article was published on Friday, 24th July 1992.
11 MISS McHENRY: Now I would like to show you another exhibit,
12 with the assistance of the usher. These have previously
13 been provided to Defence counsel. Sir, you are now
14 being shown what has been marked for identification
15 purposes as Prosecution Exhibit 168. I ask if you can
16 look at that, recognise it and if so, please tell us
17 what it is.
18 A. In this article, which was published on Saturday
19 25th July 1992, I speak about the fighting unit that was
20 in that area and a meeting or an interview that
21 I carried with the commander of the area, Zejnil Din.
22 Q. Sir, are these two exhibits your own copies of the
23 published articles; in other words the original from the
24 actual newspaper?
25 A. Yes, these are the copies that I have kept for myself
Page 5814
1 after the publishing of the newspaper that day.
2 Q. Did you have an opportunity to review the articles
3 immediately after they were published?
4 A. Yes, I have read them and I feel that the general gist
5 is compatible with what I have sent. I did not check
6 word for word, but on the whole, the information is what
7 I have sent to the newspaper.
8 Q. Is the information you sent to the newspaper a fair and
9 accurate reflection of your experiences in Konjic?
10 A. Yes, and I always wanted to ascertain that this is what
11 I have seen, regardless whether that was the reality or
12 not, but this is what I have witnessed.
13 Q. Sir, some pictures are contained in both these
14 exhibits. Can you tell us who took these photographs?
15 A. I have taken the photographs.
16 Q. Do you still have the negatives from this trip, the
17 negatives for the photographs or for any additional
18 photographs that were not published?
19 A. Because of my permanent travel from one area to another,
20 I believe I have lost the negatives.
21 Q. Do you have to your knowledge any additional photographs
22 that were not published in your possession?
23 A. As I have said, unfortunately because of my permanent
24 travel over the last few years, I do not believe that
25 I have any other or additional pictures that would be of
Page 5815
1 any help.
2 Q. Sir, do you still have any of your notes from this trip?
3 A. No, I have not kept them.
4 Q. Thank you. Sir, am I correct that several names are
5 contained in your articles?
6 A. Yes, there are names of the people or the commanders
7 that I have met.
8 Q. Can you tell us whether or not you are able now to state
9 exactly what these -- how these names would be
10 pronounced in Serbo-Croatian or how they would be
11 written in a Latin script?
12 A. I do not speak Serbo-Croat myself, therefore I had
13 written those names at the time the way I heard them
14 from the interpreter.
15 Q. Is it correct, sir, that the Latin alphabet and the
16 Arabic alphabet are different?
17 A. Yes, of course, there is a difference in the way the
18 alphabet is written and the way it is pronounced,
19 therefore I had transcribed them the way I had heard
20 them.
21 Q. Sir, to the best of your ability, can you tell us the
22 names of the persons you met with on your trip and their
23 positions, if you know them. I would like to start off
24 with -- you indicated before that you met someone named
25 Mr Rusim Haji?
Page 5816
1 A. I remember two people, Mr Zejnil Din and Mr Rusim Haji and
2 other names I do not remember now. This is in fact a
3 chance for me to remind everyone that this event took
4 place around five years ago, which means it is very
5 difficult for me now to remember every detail,
6 particularly that this visit was not a rare visit for
7 me, it was not an event of an unique nature. For it to
8 be outstanding in my memory, it was part of many such
9 visits that I have carried out over many years and in
10 many areas in Bosnia.
11 Q. Thank you sir. I think everyone understands and
12 appreciates that.
13 With respect to Mr Rusim Haji, are you able to say
14 anything about what his position was?
15 A. The way he was introduced to me and the way I remember
16 it, it was as though he was the political leader of the
17 area. He was the first person I met when we had arrived
18 that evening in that area, as I have mentioned before.
19 Q. With respect to Zejnil Din, what was his position?
20 A. The way he was introduced to me, he was the commander of
21 the area, he was the general military commander of the
22 area.
23 Q. Sir, do you know who arranged your meeting with
24 Mr Zejnil Din, who set it up?
25 A. It is difficult for me to remember the names of the
Page 5817
1 people, especially that I have never met them since
2 then.
3 Q. Sir, do you know who arranged your visit to the camp
4 with detainees present?
5 A. Mr Rusim Haji facilitated that, with the help of others,
6 as I have said, but as I have mentioned, I do not
7 remember the names of the others.
8 Q. May I just clarify, sir; what visit or visits did
9 Mr Rusim Haji help facilitate? One or both; can you
10 just please explain that?
11 A. Him being politically responsible of the area, he
12 promised to facilitate the coverage of the events in the
13 area for the media, but the details I do not remember.
14 Q. Sir, I am just trying to clarify whether or not, if you
15 remember, whether or not Mr Rusim Haji assisted
16 facilitating your meeting with the commander of the area
17 or the camp or both?
18 A. In fact that evening he promised to provide all the
19 necessary help to facilitate our generalistic visit to
20 the area and he promised us that the following morning
21 we will commence visiting certain areas, and the next
22 morning indeed we did visit the commander and the camp,
23 but I do not remember if I had visited any other area or
24 any other establishment in that area. This is what he
25 had promised us the night before and he did fulfil it
Page 5818
1 the following morning. Thank you. I should also like
2 to clarify that matters at the time were not at all very
3 organised in a way to say that there were hierarchy in
4 the leadership, the leader and lesser leaders; in fact
5 things were disorganised but the assistance was given on
6 an individual or a personal basis more than a hierarchal
7 organisation of a governmental setup.
8 Q. Were you informed of that or was that just your
9 impression from what you could observe?
10 A. This is the impression that I had of the general
11 situation in Bosnia after the beginning of the war,
12 because of the weakness of the Muslim side things were
13 not fully organised, especially that they did not have a
14 military force that would allow them to set up the
15 political hierarchy needed.
16 Q. Sir, when you went to the camp, did you meet anyone who
17 was in charge of the camp?
18 A. A Croatian person was presented to me as being the man
19 responsible for the camp.
20 Q. At the present time, do you remember the name of that
21 person?
22 A. I do not remember.
23 Q. Can you tell us how it is that you remember that the
24 commander was of a Croatian background?
25 A. This is what I remember and I believe this is what I had
Page 5819
1 mentioned in the newspaper, that he was of Croatian
2 origin, especially that I do not remember meeting
3 another Croatian in such a leading position in the area.
4 Q. Going now to your trip to the camp, do you remember who
5 received you when you went to the camp?
6 A. As I have mentioned, I was met by this Croatian
7 commander and he had with him three or four other people
8 whom I was told also were responsible for running the
9 camp.
10 Q. Do you remember the names of any of these other persons?
11 A. Unfortunately I do not.
12 Q. With respect to the group that you met, who was in
13 charge, if anyone?
14 A. I am sorry, madam, I did not understand. Which group do
15 you mean?
16 Q. I am sorry. You indicated that you met the commander
17 and several other people. I am asking whether or not
18 you know among those people who was in charge?
19 A. What I remember is that this Croatian leader or
20 commander was responsible for the camp.
21 Q. Could you observe anything about his relationship with
22 the other people who also went around with you in the
23 camp?
24 A. It was obvious that he was in command, he was the
25 leader, he was giving the instructions to others who
Page 5820
1 were with him.
2 Q. Can you just briefly describe what you did at the camp
3 and approximately how long your visit lasted?
4 A. Yes. We visited the wards where the detainees were
5 kept, I believe it was probably two wards or more, then
6 we visited a small room where some patients were kept,
7 then I questioned some detainees very briefly, "why were
8 they detained, why did this happen?" During this
9 interview, we were accompanied by the leadership of the
10 camp, whether the Croatian leader or the people who
11 accompanied him, meaning they were with me all the time.
12 The coverage of the camp was between -- from 45
13 minutes to one hour, it took.
14 Q. Just to clarify, so your visit to the camp the entire
15 visit took approximately 45 minutes to one hour; did I
16 understand that correctly?
17 A. This is what I do remember with great difficulty.
18 I believe it was from 45 minutes to one hour.
19 Q. Sir, did I also understand you correctly that on the
20 occasions when you talked to a few of the prisoners that
21 the officials from the camp were also present?
22 A. Yes, they were by our side.
23 Q. Going back to the articles you wrote, is it possible for
24 you to now remember all the information contained in the
25 article?
Page 5821
1 A. Of course I read the articles again and I remember, but
2 unfortunately I do not remember any other things that
3 could be useful in this case. This was not an
4 investigation about the camp, the coverage was aimed at
5 describing the general circumstances prevailing in the
6 area at the time, so I just tried to see what things --
7 how things were going on then. I did not concentrate on
8 the military side or on the situation of the detainees
9 and where they came from.
10 Q. Sir, with respect to the Croatian camp commander that
11 you have mentioned, do you now remember his name?
12 A. No, I do not remember.
13 Q. Is there anything that would refresh your recollection,
14 such as the article you wrote?
15 A. When I read the article, I see his name written down,
16 but I do not remember personally now his name.
17 I remember that he was close to Zejnil Din, or rather
18 that he believed in the necessity of an alliance between
19 the Muslims and the Croats.
20 MISS McHENRY: Your Honour, because this witness has
21 testified he cannot now remember everything about his
22 visit, including names, but that he did accurately
23 reflect it in his article at the time, I would ask that
24 Prosecution Exhibit 167, the article containing his
25 account of the visit, be read out loud by the
Page 5822
1 interpreter and then I will have some specific
2 supplementary questions about that.
3 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Yes.
4 MISS McHENRY: Do I have your Honour's permission to ask the
5 interpreter to read out loud the account of the visit
6 that this Prosecution Exhibit 167.
7 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: You can do so.
8 MISS McHENRY: Thank you. If the interpreters could now,
9 please, in English read out the article, the article of
10 24th July 1992.
11 THE INTERPRETER: "Asharq Al-Awsat visits camp at Konjic.
12 400 Serbian prisoners treated according to
13 international codes. Chetnik gangs massacre Muslims,
14 Assa'ad Taha.
15 Picture on picture, a programme aired by Croatian
16 TV, comprised several interviews with Muslim prisoners
17 who had been released recently within the prisoner
18 exchange process between the two sides. They spoke of
19 the savage torture they had suffered and the effects
20 were clearly seen on the faces and bodies. This
21 programme preoccupied me as I made my way to the Serbian
22 prisoners' concentration camp in Konjic, a city where
23 the Muslim majority, about 50 kilometres from Sarajevo.
24 Would they also be subjected to such brutal torture?
25 A few minutes later we arrived at the place. It
Page 5823
1 was originally a military barracks which had been
2 captured by the Muslims. The huge gate opened and we
3 passed through and escorted by the commander, we made a
4 quick tour of the camp before we entered one of the
5 wards to see a vivid picture and another side of the
6 tragedy resulting from this accursed war. The camp
7 commander, Zdravko Mucic, said there were over 400
8 prisoners, some of whom had been captured during fierce
9 battles and had revealed the whereabouts of some of
10 their colleagues of the Serbian militias in hiding.
11 Their fate will be decided, he said, when military
12 operations are halted. Even though we have seen most of
13 them actually shooting down our old men and women, we do
14 not beat or torture them or violate human rights. They
15 shall be given a fair trial. We do not wish to be
16 unjust to anyone, despite all the injustices we have
17 suffered. The camp commander, a Croatian but close to
18 the Muslim command, said: Each one of these prisoners
19 carried two weapons given to him by the Serbian
20 command. Fortunately, lists of names proving that fell
21 into our hands. The mere sight of them, he said, pains
22 me deeply. I would like to avenge the blood of the
23 innocent victims, but I have my orders not to use any
24 forms of violence with them and I respect my command.
25 After a brief pause, he said: I pity those people
Page 5824
1 who acceded to their extremist leadership. But, if we
2 were to release them in the morning, they would be
3 fighting us begin in the evening. They have no other
4 objective but to dominate all other people living with
5 them. In this city, they constitute 15.5 per cent of
6 the population, yet their ambition is to dominate it.
7 The commander, of Croatian origin, said that
8 Croatian leadership were currently playing the same role
9 as the Serbian leadership in mobilising their people
10 against the Muslims. This will involve the Croatian
11 people in battles and confusion with the Muslims.
12 However, I decided to end the conversation there
13 as I was anxious to complete my mission.
14 We started at a medium sized room which, I was
15 told, was the medical clinic for treating prisoners. It
16 contained seven beds occupied by seven prisoners. The
17 beds and woolen blankets looked very clean. To the left
18 there were medicines on the table before which sat a
19 captured Serbian doctor. It appeared that all the
20 wounds were slight. I spoke to one of them and he
21 said: My name is Risto Mrkajic from Bradina. I was hit
22 by a bullet while sitting in my house. I surrendered to
23 the Muslim forces when I realised that I had gone
24 astray. I did not personally hear, nor did I learn from
25 friends and relatives, of the massacre of Muslims in my
Page 5825
1 area. However, I heard on the radio and saw on TV from
2 Foca news of these massacres.
3 Another one said: I surrendered after I became
4 convinced of the deviations and wrongdoings of my
5 commanders. I realised that Muslims were right and for
6 their sake I opposed my Serbian relatives and brothers
7 and began shooting at them. Why are you here then,
8 I asked. But he kept silent. After hearing such movie
9 like (dramatic) answers, I decided I should go to
10 another ward. It was larger than the first. Prisoners
11 sat leaning against the four walls with two other lines
12 sitting in the middle. This ward also appeared very
13 clean. I quickly scanned the faces before me, but I did
14 not see any traces of torture or beating. At least this
15 is what I saw. I spoke to several other prisoners and
16 their answers fell into two main groups. The first
17 group, which refused to abandon the narrow minded
18 nationalistic views that had triggered the war, gave
19 very ambiguous answers to my question. The second
20 group, which sought to escape punishment at any price,
21 was willing to express regret and heap condemnation on
22 the Serbian leadership in Belgrade. In any case, it was
23 obvious that the Serbian prisoners were allowed a large
24 degree of freedom of speech. For example (Midinic) from
25 Bradina, believed that the problem was due to the
Page 5826
1 failure of his command to inform them that Muslim forces
2 had issued a warning, following which the city was
3 attacked. As a result of conflicting orders, the city
4 fell into Muslim hands. He went on to say: We did not
5 really have the desire to fight our Muslim and Croatian
6 brothers... but the command hid many things from us.
7 When I asked him: were the massacres of innocent victims
8 hidden from you, he replied: I never knew that massacres
9 were being perpetrated. I asked his fellow prisoner
10 Georgi Jiberko: Do you consider Bosnia an independent
11 republic or part of Serbia? He hung his head and looked
12 at the floor, saying: some countries have recognised it
13 as an independent republic. Turning to Klimenta Jelko
14 sitting in the opposite row, I asked: have you heard of
15 any incident of rape committed by Muslims against
16 Serbian women? He replied: No, we have never heard of
17 Muslims committing rape. On the contrary, I heard of
18 the mass rape of Muslim women in Bjile.
19 Between the questions and answers, I noticed that
20 the camp commanders were making tremendous effort to
21 control their anger. From time to time they whispered
22 in my ears: This one killed a Muslim... That one is a
23 murderer... This one has committed rape. It was indeed
24 a highly dramatic and tragic situation. The two parties
25 in this camp had one day been school and work mates and
Page 5827
1 there were cases of intermarriage. They shared many
2 stories of human interest as well as memoirs of
3 festivals and burials. How could this suddenly turn
4 into a fire that consumed all? This is what I asked
5 another prisoner, who said: I think that in my area at
6 least all the Serbs blindly followed their leaders who
7 tried to involve the largest number of people in the
8 war. The Serbian Army and party, he continued, armed
9 every one of our people in Bosnia, even in this area,
10 which was impossible to dominate, since we constituted
11 only 13 per cent of the population. But it was
12 necessary for wars to break out and volcanoes of anger
13 to erupt.
14 I asked another if he thought that Muslim
15 prisoners captured by the Serbs were receiving the same
16 treatment that Serbian prisoners were getting here. He
17 said: The treatment here is good and we have no
18 complaints. But I do not know what it is like in the
19 Serbian concentration camps. I heard it was brutal and
20 that there were some cases of murder.
21 The cell block for hard cases.
22 Following this heated session, I decided to walk.
23 But the camp commander said: Wait a minute. I shall
24 drive you to the cell block reserved for dangerous hard
25 cases where you will meet one of the Chetnik leaders.
Page 5828
1 These armed gangs were first formed in 1940 and
2 perpetrated the most brutal and vicious attack against
3 Muslims and Croats alike. It is common knowledge that
4 if they entered a village they would leave nothing
5 alive...They killed every man, beast, plant or bird,
6 and even burnt down houses and they did exactly that in
7 the present war.
8 They brought the prisoner for us to see. His name
9 was Rajko Krjig and he scowled as he came out. I looked
10 at his hands to make sure he was not carrying a weapon.
11 Introducing him, the camp commander said: this man was
12 responsible for cutting off the road between Mostar and
13 Sarajevo and also for the distribution of arms. The man
14 however, said: I had no knowledge of the arms
15 distribution. It was done outside the scope of my
16 authority and in co-ordination with the Serbian party to
17 which I do not belong. I asked: But why were you
18 carrying weapons?
19 I was a former officer, he said, so I took my
20 place on the Crisis Committee to defend the city. To
21 defend it against whom? I asked.
22 To defend our area...we had no aim to attack
23 anyone, he said.
24 To defend against whom, I repeated?
25 This is a very large issue, he said, that involves
Page 5829
1 military and political aspects. In any case, we are
2 linked by neighbourly relations...
3 Here he was loudly interrupted by everyone: The
4 camp commander, the guards, the escort and the
5 translator, all of them vehemently asking about the kind
6 of neighbourliness that allowed for the massacre of
7 neighbours.
8 The commander then posed the question: Who gave
9 you the right to cut off the Mostar Sarajevo road?
10 No one had that right, he replied.
11 How did Serbia help you do that, asked the
12 commander.
13 The man replied very coldly: We blame the Serbian
14 leadership for not giving us the necessary assistance.
15 I then concluded it was time to end the conversation.
16 We will however continue with our story because the
17 military command of the neighbouring area had agreed to
18 help us reach the front lines with the Serbs... but it
19 will be in another despatch.
20 MS. McHENRY: Thank you. Sir, in the article you
21 talk about three different areas where prisoners were
22 kept, the ward for sick persons, the very large room and
23 the cell for hard cases; correct?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Did you yourself go into each of these three different
Page 5830
1 areas?
2 A. I went to the barracks or the ward where the detainees
3 were held and I went to the place where the patients
4 were kept, and then I went to the entrance to the gate
5 of another room where hard cases were kept. I did not
6 go in, but a man was taken out and I mentioned him in
7 the article, from there.
8 Q. Why did you not also go into the area reserved for hard
9 cases?
10 A. I was not allowed to do so.
11 Q. Can you estimate, sir, how long you stayed in the area
12 where sick prisoners were kept?
13 A. I was there very briefly, I do not remember exactly. It
14 was for a very short period of time.
15 Q. Do you remember anything about how the prisoners --
16 about the atmosphere in this particular ward as compared
17 to the other ward you went to?
18 A. Do you mean the camp or the area of Konjic?
19 Q. I mean: did you notice anything about the atmosphere in
20 the area where sick prisoners were kept as opposed to
21 the atmosphere in the large ward where other detainees
22 were kept?
23 A. You mean the difference between the room where the
24 detainees were kept and the room where the sick people
25 were kept?
Page 5831
1 Q. Yes, sir.
2 A. In the room where the sick people were kept, it was
3 different, it was a small room, and the sick people were
4 on beds, whereas in the other bigger room for detainees,
5 they were sitting on the floor.
6 Q. Did one or other of these areas seem noticeably more
7 tense or more relaxed or more serious or anything like
8 that?
9 A. The general atmosphere was fine, but, of course, it was
10 a camp where people were not free. But the general
11 impression that a visitor would have to that camp was
12 not that it was a place where torture was being done,
13 but that was a general impression that was given very
14 quickly. Of course, the persons in charge of the camp
15 knew that we were coming on the next day to visit the
16 camp. However, I would like to say once again that the
17 general atmosphere that one could feel there was not an
18 atmosphere of great stress and tension.
19 Q. During the time you were in the camp, sir, did you
20 personally observe any mistreatment of the prisoners?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Sir, your article reports that in the large ward, you
23 quickly scanned the faces of the prisoners and did not
24 see any evidence of torture and mistreatment, correct?
25 A. Yes, that is what I said.
Page 5832
1 Q. Did you have occasion to observe the prisoners closely?
2 A. Yes, as I mentioned, I went into the various rooms and
3 as I said, each ward was big where the detainees were
4 sitting by the walls and in some wards they were sitting
5 also in the middle of the rooms. There were no beds,
6 they were sitting on the floor and as I said, it was a
7 quick visit and I was able to ask some questions to some
8 detainees and then I immediately left the camp.
9 Q. Did you observe any injuries on any prisoners while you
10 were there?
11 A. Perhaps there were two or three who had very slight
12 injuries with little bandages or plaster, but, of
13 course, one should remember that it was a battle area
14 and as I understood, some people were detained or were
15 arrested during the fighting and others were taken from
16 their own neighbourhoods, either they gave themselves in
17 or they were arrested from their area of residence.
18 Q. With respect to the prisoners you saw with bandages or
19 plaster or other things, do you have any specific
20 information on how the prisoners received those
21 injuries?
22 A. I do not have any particular information, but the
23 impression I got then was that they were a result of the
24 fighting that happened before they were arrested, and
25 I repeat once again, that is what I saw. I can only say
Page 5833
1 that was what I saw or what I was told, I do not know
2 exactly what was happening then.
3 Q. I would now ask that Prosecution Exhibit 167 be placed
4 under the ELMO with the assistance of the usher. The
5 original of 167, that is the article of July 24th.
6 Sir, can you just please identify by pointing and
7 actually point on the machine, not on the screen in
8 front of you, what the pictures you took are?
9 A. The ones to the left --
10 Q. I am going to ask that you actually point on that one.
11 A. The picture to the left is a picture of one of the wards
12 where, as I said, the detainees or prisoners were
13 sitting on the floor. Then in the bottom there is the
14 room where the sick people were kept. The picture after
15 that is the picture of one of the detainees. I do not
16 remember exactly, but perhaps that was the man who was
17 taken out of the room or the cell for hard cases. On
18 the top, there is a picture of one of the commanders in
19 the camp during his talk with the detainee, and then at
20 the bottom, a military truck in a different area.
21 Q. Sir, with respect to the picture above with one of the
22 camp commanders, do you now remember whether or not that
23 is the Croatian camp commander you have testified to, or
24 one of the other commanders?
25 A. I do not remember if he was the Croat leader, but he was
Page 5834
1 one of the persons in charge of the camp.
2 MS. McHENRY: Thank you. Your Honours, I would now ask
3 that Prosecution Exhibit 167 be admitted into evidence.
4 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Are there any views on that?
5 MR. ACKERMAN: Your Honour, I would just like to make a brief
6 comment. I think ordinarily such a newspaper article
7 would not be admissible. It is completely hearsay.
8 I think under the circumstances here today, this witness
9 has basically used it to refresh his recollection which
10 would be the appropriate way for it to be used.
11 However, I have no specific objection to this particular
12 exhibit. I do not want, however, to waive any future
13 objection to any other newspaper article that the
14 Prosecution might want to drag in here, so I just want
15 to say that basically by keeping silent, I am not
16 instituting a waiver process.
17 MR. MORAN: Your Honour, I have no objection, but as a former
18 journalist, I suspect this gentleman would like to keep
19 his originals. I would have no objection to
20 substituting photocopies for the original if that is
21 what the -- if the witness would like to keep the
22 originals.
23 MR. O'SULLIVAN: Your Honours, we would join the remarks made
24 by my friend Mr. Ackerman.
25 MR. OLUJIC: Your Honours, we fully subscribe to what has
Page 5835
1 been said by our learned colleague Mr. Ackerman. We, of
2 course, agree that the witness, if he so wants, keeps
3 the original and that we should collate the photostated
4 copy with the original for our purposes.
5 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Exhibit 167 is admitted.
6 MS. McHENRY: Thank you, your Honours. If it is the case
7 that we are going to substitute the photocopies, I would
8 just ask that both the Defence counsel and your Honours
9 be permitted to view the original to determine whether
10 or not you think the quality of the photos is better in
11 one such that we should keep the original or should
12 not. The witness has indicated he is willing to provide
13 the court with the originals, although if it is not
14 necessary, he would prefer to give it back, so I would
15 ask just with the usher's assistance that the original
16 be shown to Defence counsel and your Honours for your
17 determination.
18 Going forward now, sir, after your visit to the
19 camp -- sir, after your visit to the camp, did you go
20 anywhere else that day?
21 A. After the camp in the evening of that day or at night,
22 we met the commander between two visits. I do not
23 remember up to now if I actually went to another area,
24 but as far as I remember, the visit of the camp took
25 place early in the day and then later there was a visit
Page 5836
1 to the commander of the area. One should take into
2 consideration the distances between areas and the time
3 needed to wait for the preparation of visits.
4 Q. How did you know that Mr. Zejnil Din was the commander of
5 the area?
6 A. He was introduced to us that way by the people who
7 accompanied us and who was responsible in general for
8 the area. We were told he was the commander of the
9 area.
10 Q. Was it also before you had gone actually to the area,
11 when you were meeting with the Mr. Rusim Haji or anyone
12 else in Konjic, had you also been told anything about
13 the position of Mr. Zejnil Din?
14 A. In the evening of the first day when we met Mr. Rusim
15 Haji, he promised us to help us meet the general
16 commander of the area, Mr. Zejnil Din and his escorts
17 also the next day promised us the same thing, and the
18 next day, indeed, we went to visit the commander and
19 when we went up to him in a high area he was at a table
20 and on top of it there was written "General commander of
21 the area".
22 Q. Approximately how long was your meeting with the
23 commander?
24 A. I think it was no more than half a hour, because we were
25 in a hurry to go back before night would fall.
Page 5837
1 Q. Did you learn anything about this person's background,
2 where he lived before the war or what kind of military
3 background he had?
4 A. He was introduced to us, or what they told us at the
5 time, I was a businessman living in Germany, but after
6 the outbreak of the war he left Germany and came to
7 Bosnia to take part in the Defence of areas where
8 Muslims lived.
9 Q. Sir, I would direct your attention to Prosecution
10 Exhibit 168 and ask if you recognise the picture of the
11 commander and if so, if you would point out that
12 picture?
13 A. Yes, the picture in the middle is the picture of the
14 commander and next to it there is the tent which was in
15 that very same place, and it had some communications
16 equipment. Then there is a picture of some of the
17 fighters, but I do not remember if it was taken at the
18 same site where we visited the commander or whether it
19 was taken in another site. As for those flags, I think
20 that picture was taken in another place, not in the
21 place where we met with the commander.
22 MS. McHENRY: Thank you. Your Honours, I would now move
23 Prosecution Exhibit 168 into evidence. Any observations
24 on 168?
25 MR. ACKERMAN: Yes, your Honours. This seems to be being
Page 5838
1 offered just for the one photograph that is contained on
2 it and not the language contained within it, since it
3 has not been read to us or referred to in any manner, so
4 I think I would object to the admission of anything but
5 the photographic portion of it. In addition, just as a
6 possible aid, if we are going to give the originals of
7 these back to this gentleman, it occurs to me that our
8 audio visual department may be able to make copies of
9 the photographs appearing on here that are much better
10 than what we are able to accomplish with a copy
11 machine. Just looking at what is showing up on the
12 ELMO, it is better than the xerox machine copies that we
13 have. Maybe that is the way to accomplish both of these
14 tasks. Thank you.
15 MS. RESIDOVIC: Your Honours, I should like to subscribe to
16 the arguments presented here by my colleague Ackerman.
17 I believe that as far as this article is concerned, we
18 are in no situation to admit it as evidence of the
19 Prosecution because this photograph cannot be the basis
20 for admitting the whole article. At all events, he
21 believe that this decision can be only taken after
22 cross-examination by the Defence counsel. Thank you.
23 MS. McHENRY: Your Honour, we do not have any objection
24 just to admitting it for purposes of the photograph
25 because Defence counsel is correct, that is the main
Page 5839
1 reason for which we seek to introduce it. I believe any
2 other relevant information contained in the article has
3 already been testified to by the witness as being part
4 of his independent recollection.
5 MR. OLUJIC: Your Honours, as far as this article is
6 concerned, we are in principle against admitting
7 articles as part of the file, but however not even this
8 photograph presented by the Prosecution is not of such
9 significance as to be used for the necessary
10 identification, so, having said this, we are against it
11 because the witness has not stated his views as to the
12 contents of the article, so we feel that it should not
13 be admitted until all the circumstances have been
14 clarified by the witness.
15 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Actually, you only want the photograph.
16 MS. McHENRY: That is correct, your Honour, so we are happy
17 to admit it for purposes of that photograph only.
18 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Since there is no objection to the
19 photograph, it is admitted.
20 MS. McHENRY: Sir, where did you go after your meeting with
21 the general commander?
22 A. We went back to Split.
23 Q. Moving forward a bit, Mr. Harraz, after your trip to
24 Konjic and other areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina, did you
25 have an opportunity to observe the documentary prepared
Page 5840
1 by your colleague, Mr. Aamish, I believe the cameraman
2 originally from Libya?
3 A. Yes, I did see it at the time.
4 Q. Did you see all the footage taken by Mr. Aamish or just
5 what became part of the final documentary?
6 A. I saw the final film at the time, as I said, but I did
7 not see all the footage that he took.
8 Q. Do you have a copy of any of the film taken by
9 Mr. Aymish?
10 A. No, I do not.
11 MS. McHENRY: Your Honour, that concludes our
12 examination-in-chief. Thank you.
13 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Any cross-examinations?
14 MR. O'SULLIVAN: Yes, your Honours. We will proceed in this
15 order. First counsel for Mr. Landzo, second counsel for
16 Mr. Delalic, third counsel for Mr. Mucic and
17 fourth counsel for Mr. Delic.
18 Cross-examined by MR. ACKERMAN
19 Q. May I proceed?
20 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Yes, you can proceed.
21 MR. ACKERMAN: Thank you very much, your Honour. Mr. Harraz,
22 my name is John Ackerman, I represent an accused in this
23 case by the name of Esad Landzo. I take it that is a
24 name that is not familiar to you?
25 A. Yes, indeed, that is a name I do not know.
Page 5841
1 Q. The questions I am going to ask you will be brief and
2 I think simple, and I suspect they can be answered with
3 a simple yes. If you would like to clarify your answer
4 to any extent, you can advise me and you may do that,
5 but I will try to keep them as simple as possible.
6 I take it first of all that you have no
7 relationship with an organisation in Belgrade by the
8 name of the Association of Detainees, and that you were
9 not sent here by that association or briefed by that
10 association before you came here, correct?
11 A. No, I have no relation with it.
12 Q. Let me now then direct your attention to the time that
13 you visited the Celebici camp, the detention camp that
14 you have been talking about. I think you have told us
15 that your best memory is that that would have been in
16 late June, maybe early July, of 1992; correct?
17 A. That is what I remember, but with great difficulty and
18 I am not sure of the time.
19 Q. All right. You know that it was within probably two
20 weeks before the article was published in the newspaper;
21 that helps you get close at least, correct?
22 A. Yes, the time that passed between the visit and the
23 publication was about two weeks.
24 Q. You have no reason to come before this Tribunal and
25 attempt to mislead or misdirect this court in any
Page 5842
1 degree, do you?
2 A. Of course not. I came here to say what I saw, whether
3 it would be for the benefit of this party or the other.
4 Q. One of the buildings that you visited while you were at
5 this detention facility was what was a medical facility,
6 a little hospital, so to speak, correct?
7 A. It was a room in the camp that was especially for sick
8 people. There were patients sleeping or lying on beds
9 and there were some medicines there for them.
10 Q. And the room itself was clean?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. The beds appeared clean?
13 A. What I saw in general was that the conditions were good.
14 Q. You saw medicines there?
15 A. Yes, I saw some medicines there.
16 Q. You saw a doctor there?
17 A. I do not remember that, but when I read the article
18 I remembered that there was a Serb doctor who seemed to
19 be from the camp also.
20 Q. Okay. Just observing the patients that you saw in that
21 room on that day, you would not have been able to
22 conclude that any of them were victims of beatings or
23 tortures apart from what wounds they might have received
24 in actual fighting?
25 A. What I remember, and I am sorry to keep repeating "what
Page 5843
1 I remember", but the events took place five years ago so
2 what I remember is they were sick people, they were not
3 injured.
4 Q. You also visited a much larger detention area, the one
5 that is in the photograph that you took where there were
6 a number of people seated on the floor?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Did that building appear to you to be clean?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Were there any noxious odours in that building that you
11 noticed?
12 A. No, I did not notice anything of the kind.
13 Q. Were all of the prisoners that you saw in that building
14 sitting up on the floor, or were some lying around
15 moaning?
16 A. No, they looked exactly as they seem in the picture in
17 the article.
18 Q. Did you see anyone in that building for the time that
19 you were in there that you could conclude had been
20 subjected to beatings or torture, from what you could
21 observe?
22 A. No.
23 Q. You talked to some of the prisoners at that location,
24 did you not?
25 A. Yes.
Page 5844
1 Q. At least one of those prisoners that you talked to told
2 you that the treatment there was very good and that he
3 had no complaints?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Did you or the cameraman or anyone that was with you
6 while you were there beat or torture any of the
7 prisoners yourselves?
8 A. No. We were on a journalistic mission.
9 Q. If I told you that there has been testimony in this case
10 that you and your colleagues engaged in the beating of
11 prisoners, would you say that that is absolutely untrue?
12 A. Of course.
13 Q. You also went, did you not, to an area that they told
14 you was a detention facility for what was referred to as
15 the hard cases?
16 A. It was not a special camp, but a room within the camp.
17 Q. You have told us that one of those prisoners was brought
18 outside and you observed that particular individual.
19 A. Yes, he was taken out of the room and we talked to him.
20 Q. In your observations of that particular individual, did
21 you see any indication that that person had been
22 mistreated, beaten, tortured in any way?
23 A. No, there was nothing on the outside that could give
24 that impression.
25 Q. Now let me go just to one other brief area. Also during
Page 5845
1 that trip, you visited the city of Mostar, did you not?
2 A. I remember that I visited Mostar before going to Konjic,
3 that is what I remember.
4 Q. Okay. I think it was in Mostar, at least according to
5 your writings, that you visited some members of the
6 Bosnian army, Muslim soldiers, and talked with some of
7 the soldiers, correct?
8 A. I do not remember now what happened in Mostar.
9 Q. Okay. During any part then of your visit to Konjic or
10 the detention camp at Konjic, did you see anything that
11 made you feel like prisoners were being mistreated in a
12 way that you should report it to some kind of an
13 international humanitarian organisation or anything of
14 that nature?
15 A. On the contrary, as I said in the article that was
16 published, I did not see any signs of cruel treatment or
17 mistreatment of the detainees.
18 Q. I take it you did not see any evidence by looking at any
19 of the detainees that they were being subjected to
20 starvation?
21 A. No.
22 Q. They appeared to be well-fed, as far as you could tell?
23 A. I cannot judge, but what I saw -- at the end of the
24 visit they were bringing in some food to the prisoners.
25 Q. I take it you have seen photographs from some of the
Page 5846
1 Serb camps in that area where the prisoners looked
2 extremely emaciated, clearly had been starved, very much
3 like survivors of the German concentration camps during
4 the war; correct?
5 A. I saw that in the media, not with my own eyes.
6 Q. My question is: you did not see any prisoners at
7 Celebici that looked like that, did you?
8 A. No.
9 MR. ACKERMAN: That is all I have. Thank you very much.
10 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Thank you very much. I think we will
11 have a break now and come back at 12.00.
12 (11.30 am)
13 (A short break)
14 (12.05 pm)
15 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Kindly remind him he is still on his
16 oath.
17 THE REGISTRAR: Mr. Harraz, I remind you you are still under
18 oath.
19 A. Yes.
20 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Ms. Residovic, you may proceed.
21 Cross-examined by MS. RESIDOVIC
22 Q. Thank you, your Honours. Mr. Harraz, good morning.
23 A. Good morning.
24 Q. I thank you. I shall greet you in your way. Salam
25 Aleikum, Mr. Harraz. Mr. Harraz, you have testified
Page 5847
1 before this court that in July 1992, you visited the
2 region of the commune of Konjic --
3 MR. ACKERMAN: Your Honour, I think the translation is not
4 coming through to the interpreter.
5 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: The interpretation is not coming
6 through, I hear, is it. Thank you very much. Can you
7 start all over again?
8 MS. RESIDOVIC: Thank you very much. I should like first
9 of all to introduce myself to you, Mr. Harraz. I am
10 Edina Residovic, I am counsel for Mr. Zejnil Delalic.
11 Mr. Harraz, you have testified before this court that in
12 July of 1992, you visited the area of the commune of
13 Konjic, and that after that you wrote a number of
14 articles; is that correct?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. In fact, Mr. Harraz, in connection with that visit, you
17 wrote three articles; is that so, which were published
18 on 24th, 25th and 26th July; is that so?
19 A. That is so. That is correct.
20 Q. In addition, Mr. Harraz, on 7th March this year, you made
21 a statement to Ms. Sabine Manke, investigator for the
22 Prosecution of the International Tribunal?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. You have also testified, Mr. Harraz, for the sake of this
25 testimony also you reminded yourself subsequently of
Page 5848
1 what you had written in those articles in 1992; is that
2 so?
3 A. This is correct.
4 Q. Hence I should like to ask you, Mr. Harraz, since my
5 questions will be linked to your articles, to have these
6 articles before you so as to be able to refresh your
7 memory in connection with my questions.
8 Mr. Harraz, is it true that in those articles -- in
9 the statement made to Ms. Sabine Manke as well as today
10 before the Tribunal, you said that a portion of what you
11 have written in your articles was the result of your
12 direct insight into things?
13 A. It is not my viewpoint, it is what I have seen and
14 witnessed.
15 Q. Yes, my next question was precisely to be one to which
16 you have already provided an answer, so you have seen
17 things, you saw some things and you learned about other
18 facts from third persons; is that so?
19 A. Yes, some of what I had written is what I have witnessed
20 myself, but there might be some information that was
21 given to me by the people that were with the commander
22 or that escorted us that I might have mentioned also.
23 Q. Mr. Harraz, you only spent a short time in Konjic and you
24 had no occasion to verify for yourself things which you
25 were told by other persons.
Page 5849
1 A. My mission was not to verify facts, my mission was to
2 describe the general situation in the area.
3 Q. Precisely in view of the nature of your mission, you did
4 not seek, nor did you see any documentation in the
5 Konjic municipality; is that so?
6 A. No, I did not see any documents.
7 Q. Mr. Harraz, you have also testified before this court
8 that you had an interpreter.
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. That is because you do not speak the Bosnian language;
11 is that true?
12 A. Yes, with the exception of "dobro dan"
13 Q. Just like my Arabic. Mr. Harraz can you then agree with
14 me that what you found out on the basis of accounts of
15 third persons largely depended also on the precision of
16 the interpretation in regard to the things that were
17 being discussed?
18 A. Of course, the interpreter may have a positive or a
19 negative role in conveying the reality.
20 Q. So your articles are a general picture, and your
21 impression of what you had seen at that time in the area
22 of the commune of Konjic?
23 A. This is correct, and to confirm that, I did mention that
24 in the article; that is to say that I mentioned "this is
25 what I have witnessed as a first view of this site".
Page 5850
1 Q. In relation to the true position of certain persons, you
2 also relied upon the information which was provided to
3 you by third persons; is that so?
4 A. Yes, the leadership that was present in the area by way
5 of escorts and other responsible people who provided us
6 with information.
7 Q. That is probably the reason, Mr. Harraz, why, in your
8 articles and in what you have stated before this
9 Tribunal today, there appears some -- in fact, some
10 significant differences in designating the functions of
11 various individuals; is that so?
12 A. Would you be kind enough to give me an example?
13 Q. In your article, Mr. Harraz, this gentleman Rusmir,
14 I believe, that is the gentleman in question, although
15 I am not quite sure what you name him, you call him in
16 your article the mayor; then in your third article you
17 say that you had paid a visit to the war presidency
18 where you conducted a conversation. In your statement
19 to Miss Sabine Manke, you said that the local governor
20 had been in question, and today as far as I could
21 gather, you said that he was the political leader of the
22 area.
23 A. Yes, this is correct. This person might include all
24 these posts, but as I have mentioned before, there was
25 no evident hierarchical division and these titles are
Page 5851
1 the titles that were given to me at the time.
2 Q. In this example which I have used of Mr. Rusmir, is it
3 not that it is in the same way that you learned about
4 the other time that you met in the area?
5 A. I referred to the post and the responsibility in
6 accordance with the information that was given to me, in
7 accordance to what was said to me in the area and not by
8 the leadership in Sarajevo, for example.
9 Q. Mr Harraz, are you aware of the fact that it was
10 precisely at that time that there was a certain Arabic
11 organisation in Konjic which was engaged in humanitarian
12 aid, the objective of which was to find out facts which
13 would be of assistance in collecting such aid and relief
14 supplies for the suffering population?
15 A. In Bosnia-Herzegovina in general there were Arab relief
16 agencies, many of them, but in Konjic in particular I do
17 not remember if there was any such agency at that time.
18 Q. Mr. Harraz, was it one of the intentions of your account
19 of the situation in Konjic to acquaint the Arabic public
20 better with the difficult circumstances in this region
21 and to bolster efforts in providing humanitarian relief?
22 A. Yes, it was a journalistic mission in my capacity as a
23 journalist to give the Arab population a viewpoint on
24 what is happening in that part of the world.
25 Q. Mr. Harraz, is that the reason why you perhaps in a
Page 5852
1 certain way placed more stress on the option of this
2 people towards Islam?
3 A. Would you be kind enough to rephrase your question,
4 please?
5 Q. I will start with another question. In that area,
6 Mr. Harraz, you did not meet any people who were
7 fanatical Islamists, who were committed to hatred?
8 A. I do not believe that in Bosnia at that time there were
9 people or fanatic trends; in fact the Muslims were very
10 far from their religion.
11 Q. Irrespective of the fact that they had suffered very
12 much prior to your visit, amongst the fighters you did
13 not feel that they needed to retaliate?
14 A. No, what I felt was that there was a great desire to
15 defend their area, and they truly believed that they had
16 no other option but to defend their area because they
17 have nowhere else to go or no other party that can come
18 to their aid. The general feeling that I had was they
19 had to defend themselves in order to defend the areas in
20 which they live.
21 Q. Mr. Harraz, you said that in the evening you visited
22 Mr. Hadzihuseinovic. Is it true that Mr. Hadzihuseinovic
23 gave you data regarding the structure of the population,
24 the aggression and the current military situation in the
25 area?
Page 5853
1 A. The information that was given to me -- as I said, he
2 was the governor of the city, or it can be explained as
3 the military governor. Added to that he had political
4 responsibilities and in that capacity we interviewed him
5 at the time.
6 Q. And Mr. Hadzihuseinovic also told you that there were
7 very many refugees who had arrived to Konjic at that
8 time from the areas which were under temporary
9 occupation?
10 A. He did speak of the humanitarian situation and the
11 situation of the refugees, but I do not remember
12 details.
13 Q. But Mr. Harraz, you probably recall that he told you that
14 at that time, the humanitarian situation, the supply of
15 the population and the refugees was very difficult
16 indeed?
17 A. Yes, he did mention that and it was a known fact to
18 everyone, not just to people in Konjic but in other
19 regions of Bosnia as well.
20 Q. You have testified before this Tribunal that you had
21 learned that hierarchy was not quite clear in the
22 governmental set-up, and that you found out these things
23 on the basis of your general knowledge about
24 Bosnia-Herzegovina; is that so?
25 A. Yes, I believe that at the time, this hierarchical
Page 5854
1 set-up was not there and every region, one way or
2 another, took care of defending their borders or the
3 internal affairs but, of course, there was some kind of
4 communication between the area, but the general remark
5 is that there was no clear administrative structure.
6 Q. I thank you for your opinion generally about the
7 situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but can you confirm
8 that after all, you did not thoroughly perceive the
9 situation in the sense of the organisation of authority
10 in the commune of Konjic?
11 A. No, of course not. This was not my mission, and
12 I repeat that I spent a relatively short time in the
13 area, and I did describe what was said to me and what
14 I had witnessed. I did not seek to verify the
15 information because this kind of media or articles does
16 not aim at providing evidence but to describe events in
17 a certain area.
18 Q. So although you talked to the mayor during that
19 conversation, in the course of your stay you did find
20 out that the town of Konjic in which authority
21 structures did function in a certain way, was
22 handicapped by various blockades mounted by Serbian
23 forces, by the Serbian forces but already at that time
24 also by the Croatians?
25 A. What I remember is that they were subject to an attack
Page 5855
1 by the Serbs. As for the Croatian side, I believe that
2 at the time matters were still relatively quiet between
3 the two parties; that is between Muslims and Croats, at
4 least on the outside, in a general outlook.
5 Q. Mr. Harraz, I am actually -- I actually want to ask you
6 questions so that things could be clear for us all
7 here. I believe that it is very important that you as a
8 witness of that period should be before this court,
9 because the number of persons as courageous as you were
10 who decided to go to Bosnia in those times is really
11 small. I believe that because of this you will
12 understand the nature of the question which I am about
13 to ask you.
14 You have just said that you have witnessed the
15 shelling and the bombardment of Konjic from Serbian
16 positions; is that so?
17 A. Yes, the area was subject to shelling by Serbs.
18 Q. During your short stay you could see vast destruction to
19 housing and other structures throughout the city; is
20 that a fact?
21 A. Yes, Konjic did have many areas that were destroyed, as
22 well as the destruction in many other areas.
23 Q. Mr. Harraz, you described in some more detail in the
24 article which was published on July 24th 1992 which was
25 also read before this court, therefore in connection
Page 5856
1 with this article I should only like to ask you a few
2 questions. You entered and you saw a room which was the
3 infirmary, the sick ward.
4 A. You mean the room where the sick people were?
5 Q. Yes. What you have written in your article of 27th is
6 the result of what you personally saw.
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. You came in and you saw this hangar, this large room in
9 which there were many prisoners; is that so?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. What you have written in your article about how this
12 room looked, how the prisoners looked and about the
13 conditions which prevailed in the room is also the
14 result of what you saw for yourself; is that true?
15 A. Yes, that is true, I wrote that on the basis of what
16 I saw myself, not on the basis of what anybody else told
17 me.
18 Q. The photograph which has been shown before this court
19 which you said you thought depicted the person which you
20 think was the organiser, who was taken out from that
21 special cell for the dangerous, is the person of whom
22 you personally took a photograph; is that so?
23 A. I said this morning that this man -- I gathered that he
24 was in that hard cell block, but I cannot be sure that
25 this is the person that we see in the picture, that he
Page 5857
1 was the man in the hard cell block.
2 Q. The person was taken out of that room; if I remind you,
3 if I could refresh your memory, is Rajko Dordic, the man
4 who was known as the organiser of the Defence of Bradina
5 and of the arming of Serbs; is that so?
6 A. The information that I put down in the article is based
7 on what I was told about the man, the man who was taken
8 out of that special place, but I repeat that I am not
9 sure whether this is the picture of that man, the
10 picture that is in the article.
11 Q. I am not asking you about the photograph, Mr. Harraz, but
12 about the talk which you had with the man which you
13 referred to in your article.
14 A. The information in the article is the information given
15 to me and the talk in the article is the talk that went
16 on between me and the man.
17 Q. So you witnessed the fact that he was told in your
18 presence that he was responsible for cutting off the
19 Mostar/Sarajevo road?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. You also witnessed his reply, namely that he was
22 dissatisfied with the assistance which the leadership of
23 Serbia had extended to them to aid their resistance.
24 A. What is related in the article is the talk that I had
25 with the man. Of course now I do not remember the exact
Page 5858
1 details of the conversation I had with him. What there
2 is in the article is what was said between me and him.
3 Q. This man, as far as you could see, did not exhibit any
4 consequences of torture?
5 A. No.
6 Q. That man was not tortured in your presence?
7 A. No person was tortured before us.
8 Q. Mr Harraz, I should like to ask you several questions
9 related to your article of July 25th . So you were
10 given authorisation to visit the frontline, the line of
11 separation with the Serbs; is that so?
12 A. Yes, it was a confrontation site with the Serbs, but the
13 area I visited was a mountainous area and there was an
14 exchange of fire between the two parties.
15 Q. You can testify that around 2.00, through a very bad and
16 dangerous road, you climbed up high into the mountains,
17 up to the first command post of the artillery?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. If you recall your article, after these two hours of a
20 ride that was really dangerous, you arrived at the
21 command post of the Bosnian artillery, where you saw, as
22 means of combat of the Territorial Defence of Konjic, a
23 cannon dating back to 1918?
24 A. Yes, we visited three areas, the area of the commander,
25 the area where there was confrontation and fighting, and
Page 5859
1 the area where the camp of detainees was located. I do
2 not remember whether there were other areas that we
3 visited.
4 Q. So if you recall what you had written in your article,
5 this first position, you saw a gun which had been taken
6 from the museum in Jablanica and was adapted to some
7 sort of defensive combat, defensive fighting?
8 A. Yes, that is true.
9 Q. There you talked to the fighters and their commander
10 whose name is Esad, you took photographs of the command
11 tent and of another gun, 130 millimetres, whom the
12 combatants called their pride. You also found out that
13 this was a gun which was treated very carefully because
14 it was supposed to be shifted to the Sarajevo area to
15 help the fighters trying to break the blockade of
16 Sarajevo.
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And you were told at the time that that was the only
19 cannon of that type which could be found in the
20 immediate vicinity of Sarajevo?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. A section of the article where you describe the
23 conditions and the objectives of the fighting with the
24 commander Esad actually reflects what commander Esad had
25 told you?
Page 5860
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. According to your article, he informed you in more
3 detail about the objectives of the struggle, about the
4 frontline and about the fact that there were around
5 3,000 fighters in that area.
6 A. All that he said at the time is what I put down in the
7 article, but I do not remember now exactly all the
8 details.
9 Q. If you are not quite sure of something regarding my
10 questions, please be so kind as to refresh your memory
11 by consulting your article from July 25th. In fact,
12 commander Esad, according to what you wrote, emphasised
13 that the enemy were at an advantage because they have a
14 heavy long range artillery; is that not a fact?
15 A. Yes, that is true.
16 Q. And at that place you saw the commandant and the
17 inscriptions written by the fighters on the surrounding
18 trees, the tent and in the vicinity?
19 A. As I said, the area where the commander was is different
20 from the area where I saw live shooting between the two
21 parties.
22 Q. When you talked to Mr. Hadzihuseinovic, he also proposed
23 this meeting of yours with commander Esad. If I can
24 assist you to remember, it was Esad Ramic, commander of
25 the headquarters of the Territorial Defence of Konjic;
Page 5861
1 is that so?
2 A. It is difficult for me to remember that. Mr. Rusmir
3 Haji, when we saw him in the evening, he promised for us
4 to meet the leadership of the area, either the general
5 commander, or he promised to help us go to some military
6 areas. Perhaps this information is not sufficient for
7 you, but I am sorry, I do not remember anything else
8 clearly.
9 Q. Before you set out, you knew that Mr. Zejnil Delalic was
10 also in the zone of war operations?
11 A. Yes, he was there.
12 Q. You also knew, Mr. Harraz, that Mr. Zejnil Delalic had
13 done very much, also including his own means, to equip
14 our units?
15 A. I do not know that. What do you mean, to equip the
16 unit? Equip it militarily?
17 Q. Mr Delalic also gave his personal funds as a successful
18 businessman in the west to help procure the equipment
19 for the army, medicaments, food?
20 A. Yes, that is what we were told.
21 Q. Mr. Hadzihuseinovic probably told you that Mr. Delalic was
22 co-ordinated between the military and the civil
23 authorities in Konjic?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And you knew, Mr. Harraz, that his task in the combat
Page 5862
1 operation zone was to provide the logistic support for
2 the fighters during these very serious combat
3 operations; is that so?
4 A. That is what we were told, that he assisted in
5 bolstering military capacities.
6 Q. Mr. Harraz, thank you. Mr. Harraz, were you told by
7 Mr. Hadzihuseinovic with whom you talked that in fact
8 Mr. Delalic can give you the most accurate data about the
9 status of the equipment and the weapons which our units
10 had at their disposal, as well as in the respect of the
11 needed logistic support, arterial and technical support
12 which was still lacking and was needed by our Defence?
13 A. My mission was journalistic and therefore I did not ask
14 about details about the kinds of weapons and how they
15 were brought forth. I did not ask such questions, I did
16 not seek such information.
17 Q. Thank you. Tell me, is it correct what you have written
18 in your article that you reached the comment posed of
19 Mr. Esad Ramic that it took you two hours to reach the
20 command post of Esad Ramic?
21 MS. McHENRY: If I may object, the witness has stated he
22 does not remember the name of the person other than it
23 was Esad, so I may ask that Defence counsel take that
24 into account when asking her questions.
25 A. When I talk about Asad here, I am talking about Asad,
Page 5863
1 but I did not even put down his last name here. As far
2 as I remember, there was somebody else also called
3 Asad. I was told that if there were three people called
4 Asad in Bosnia and my name was Asad and there were two
5 other people also called Asad -- but I do not really
6 remember the family name and I did not get any sweets.
7 MS. RESIDOVIC: If you had gotten that it would have been
8 Halva, according to our custom.
9 From the position which you found the commander
10 Esad, you went further on for over half an hour through
11 a forbidding mountainous area until you came to an area
12 where you met with Mr Delalic?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. So it was more than 50 kilometres away from the centre
15 of the city, can I say that?
16 A. I cannot remember in terms of kilometres. The roads
17 were not there at all and I remember it was rainy, so it
18 is difficult to estimate the distance. Half a hour does
19 not mean 50 kilometres; it was not a highway.
20 Q. Yes, but it took you two hours, you said, to reach
21 commander Esad from the city and then it took you
22 another half a hour or more, so from the city you were
23 on your way for over two and a half hours; is that so?
24 A. About that much.
25 Q. In your article you state that you saw a small tent in
Page 5864
1 that area, a tent and a small table on which there were
2 some names carved?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And also on the surrounding trees you saw various
5 inscriptions in various languages, in particular in
6 English and Arabic?
7 A. I think the only thing in English was "general
8 commander", and that was on the location where the
9 commander Zejnil Din was. There were names that were
10 carved into the wood, but I do not remember what names
11 they were.
12 Q. You remember that NATO Alliance and Pentagon and similar
13 inscriptions were carved there?
14 A. I do not recall now.
15 Q. Did you also see several soldiers there?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. All the soldiers present there were Bosnians?
18 A. Yes -- you mean in the site where the commander was or
19 on the battle front? In the site where the commander
20 was there was a small number of soldiers, certainly
21 Bosnians. I do not know whether there were some Croats
22 among them. In the area there were some Croatian
23 soldiers but on that site in particular there was just a
24 small group of soldiers.
25 Q. You certainly did not see any foreigners there?
Page 5865
1 A. No.
2 Q. And you talked to all of them aided by an interpreter,
3 right?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And this inscription, the main commander's office, was
6 not written in any other language apart from English?
7 A. There were inscriptions or names, but I do not remember
8 what names there were. What I do remember is there was
9 the title of the commander, that was the only thing in
10 English.
11 Q. But that title, that same thing was not written also in
12 Bosnian; that was the only inscription and the only
13 inscription was in English?
14 A. I think all the names were inscribed in Bosnian and in
15 English there was only the title of the commander,
16 "general commander", that was the only thing in
17 English. That is what I remember after five years
18 passing since that visit.
19 Q. When you came there was no reception procedure or
20 ceremony?
21 A. No.
22 Q. This place did not give the impression of some kind of a
23 military command where there are pertaining services,
24 equipment, guards?
25 A. It was really in the middle of nowhere, it was just
Page 5866
1 somewhere high up with a tent or two and a small group
2 of soldiers who were guarding or assisting the
3 commander, and as I said in the article, close by there
4 was a Bosnian family, and that family took care of
5 catering and helping.
6 Q. Mr. Delalic introduced himself to you only stating his
7 name and surname, is that so?
8 A. He was introduced to us.
9 Q. He did not say anything about his then or previously
10 held functions?
11 A. No, he was introduced to us, that is all.
12 Q. In your presence, he gave no orders nor did anyone
13 record to him?
14 A. No.
15 Q. You talked with him about the general problems and the
16 political situation in Bosnia?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. He was interested the most in the procurement of
19 equipment and armaments in view of the fact that our
20 units were poorly equipped?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. He was in fact dissatisfied with the assistance being
23 extended by the Arabic world?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. The position that you had visited prior to that
Page 5867
1 position, there had been many more soldiers, is that so?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Before that position, you were also intercepted by
4 guards.
5 A. I really cannot remember such minute details. We were
6 escorted by a number of guards who took us to Mr. Zejnil
7 Din.
8 Q. When you were where Mr. Delalic was, you could see Serb
9 positions right across from that place and you were
10 warned that their artillery was there?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And you were also informed that the combat had been
13 going on for almost three weeks then?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. When you returned, Mr. Harraz, Mr. Delalic stayed there
16 with these several soldiers of his in the hills?
17 A. Yes, we left him there and we went back.
18 Q. When you arrived at Konjic, you visited a house that you
19 were told was Mr. Delalic's house?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. You were also told that in the basement of that house
22 was the centre of communications of the army of Konjic?
23 A. Not exactly. What we were told and what I do remember
24 is that this house was the centre of -- as a meeting
25 point of many people who were responsible in that area
Page 5868
1 for certain tasks.
2 Q. As you have said, Mr. Harraz, on that occasion the spouse
3 of Mr. Delalic, his wife, was presented to you,
4 introduced to you?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. You are certain that it was the spouse of Mr. Zejnil
7 Delalic that you met then?
8 A. I cannot be sure of that. I was told that this was his
9 wife.
10 Q. This fact, as well as some other facts that you were
11 told, is something that you did not verify or check for
12 yourself.
13 A. No, and I do repeat that this is what I wrote in the
14 article.
15 Q. Mr. Harraz, I should now like to ask you several
16 questions associated with your article of July
17 26th 1992.
18 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: I think we might have the break. We
19 will come back at 2.30.
20 MS. RESIDOVIC: Thank you, your Honours.
21 (1.00 pm)
22 (Adjourned until 2.30 pm)
23 (2.30 pm)
24 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Remind the witness he is on his oath.
25 THE REGISTRAR: May I remind you you are still under oath.
Page 5869
1 A. Yes.
2 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Ms. Residovic, you are still
3 cross-examining.
4 MS. RESIDOVIC: Thank you, your Honours. Mr. Harraz, may we
5 continue? Before passing on to the most recent article
6 that you wrote, I should just like to ask you regarding
7 your visit to Mr. Delalic's house. You stated in court
8 that there were a lot of people moving about there and
9 that people were meeting there; or rather that that was
10 what you are told; is that correct?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. You can confirm, since you saw the house, that the house
13 is next to the road and in a position that is quite
14 sheltered from shelling; is that correct?
15 A. About it being on the road or it being by shelter, I do
16 not know. What I do remember is that there were several
17 people there in front of the house and we were told that
18 that was his main house and that that person we were
19 introduced to was his wife.
20 Q. However, you surely know or at least you must have been
21 told that Zejnil Delalic was not in that house for some
22 time because he was on the front and that people were
23 meeting there even when he was not there; is that so?
24 A. Yes, he was not present. We left him there at the front
25 and we went to his house, but he was not present in his
Page 5870
1 house.
2 Q. Thank you. I should now like to pass on to the article,
3 another article that you said you wrote upon your return
4 from the area, and I would first like to ask you whether
5 you have the original of that article.
6 A. You mean what I wrote with my own hand?
7 Q. No, what was published in the newspaper, an article
8 beginning with your visit to Mostar.
9 A. I am not quite sure whether I still have this third
10 article or whether I only have a copy of it.
11 MS. McHENRY: If it would help Defence counsel, I believe
12 she may wish to look at this since I think this is what
13 she is looking for.
14 MISS RESIDOVIC: Thank you. I would like to ask the usher's
15 assistance to be kind enough to give this article to the
16 witness. I would also like to inform your Honours that
17 this article, or rather photocopies of that article were
18 given to the Defence by the Prosecution, together with a
19 translation into English, so after the original copies
20 have been marked, which will be shown to the witness,
21 that copies of the translation of this article be given
22 to your Honours. (Handed).
23 THE REGISTRAR: The document is marked D58/1.
24 MS. RESIDOVIC: Mr. Harraz, this article bearing the date
25 26th July 1992, when a statement was taken from you in
Page 5871
1 March this year, Ms. Sabine Manke did not ask you about
2 this article, and today, the Prosecution did not ask you
3 any questions about that article; is that correct?
4 A. I do not remember anybody asking me anything about this
5 article.
6 Q. Is it true, Mr. Harraz, that you wrote this article as
7 well under the name Assa'ad Taha, as you have already
8 explained; that is bearing the name of your father?
9 A. Yes, Assa'ad Taha, yes.
10 Q. Is it true that after visiting Konjic, you headed
11 towards Mostar, and that you wrote this story as well
12 more or less at the same time after your visit to
13 Konjic?
14 A. What I remember is that I came back to Split first and
15 then from Split I went to Mostar. I repeat, this is
16 what I remember but I am not sure of it, but what I am
17 certain of is that when we left Mr Zejnil Din, we went
18 to Split.
19 Q. Mr Harraz, if you look at this article to refresh your
20 memory, is it true that in this article, too, you
21 referred to your visit to Konjic and the conversations
22 you had in Konjic about the situation in that area?
23 A. Could you give me some time to read it again?
24 Q. Yes, please. Would you be kind enough to read it?
25 I will wait. (Pause).
Page 5872
1 A. In the first paragraph of the article I refer to Konjic.
2 Q. Now that you have refreshed your memory regarding the
3 contents of your article, allow me to address to you a
4 few questions, and if necessary for you to answer those
5 questions, will you please look at the text? Will you
6 please tell me, is it true that you wrote there that the
7 leadership of the Croatian Democratic Union had, a few
8 days before your visit, proclaimed the independence of
9 Herceg-Bosna?
10 A. It was not a few days before our arrival, but it is
11 known at the beginning of the war the Croatians declared
12 the union of Herceg-Bosna.
13 Q. Mr. Harraz, is it true that in this article you wrote
14 that upon your return from Konjic you had to pass
15 through ten or so checkpoints on the main road leading
16 from Konjic to Mostar which was manned by HVO members?
17 A. I would like to say that in a journalistic omission or
18 in press coverage, it is not always important to specify
19 what city was visited in the beginning or in the end;
20 however it is important for the journalist to stick to
21 the facts. What I said in this article is true, there
22 were many checkpoints on the road to Mostar that were
23 controlled by soldiers.
24 Q. You mean HVO soldiers?
25 A. Yes.
Page 5873
1 Q. On that road, you also saw that wherever the control was
2 conducted by the HVO, flags of the Republic of Croatia
3 were flown rather than the flags of the Republic of
4 Herceg-Bosna?
5 A. Yes, there were always there flags of the Croatian
6 Republic.
7 Q. You were one of the few people who had at that time,
8 while there was still an alliance between the HVO and
9 the army, that came to the conclusion that the desire
10 for secession was gaining sway not only over the
11 commanders but over the units of the HVO?
12 A. Yes, there were expectations that the war would develop
13 into a conflict between the Muslims and the Croats.
14 Q. Is it true, sir, that you learnt from some fighters that
15 HVO members will refused to provide fuel for the TO
16 fighters to enable them to transport the wounded to a
17 hospital?
18 A. Yes, this was what we were told at the time.
19 Q. You also heard that the HVO had captured trucks
20 transporting humanitarian aid and that this had further
21 aggravated the already difficult situation in
22 Bosnia-Herzegovina?
23 A. I repeat, that was what we were told, yes.
24 Q. Is it true that you heard and then wrote this down from
25 the mayor of Konjic, Dr. Hadzihuseinovic, that Mate Boban
Page 5874
1 declared the independence of Herceg-Bosna without the
2 knowledge or agreement of the Bosniak side?
3 A. Could you please repeat the question or perhaps the
4 interpretation of the question -- perhaps the question
5 again.
6 Q. Is it true that during your visit to Konjic, Mayor
7 Hadzihuseinovic told you, among other things, what you
8 wrote in your article, and I cite:
9 "However, Mate Boban, one of the Croatian leaders
10 in Bosnia, declared the independence of the Croatian
11 republic of Herceg-Bosnia without consulting us."
12 Is that correct?
13 A. Yes, that is what we were told.
14 Q. Immediately after this quotation you also wrote in this
15 article, so can you please confirm that, that the
16 commander of the units in this region, Esad, had said:
17 "The media of a part of Hercegovina controlled by
18 the HVO and the non-participation of the HVO in
19 defending our areas are creating severe problems for us,
20 especially since those problems are not limited only to
21 their failure to assist, but are also preventing aid
22 from reaching us."
23 MS. McHENRY: I object because at least in the
24 English translation of this the Defence counsel has
25 misstated the premise. For instance, it does not say
Page 5875
1 that this commander was in charge of the units in this
2 region, so maybe with that clarification I do not object
3 to the question.
4 MS. RESIDOVIC: To clear this point up, I should like to
5 ask Mr. Harraz to read this passage in Arabic?
6 A. "Commander Asad said proclaiming Hercegovina independent
7 and the non-participation of Croatian forces in
8 defending our province creates severe problems for us,
9 especially as it does not stop from refraining from
10 extending assistance, but goes beyond that, preventing
11 supplies from reaching us. However, he continued, we
12 cannot deny that we do get some assistance every now and
13 then."
14 Q. Thank you. Is that what Commander Esad told you?
15 A. Yes, that is what Commander Asad told us and I repeat,
16 I do not remember his family name.
17 Q. Was that the Esad you had spoken to earlier on the front
18 lines?
19 A. I suppose it was.
20 MS. McHENRY: Your Honours, this is not exactly an
21 objection, but just as a matter of form, I would just
22 either ask if Defence counsel is going to be introducing
23 this in evidence or not, because sometimes it is not
24 clear to me whether or not this witness is testifying
25 from his refreshed recollection or if he is just stating
Page 5876
1 that "it says that in the article" and he now does not
2 have a recollection of it. I do not object either way,
3 but I just note that the record is not clear and it may
4 affect whether or not we have to have this document
5 introduced in some form.
6 MS. RESIDOVIC: The witness is answering my questions to
7 the best of his recollection, and I think that in
8 answering questions by the Prosecution, he also said
9 that he had reread the articles, thereby partly
10 refreshing his memory and that is what he is doing now.
11 My questions are linked to the contents described in the
12 mentioned articles which the witness has identified as
13 his own.
14 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Actually, what is the object of
15 cross-examining him with the statement which was not
16 referred to in examination-in-chief, unless you have
17 other intentions for this?
18 MS. RESIDOVIC: Your Honours, I am putting questions to the
19 witness linked to the facts that he has spoken about to
20 certain individuals, his knowledge about those people,
21 the functions they performed and this is just a
22 continuation of the previous testimony of this witness
23 on the basis of two tendered and admitted pieces of
24 evidence. The Defence will probably tender this article
25 as evidence after it has been identified by the witness,
Page 5877
1 because it refers to the same visit and the same
2 circumstances about which this witness is testifying.
3 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: You are not contradicting him, but you
4 want him to realise that he made such a statement. You
5 want him to appreciate that he made such a statement and
6 then you are reminding him.
7 MS. RESIDOVIC: Yes. To confirm what he said, to confirm
8 that this article is his and that he wrote it, and
9 finally, we should like to point to some lack of
10 clarification in his testimony. I would ask to be
11 allowed to complete my questions regarding this article
12 because it all refers to the same subject matter and
13 I think that without this article the picture will not
14 be complete.
15 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Carry on if you think it is useful.
16 MS. RESIDOVIC: Thank you. Therefore, Mr. Harraz, we were
17 talking about Esad who, you learnt, had earlier on, as
18 you had written in your article, a captain who used to
19 be a captain in the Yugoslav People's Army; is that
20 correct?
21 A. I do not recall now.
22 Q. However, if that is what you wrote in your previous
23 article, then this is a fact that you probably learnt
24 about during your visit; is that not correct?
25 A. All the information included in the article is based on
Page 5878
1 what we were told then and there.
2 Q. Please, sir, can you tell me whether at the time you had
3 learnt that this was the person with whom you had
4 discussed various subjects and on various occasions and
5 that in fact he was the commander of the Territorial
6 Defence staff of the Konjic municipality?
7 A. It is difficult for me now to remember any details
8 additional to what was included in the article.
9 Q. Thank you. I should just like you to confirm once again
10 something that you have already said. In view of your
11 inability to check the facts regarding certain persons
12 that you met, even after leaving Konjic, and today you
13 are still not absolutely sure which post the various
14 individuals held and what their competence is, or areas
15 of responsibility were.
16 A. What I am certain of is that what was told to me at that
17 time is exactly what I wrote down in my articles.
18 MISS RESIDOVIC: Thank you. Mr. Harraz, I should now like to
19 ask the Trial Chamber, since the totality of the visit
20 is reflected in the three articles written by this
21 witness, and which he has identified here as being his,
22 I would like to tender this article dated 26th July
23 entitled "The Bosnian Croatian union: a marriage out of
24 military interests, divorce because of political
25 contradictions" be admitted as evidence.
Page 5879
1 MS. McHENRY: Your Honour, if Defence counsel is going to
2 do that we would not object but we also ask then that
3 the second article also be admitted into evidence, since
4 it is not clear to me that the second article is
5 admitted. If all three are admitted, we have no
6 objection.
7 THE REGISTRAR: The third article will be D58/1 and the
8 English translation will be D58/1A. I still need to
9 receive the English translation.
10 MS. RESIDOVIC: The Defence will provide a copy of the
11 English translation for the Registry. Thank you,
12 Mr. Harraz. I have finished my cross-examination,
13 your Honours.
14 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Thank you very much. Is there any
15 other cross-examination?
16 Cross-examined by MR. OLUJIC
17 Q. Yes, your Honours, with your permission. Good
18 afternoon, Mr. Harraz. I am Defence counsel for
19 Mr. Zdravko Mucic. Does that name mean anything to you?
20 A. It is hard for me to remember details of names.
21 Q. Mr. Harraz, you are appearing before the International
22 Tribunal. Do you know who the accused are, what the
23 names of the accused are?
24 A. I know, as I have been told that the first defendant is
25 the Zejnil Din, the commander of the area and the
Page 5880
1 Croatian leader of the camp, but I do not remember his
2 name. I might have written it in my article, but I do
3 not remember it at the moment.
4 Q. Thank you. Mr. Harraz, before going to Bosnia, how
5 familiar were you with the situation there? How much
6 did you know about it beforehand and did you do any
7 research?
8 A. I used to visit Yugoslavia in general, not just Bosnia,
9 at the beginning of 1990 in general. I did not carry
10 any studies, but the result of various visits, whether
11 to Belgrade or Zagreb or Sarajevo is the knowledge that
12 I have.
13 Q. Mr. Harraz, would you be kind enough and tell me whether
14 you went again apart from the times that you describe in
15 these articles when you went to Bosnia? Did you
16 continue to report from the region?
17 A. Not necessarily about that region. I did pass through
18 that region several times to go to Mostar where I went
19 several times, but to Konjic in particular I only passed
20 through, but I did not make any journalistic interviews
21 another time. As for the dates, it is very difficult,
22 because during the three and a half periods of war,
23 I was visiting the area frequently.
24 Q. Mr. Harraz, in your examination-in-chief by my learned
25 colleague from the Prosecution, you said that the owner
Page 5881
1 of your newspaper is from Saudi Arabia and that it is
2 published in London; is that correct?
3 A. The newspaper is published in London and it is
4 distributed to the Arab world and Europe and the
5 financial supporter is a Saudi establishment or a Saudi
6 party.
7 Q. Who is the owner of the newspaper?
8 A. It is a Saudi person.
9 Q. What type of journalism is fostered by your newspaper;
10 or rather, what kind of a political orientation does it
11 have?
12 A. It is a daily political newspaper which deals with
13 general affairs, international affairs as well, in many
14 disciplines, whether political, cultural, economic or
15 otherwise. It had many interests but in general it is a
16 general newspaper. I had stopped collaborating with
17 them for some time now.
18 Q. Were you permanently employed by them or were you
19 working for them on a freelance basis?
20 A. I have never worked since my beginning of work as a
21 journalist, as a permanent journalist, I have always
22 worked on a freelance basis.
23 Q. Thank you. Mr. Harraz, in your testimony, you said that
24 you came to describe events, not to verify facts.
25 A. Yes, this is correct. I wrote what I have seen and
Page 5882
1 events that I saw at the time and I did not intend to
2 verify the questions that have been raised at the time.
3 Q. In other words, may it be said that all your articles
4 and all that they contain are based exclusively on your
5 impressions?
6 A. It is based on what I have seen, what I have witnessed
7 with my own eyes, and what I have mentioned -- what has
8 been said to me I have referred to by mentioning the
9 party that said it to me in order to acquit myself of
10 the responsibility. I believe therefore that I did not
11 convey a special impression without some sort of
12 evidence where there is something that I have personally
13 seen or it was said to me, regardless whether that was
14 commensurate with the reality or not.
15 Q. Yes, of course. Mr. Harraz, would you be kind enough to
16 explain for us something you mentioned in your testimony
17 so far. You noticed that the Bosniaks were poorly
18 organised in terms of the chain of command and that sort
19 of thing. Could you clarify this a little?
20 A. Yes, sir. At the beginning of the war it was difficult,
21 especially for the Muslim part, because it had no
22 outside party to lend it support. It had to build
23 itself on the administrative side, especially with the
24 lack of experience that they had at the time. What
25 I had touched in that area and then many others is the
Page 5883
1 lack of a hierarchical set-up in the conventional way.
2 This is something that many other foreign correspondents
3 had seen and felt. It was very easy for us to go to any
4 region to visit any person, even if it were combat
5 areas. In other areas it would have been very difficult
6 without going through many steps in order to get the
7 necessary permits to enter these areas. But at the same
8 time I would like to differentiate between the lack of
9 organisation and between chaos. There was no chaos, but
10 I did not see any specific organisation.
11 Q. Mr. Harraz, reading your articles, one can see that you
12 spoke to people in the field. Did you have those
13 conversations in the form of interviews by journalists
14 or were they simply -- were your reports simply an
15 interpretation of the conversations that you had with
16 people; in other words when you interview somebody then
17 you have to submit the statement for them to authorise
18 it before it is published in the newspaper.
19 A. The interviews that I had carried out were in the form
20 of questions and answers, and I think I did mention that
21 in the article, that it was a question and answer sort
22 of interview, especially in the camps, in the detention
23 camps.
24 Q. Did you then give those people another chance to read
25 through what would be published in the paper?
Page 5884
1 A. No, of course not. There was no time to do that,
2 particularly that when I go back I rewrite the article
3 I have recorded. On that recorder I record the
4 interview, but when I go home I edit it and then
5 I rewrite the article and then I send it to the
6 newspaper.
7 Q. Of course. Who had organised your visit, Mr. Harraz,
8 when you arrived in Bosnia in July 1992?
9 A. Do you mean in Konjic or in Bosnia in general?
10 Q. I am thinking of Konjic.
11 A. As I said, we arrived with a group in the evening, and
12 we met with Mr. Rusmir, we talked together, and he
13 promised us to give us assistance through his relations
14 with others responsible to have interviews the following
15 morning and it was the following morning when we met
16 commander Zejnil Din and where we went to the detention
17 camp.
18 Q. Who had organised this trip, this visit?
19 A. There is no specific organisation or body that
20 undertakes such an organisation. It was personal
21 initiatives, we had to look for a driver and then a car,
22 that is in Split, then comes the developments that
23 I mentioned earlier. This is the same thing that
24 happened several times and this is the same way that
25 other foreign journalists worked in that area. Every
Page 5885
1 time we have to arrange things probably differ than the
2 previous time.
3 Q. Mr. Harraz, you said that you recorded this on a tape
4 recorder?
5 A. Yes, on a cassette.
6 Q. You still have those tapes?
7 A. No, I do not have them. I should like to repeat that
8 this is one visit out of many that I have paid to Bosnia
9 during the war years; therefore it is of great
10 difficulty for the journalist to keep all the notes and
11 all the documents that he had, especially that events
12 was not so unique at the time that I had to keep every
13 single shred of paper or evidence of that visit.
14 Q. In answer to a question from my learned colleague, you
15 answered that you saw that Croatian soldiers had the
16 insignia of the republic of Croatia; is that correct?
17 A. I mentioned that they were carrying Croatian flags.
18 This is what I recall, this is what I remember and what
19 I am sure of, that they were carrying Croatian flags.
20 The identity of these flags, whether it was
21 Bosnia-Herzegovina or Croatia, is difficult for me to
22 ascertain now, but they were carrying Croatian flags.
23 Q. I am asking you this precisely to clarify this, because
24 in the transcript it is stated that these were the
25 insignia of the Croatian state.
Page 5886
1 A. It is difficult for me to ascertain or to deny this fact
2 now.
3 Q. Do you know what the flag that you saw looks like? Can
4 you describe it to us?
5 A. Yes, the colours were red and blue, and there is a
6 certain shape in the middle of the flag that has
7 coloured crossings between red and white, of red and
8 white.
9 MR. OLUJIC: Thank you, Mr. Harraz. I have no further
10 questions. Thank you, your Honours.
11 Cross-examined by MR. MORAN
12 Q. May it please the court. Good afternoon, sir. My name
13 is Tom Moran and I represent a defendant named Hazim
14 Delic. Does Hazim's name mean anything to you, by the
15 way?
16 A. It is not a foreign name to me, but I do not remember
17 his position.
18 Q. Okay, that is fair enough. By the way, you testified
19 just a couple of minutes ago that you were told that the
20 first defendant is Zejnil Din. Who told you that? Was
21 it somebody from the Office of the Prosecutor?
22 A. When I met Mrs. Sabine in London, I enquired about the
23 matter and that is what I understood.
24 Q. Okay, so someone from the Office of the Prosecutor told
25 you that the person that you interviewed in Bosnia was
Page 5887
1 in fact the defendant in this case?
2 A. What was said to me is the name, that the name that
3 I had met is now a defendant.
4 Q. Okay, so someone from the Office of the Prosecutor said
5 "Zejnil Din equals defendant in this case".
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Fair enough. Sir, I think you are a real important
8 witness, and let me tell you why, and then I will tell
9 you what I will do during this cross-examination. You
10 are the first person we have talked to that was in the
11 camp during the period covered by the indictment that is
12 not associated with the war on one side or the other.
13 MS. McHENRY: Your Honour, I am going to object to this as
14 to relevance. I do not think it is proper for Defence
15 counsel to characterise witnesses in this kind of way.
16 MR MORAN: Your Honour, all I am doing is --
17 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: You carry on, please.
18 MR MORAN: Thank you, your Honour. What I would like to do
19 first is go over your role as a journalist and then go
20 into some specific areas, just about the Konjic area and
21 the camp and then I think we will be done. Sometimes I
22 talk a little fast and sometimes my questions are not as
23 clear as they ought to be. If you do not understand
24 something, will you stop me? I know you speak some
25 English. I know your English is much better than my
Page 5888
1 Arabic. When also you hear through the translator --
2 I just want to make sure we are communicating when we
3 are talking.
4 As a freelance journalist, basically you work for
5 whoever will hire you on a story-by-story basis.
6 I understand that besides this newspaper that you were
7 writing for when you were in Bosnia in 1992, you have
8 also written for some television channels and in the
9 Arabian Gulf area?
10 A. As far as working with the television, with MBC in
11 particular, that was after my visit to the area. It
12 came much later, much later after my visit to Konjic in
13 particular.
14 Q. Also the radio station in Paris was after your --
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. You testified on your direct examination that you have
17 been travelling almost continually for years. What
18 other types of stories have you covered?
19 A. They differ as the events differ. Sometimes they are
20 humanitarian, sometimes they are political, and at other
21 times it is military articles but I do concentrate on
22 what I see. I do not pay special attention to something
23 in particular upon which I carry a study. I try to
24 verify the truth of it.
25 Q. For instance, did you cover the Persian Gulf War,
Page 5889
1 Operation Desert Storm?
2 A. No, sir, I did not participate.
3 Q. But you have covered other wars, other military actions?
4 A. Yes, I covered the Chezcen region and the events of
5 Albania, as well as the events in Zaire Kinshassa, as
6 well as other political events which become hot spots.
7 Q. You say you have covered humanitarian -- what types of
8 things are we talking about there, sir?
9 A. By humanitarian I mean the result of war, the lack and
10 shortage of food, the deterioration of the health
11 situation, the loss of housing and shelter, or any other
12 family problems that might occur. These dramatic events
13 of war.
14 Q. So, for example, just as sure as I mention this when you
15 were not there, but the starvation in Somalia, that type
16 of thing?
17 A. No, sir.
18 Q. Where have you covered these humanitarian missions?
19 Have you seen a lot of starving people while you did it?
20 A. I have seen many things as far as humanitarian
21 situations, of great difficulty.
22 Q. You mainly work for, what, the printed media?
23 A. At that time I mainly collaborated with the written
24 media.
25 Q. Now I take it you are more into electronic journalism?
Page 5890
1 A. Presently I work with the television.
2 Q. Okay. In fact you covered the war in the former
3 Yugoslavia. Almost from the beginning you had a
4 residence visa for Croatia from May 1992 until January
5 of this year, so you must have travelled all over the
6 former Yugoslavia?
7 A. Yes, but as far as Belgrade, I visited Belgrade at the
8 beginning of the war in May 1992, but after that I was
9 unable to visit Belgrade a second time.
10 Q. There was some question about your role as a -- the way
11 you see your role as a journalist. Let me just see if
12 I can explore that for just a second. There are various
13 traditions, of course, in journalism. The tradition
14 that I was brought up under was where a reporter works
15 very hard to be fair and he reports fairly and as
16 accurately as he can what he sees and what he hears and
17 what people tell him. If he has any opinion, it is
18 clearly labelled as opinion. Is that similar to the
19 tradition you were brought up under, the journalistic
20 tradition you were brought up under, sir?
21 A. I believe that my article contained that tradition.
22 I have mentioned what I have personally seen, what the
23 people have told me and, of course, it also contained my
24 own impressions and that also came across very clearly.
25 Q. Sure, that is what I am saying. It is a very similar
Page 5891
1 unbiased presentation of facts, that is what you are
2 trying to do.
3 A. Yes, this is correct, but I should like to say, for
4 example, as far as the camp is concerned, I did not try
5 to seek more information about how were these people
6 detained, were they innocent or were they guilty, such
7 other details and were they really and truly being
8 well-treated or otherwise. Therefore I am saying I did
9 not try to verify these facts because this was not my
10 task, this was not my mission and this needs great
11 assistance, but I only tried to convey reality as I saw
12 it.
13 Q. I understand that, sir. Another thing I understand, and
14 I think that it may not be as clear as it could be, but
15 just so that it is crystal clear before you and I are
16 done, that when you have written as many stories the
17 last several years as you have, it would not be unusual
18 to totally forget a particular story, would it?
19 A. Of course I did not forget what happened, but talking
20 about minute details is something else. I cannot
21 mention such details especially as I fear that what
22 I say could be used for the benefit of this party or
23 that. Perhaps outside this Tribunal I might have my own
24 position, but here I look for the truth and only the
25 truth.
Page 5892
1 Q. Sure, and what you wrote down when you wrote those
2 stories in July 1992 was the best set of facts that you
3 had at the time?
4 A. Yes, that is so.
5 Q. One of your biggest -- one of the biggest parts of your
6 assignment for that story or series of stories, as
7 I understand it, was to determine what the conditions
8 were like in the Konjic area; not just the camp but the
9 whole area. Is that a fair assessment?
10 A. Yes, that is true. Our visit to Konjic was not really
11 planned. We had no clear intention to go to Konjic when
12 we left Split. We did not intend to go to such a city
13 and visit such a camp. The point was to go to any area
14 where fighting was going on and where we could get some
15 vision of what was happening.
16 Q. Okay. Did you get a vision or a feel for, for instance,
17 the food supply among the civilians and the military in
18 the Konjic area?
19 A. There was a clear shortage of food among the military
20 and among the civilians.
21 Q. How about the supply of medicines? Were they plentiful,
22 or could you tell?
23 A. On the medical level there was an acute shortage in
24 medicines, and especially in anesthetics and in what
25 makes it possible to do quick surgery in cases of
Page 5893
1 injury.
2 Q. Let me focus on your visit to the camp, and let me start
3 off with that room where they had the large number of
4 people. Based on your experience covering wars,
5 covering humanitarian things, that type of thing, when
6 you looked at those people there did they look like the
7 type of people that you had seen in other places who
8 were starving?
9 A. No. As I said repeatedly, the general impression one
10 would have was not that they were subjected to torture
11 or undernourishment, that was the impression.
12 Q. That impression you formed was based on a lot of
13 experience, was it not?
14 A. Of course.
15 Q. And having been to places where you had seen people who
16 were starved and tortured and injured, victims of
17 trauma?
18 A. I could not visit areas under Serbian control, so such
19 examples that you are mentioning, I only saw after the
20 release of certain prisoners who had been under Serbian
21 control and went back to Bosnia and told about what they
22 had faced.
23 Q. No, sir, what I am asking you about is whether your
24 impression about the treatment of the prisoners in this
25 camp is based on your personal experience having covered
Page 5894
1 other wars, other humanitarian actions. I do not want
2 to compare it to what occurred in Serbia. I want it
3 based on your experience in other places in the world?
4 A. Yes, there were a lot of signs that would give anybody
5 that impression. I hope you will not be upset, but
6 I will have to repeat again, that was the general
7 impression that one would have.
8 Q. You just spent a couple of hours there. I understand
9 what your limitations are on your knowledge. I very
10 much appreciate that.
11 A couple of other things, and then I think we are
12 done. Sir, while you were at the camp -- let me be
13 upfront with you. We have heard some testimony here
14 that several things occurred while you were at the
15 camp. One of the things we heard was that some of the
16 camp guards put on uniforms, I believe the testimony was
17 Serbian uniforms, uniforms with Serbian markings but it
18 may have been Croatian insignia, and then beat the
19 prisoners while this beating was being filmed to make it
20 look like someone else was beating Muslim prisoners.
21 Did you see anything that was even close to that?
22 A. What do you mean by beating up Muslims?
23 Q. The testimony as I recall it was that there was an
24 attempt to have some propaganda or an attempt to show
25 that other people were beating up -- other sides in the
Page 5895
1 war were beating up Muslim prisoners?
2 A. No, I do not recall anything of that kind. I do not
3 remember any acts of violence being committed while
4 I was at the camp.
5 Q. So if someone were to come and say that people were
6 beaten for a hour in front of you and your cameraman,
7 those people would either be mistaken or they would be
8 lying, would they not?
9 A. I do not know, perhaps they are talking about what
10 happened in front of other reporters. I can only say
11 what happened before me in that place and I think even
12 if any torture, beating or humiliations happened, I do
13 not think that would happen before cameras.
14 Q. If there were some testimony that while you and your
15 cameraman were there, people came in disguised to look
16 like they were wounded -- did you see that, any wounded
17 people coming in pretending to be wounded people in
18 front of your cameras?
19 A. Serbs?
20 Q. Serbs, Muslims, I do not care. At the Celebici camp?
21 A. In that camp, as I said previously, as far as I remember
22 there was a small number, three or four, that is what
23 I remember, three or four people who had slight wounds,
24 but I did not see them getting wounded. I just saw them
25 like that and what I understood was they were wounded
Page 5896
1 during battle.
2 Q. Thinking about wounded, and I think this is the last
3 question; in the infirmary, you said that there were
4 stocks of medicine. How much was there compared with
5 what you have seen in the other parts of the Konjic area
6 about that same time?
7 A. There was a small table on which there were a few
8 medicines, but what kind of medicine and the
9 quantities -- the room itself was very small and as
10 I said, there were only a few patients, so I think the
11 quantity would be proportionate to the number of
12 patients. I saw a bit of medicine, some cotton, some
13 bandage, but I did not see anything else.
14 MR. MORAN: Sir, thank you very much. I pass the witness,
15 your Honour.
16 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Thank you very much. Any other
17 cross-examination? Is there any re-examination?
18 Re-examined by MS. McHENRY
19 Q. Yes, your Honour, a small amount. Sir, in the
20 cross-examination by Ms. Residovic, you talked about
21 how there was a desire among some persons you met and
22 talked with to get additional funding from Arabic
23 countries; is that correct?
24 A. They said that they were dissatisfied with the little
25 support that they were getting from Arab and Muslim
Page 5897
1 countries.
2 Q. Ms. Residovic also asked you about the fact that some
3 parts of your article stress Islam and the commitment to
4 Islam amongst some of the persons you talked with; is
5 that correct?
6 A. What I said in my conversation with counsel is that
7 I did not find there fundamentalist or extremist Islamic
8 trend, especially as those people had just come out of
9 the communist rule in Yugoslavia. There was not much
10 talk about religion.
11 Q. Sir, am I correct that although not fundamentalist,
12 there is a reasonable amount of discussion in your
13 articles about Islam and the commitment to Islam, and
14 the desire to have an Islamic state, for instance, in
15 Europe?
16 A. I do not think I mentioned in my article the presence of
17 a Muslim state, but perhaps a Muslim presence in view of
18 the number of Muslims in Bosnia. These were individual
19 feelings that were shared with me and that I put down in
20 my article.
21 Q. Okay, sir. Ms. Residovic also brought out the fact
22 that, in fact, many Bosnian Muslims were far away from
23 their religion; is that correct?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Am I correct, sir, that you and your editors were
Page 5898
1 conscious of your Arabic readership and wished to have
2 articles that appealed to such an audience, and this may
3 account for some of the stress on Islam in the articles?
4 A. I am an Arab and, of course, those who talk with me know
5 who they are talking to, and perhaps they choose a
6 certain tone or certain words, that is their own choice,
7 but as an Arab they will talk to me as an Arab.
8 Q. Sir, am I correct that it would not have been appealing
9 nor helpful to those seeking additional funding if the
10 article suggested that prisoners were being tortured or
11 mistreated?
12 JUDGE JAN: Are you cross-examining your own witness?
13 MS. McHENRY: Your Honour, not at all. I believe that
14 Ms. Residovic has suggested with her questions that
15 this witness is biased and although it may well be that
16 this witness has some sort of bias, I believe it is
17 important to understand the extent to which there is any
18 and if so, where it comes from so your Honours can
19 evaluate exactly what this witness is and is not
20 saying. I am not cross-examining my own witness at all,
21 your Honour, I am exploring an issue that was raised by
22 the Defence in cross-examination.
23 MS. RESIDOVIC: I apologise, your Honours, I did not put a
24 single such question to the witness, and my witness
25 answered my questions clearly so these questions do not
Page 5899
1 emanate from my questions.
2 MR. MORAN: Your Honour, I agree with Judge Jan, I think she
3 is trying to impeach her own witness. This man has
4 testified he gathered the facts as closely as he could
5 at Celebici and he recounted them to the best of his
6 ability.
7 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: I thought she was making a suggestion
8 as to what his own bias was, although it did not arise
9 from cross-examination which is the most important
10 thing.
11 MR. MORAN: I will also make that objection.
12 MS. McHENRY: Your Honour, if I may respond, let me just
13 point to a couple of questions asked by Defence counsel to
14 which I believe this is directly responsive:
15 "Mr. Harraz, was it one of the intentions of your
16 account of the situation in Konjic to acquaint the
17 Arabic public better with the difficult circumstances in
18 this region and to bolster efforts in providing
19 humanitarian relief?"
20 JUDGE JAN: It is nothing to do with bias which you are
21 attributing to the witness.
22 MS. McHENRY: Let me go forward. The witness answers yes.
23 The next question is:
24 "Mr. Harraz, is that the reason why you perhaps in
25 a certain way placed more stress on the option of these
Page 5900
1 people towards Islam?"
2 I believe those are questions asked in
3 cross-examination and my questions in re-examination are
4 directly related to that issue.
5 MS. RESIDOVIC: Your Honours, this question was reworded in
6 the sense of identifying fundamentalism among the Bosnia
7 people and in answer to that question, the witness gave
8 a very precise answer. It is not correct to cite a
9 reworded question as a question that was put to the
10 witness.
11 MR. MORAN: Your Honours, on a more fundamental note, I am
12 hoping that I have misunderstood the thrust of
13 Ms. McHenry's last statement, but it seems that it is
14 almost as if a person's religion is being used to
15 impeach him.
16 MS. McHENRY: Absolutely not.
17 MR. MORAN: Again, I am hoping I misunderstood what you said,
18 the fact of whatever this man's religion is to whether
19 or not he is a truth teller.
20 MS. McHENRY: If I may briefly respond, your Honour, just
21 for the record.
22 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Yes, you may, but I do not see the need
23 for all this controversy.
24 MS. McHENRY: Your Honour, I would just like to state for
25 the record that I do not believe in any way my questions
Page 5901
1 indicated that anything about this person's religion or
2 anyone's religion has an effect on their truth telling.
3 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Do you have any other questions.
4 MS. McHENRY: Yes, your Honour. Sir, you also indicated to
5 Ms. Residovic that the soldiers you saw in Konjic were
6 of Bosnian or even Croatian origin, is that correct?
7 A. What soldiers?
8 Q. Just the soldiers you met in the Konjic area?
9 A. As I said, in the Konjic area there was the commander of
10 the area of the camp who was Croatian and there were
11 also on the battle front some Croats with the Bosnian
12 side, as the soldiers there told me. That is what
13 I also stated in the article.
14 Q. Could you please just explain to the court what you mean
15 in your articles when you refer to the Mujahedin in the
16 Konjic area?
17 A. I meant the Bosnian fighters. I did not meet any Arabs
18 among them or any people from other Muslim countries
19 among them.
20 Q. Can you just explain a little bit about what your
21 understanding of --
22 MR. O'SULLIVAN: Objection, your Honour, this did not arise
23 out of cross-examination.
24 MS. McHENRY: I believe it did directly arise out of
25 cross-examination and that was, in fact, the reason for
Page 5902
1 Ms. Residovic's question, so I am clarifying any
2 ambiguity that may have arisen from that in connection
3 with the articles -- as I understand correctly, all
4 three have been admitted into evidence, including two of
5 them in cross-examination which contain references and
6 were the focus of Ms. Residovic's question.
7 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: He can answer it.
8 MS. McHENRY: Sir, would you please explain what you
9 understand the common meaning of Mujahedin to be and why
10 it was used in your articles?
11 A. Perhaps the word was used as the article was directly to
12 the Arab public which understands this word which gives
13 a positive connotation to this word, not a negative one,
14 but I do not want to go into this controversial issue.
15 The Mujahedin are people who defend their own lands and
16 do not attack other people's lands, and that is what
17 these people were telling me. They were saying we are
18 defending our lands and will not let our lands be
19 occupied by others.
20 Q. Thank you. Sir, on a different issue you indicated in
21 response to Mr. Ackerman and possibly also Mr. Moran's
22 questions whether during your visit to the camp you
23 yourself had evidence that the prisoners were mistreated
24 and you said no, you did not; is that correct?
25 A. I said that from what I saw there were no signs of
Page 5903
1 mistreatment. However, what happened after we left or
2 before we arrived, that is something else.
3 Q. Let me just then clarify: am I correct that you have
4 indicated that you saw at least some evidence of
5 prisoners being injured before your presence, and you
6 understood from the camp authorities that these injuries
7 had occurred prior to the prisoners arriving to the
8 camp; is that correct?
9 MR. OLUJIC: Objection, your Honours, asked and answered.
10 MS. McHENRY: That is correct, it has been asked and
11 answered I am just using it as the basis for my question
12 so there would not be any question this was not directly
13 related to cross-examination. Let me then go forward to
14 my ultimate question, sir. Am I correct that your
15 answer to Mr. Ackerman, based that you yourself did not
16 see evidence of mistreatment, was based at least in part
17 on what you had been told by the camp authorities?
18 A. I do not really understand what you mean. I understood
19 the translation itself, but what do you mean by your
20 question?
21 JUDGE JAN: He already said, this is what the camp
22 authorities told him. It is already on the record.
23 MS. McHENRY: Thank you, your Honour. If there is no
24 ambiguity, fine. Sir, let me just again clarify: did
25 you yourself have a video camera or did the video
Page 5904
1 cameraman work for you?
2 A. As I said, there was with me in the area a cameraman
3 that I had met in Croatia and who came with us to the
4 area. As for me, I had a photographic camera with which
5 I took these pictures.
6 Q. Just to clarify, the cameraman did not work for you,
7 correct?
8 A. No, he did not work for me, he was preparing a
9 documentary and he asked me to write the text, which
10 I did.
11 MS. McHENRY: Thank you. No further questions.
12 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Apart from what you were told, did you
13 see any mistreatment of any of the inmates of the camp?
14 A. What I understand from mistreatment -- if you are asking
15 me whether anybody was mistreated before me, I did not
16 see any of that.
17 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: I think that was all I wanted to know.
18 MS. McHENRY: Your Honour, just with respect to a technical
19 matter, it is the case that both the Registrar, as
20 I understand it, the representative from the office of
21 the Registrar and the Prosecutor's office would request
22 that at least the first two original articles from the
23 24th and 25th, that the original be admitted into
24 evidence since we believe that it is possible that later
25 on there may be some question about the exact quality of
Page 5905
1 pictures. If it is possible after the case is finished
2 they could be returned to the witness, but I would just
3 make that request. I know there was some discussion
4 over it, but the quality of the reproductions is still
5 not as good as the original.
6 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: It is 167 and 168?
7 MS. McHENRY: That is exactly correct, your Honour.
8 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: This is all we have for this witness.
9 You are discharged, you can go. Thank you very much.
10 (The witness withdrew)
11 The Trial Chamber will rise now. We will continue with your
12 next witness when we return.
13 (4.00 pm)
14 (A short break)
15 (4.30 pm)
16 JUDGE JAN: Do we have a copy of the statement which this
17 witness made before the OTP? (Handed) It is not yet
18 part of the record, I just want to look at it. Thank
19 you.
20 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Please reswear the witness.
21 BRANKO SUDAR (resworn)
22 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: It is time for cross-examination,
23 I think, Ms. Residovic.
24 MS. RESIDOVIC: Your Honours, I wish to inform you that the
25 Defence counsel for Mr. Delalic has no further questions
Page 5906
1 for this witness. Thank you, your Honours.
2 MR. OLUJIC: With your permission, your Honours?
3 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Proceed, please.
4 Cross-examined by MR. OLUJIC
5 Q. Thank you, your Honours. Mr. Sudar, let me introduce
6 myself, I am Zejnil Olujic, Defence counsel for Mr. Pavo
7 Mucic, Mr. Zdravko Mucic. You have been here in
8 The Hague for a couple of days now, I shall be very
9 brief, I shall not interrogate you at length, but
10 please, Mr. Sudar, I should like to ask you kindly to be
11 aware of the fact that we speak in a very similar
12 language and understand each other.
13 Lest it seem that we are conducting a dialogue,
14 would you please be so kind as to wait after I have
15 asked my question for the translation into English and,
16 of course, the same goes for the instance when you give
17 me your answer, so that the interpreters will have
18 sufficient time to translate that into the official
19 languages of the court.
20 Mr. Sudar, in your statement, you said that you saw
21 several times Mr. Pavo at the camp. How many times was
22 this?
23 A. I saw Pavo at the camp, he came there, how shall I put
24 it, five or six times at least. We were in the sports
25 hall, but in addition to that, we also loaded and
Page 5907
1 unloaded ammunition, so very frequently we had to go to
2 the hangars to do that. I saw him many times.
3 Sometimes he would come on his bike, sometimes he just
4 stopped in front of the door, would not enter.
5 Q. In your statement you also mentioned that you saw a
6 number of uniforms at the camp; is that correct?
7 A. In the camp there were various uniforms, there were a
8 number of uniforms. They would mostly come towards
9 evening, open the door, we would not know who they were
10 or what they were, but there were less Croatian uniforms
11 as far as I could notice. They only came two or three
12 times in black suits. Mostly they were Muslim
13 uniforms.
14 Q. I know from your statement, Mr. Sudar, that you are an
15 apolitical person, that you are not all that familiar
16 with politics and that you do not wish to engage in it
17 too much, but what I do want to ask you in connection
18 with these uniforms is whether you were able to identify
19 them. When I say uniforms, were they perhaps police
20 uniforms, predominantly, or soldiers' uniforms? Can you
21 describe them a bit?
22 A. They were black suits for the most part, we thought they
23 were the black shirts, the HVO, they came two times or
24 three times as far as I could see. After that there
25 were also some people from the Sandzak. They had a
Page 5908
1 Montenegran accent. Mostly these things happened, they
2 were mostly in front of the door, and those who were
3 there could see more.
4 Q. Very well, Mr. Sudar. Also in your statement you said
5 before this court that the maltreatments inside the camp
6 took place when Mr. Mucic was not at the camp; is that
7 correct?
8 A. Yes, as far as I could notice while I was down there,
9 mostly when Pavo was inside, when he would come inside,
10 they did not hit us, that is true.
11 Q. Can one conclude from that that Mr. Mucic protected the
12 prisoners to a certain extent?
13 A. I cannot decide that, I am not meritorious to say that.
14 Q. Let me rephrase the -- Mr. Sudar, was any one of the
15 prisoners ever maltreated in the presence of Mr. Mucic?
16 A. I didn't notice.
17 Q. Thank you very much, Mr. Sudar. Let us clear up a
18 certain point regarding your status. You have refugee
19 status, if I have understood you correctly?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Do you know a certain Dr. Bjelica?
22 A. Dr. Bjelica?
23 Q. Yes.
24 A. Very little.
25 Q. But you have heard of him?
Page 5909
1 A. Not really, I do not know where this person is.
2 Q. But you know of the Association of Camp Inmates or
3 Detainees in Belgrade?
4 A. I do, I have been there.
5 Q. Are you a member of this Association?
6 A. Yes, I am.
7 Q. Did you hear about Dr. Bjelica there?
8 A. No, never.
9 MR. OLUJIC: Thank you, your Honours, I have no further
10 questions. Thank you, Mr. Sudar.
11 A. Thank you, sir.
12 MR. MORAN: May it please the court?
13 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Proceed, please.
14 Cross-examined by MR. MORAN
15 Q. Sir, my name is Tom Moran and I represent Hazim Delic
16 here at the Tribunal. I am going to ask you a few
17 questions. Right up front, I know that last week you
18 were not feeling very well. Are you feeling okay today?
19 A. Yes, I am feeling better now.
20 Q. Okay, sir. If you experience those chest pains again
21 while we are talking, let me know and we will work with
22 it, okay? No one wants anything bad to happen to you
23 here, sir.
24 A. Okay, sir.
25 Q. I am going to ask you a few questions. If you would
Page 5910
1 listen to my questions and just answer them, I think we
2 can get you done here fairly promptly. If a question
3 calls for yes or no, just answer with a yes or no and we
4 can be done here. Can you do that for me, sir?
5 A. Yes, sir.
6 Q. If you do not understand one of my questions, will you
7 stop me or rephrase it or work with you, whatever it
8 takes so that you understand it.
9 A. All right.
10 Q. Just so there are no surprises here, I am basically
11 going to be asking you questions in the order of your
12 direct examination. There may be a few things that were
13 not covered on direct and I will ask you about those
14 from your statement.
15 The first thing I want to ask you is this. You
16 said that people were buying weapons, Serbians living in
17 the Konjic area and Bradina area were buying weapons?
18 A. People were buying weapons because it was obvious to
19 them that the situation was not developing in the
20 desired direction. Some people had weapons, others did
21 not.
22 Q. What kind of weapons are we talking about? Are we
23 talking about hunting rifles or are we talking about
24 military type weapons?
25 A. I mostly noticed hunting rifles.
Page 5911
1 Q. Okay. By the way, you said that there were no Serbian
2 military forces in the area at the time of the attack on
3 your village. When you said that, did you mean there
4 were not any Serbian military forces just in your
5 village or anywhere in the area?
6 A. As far as I could see, there were so Serb formations
7 there, how could there have been? We were a village
8 surrounded from all sides. How could there have been
9 any Serb formations there?
10 Q. There was not any kind of an organised partisan group or
11 an organised resistance in your village, was there?
12 A. No, in our village, nothing had been organised. People
13 came from Donje Selo, from Bjelasnica; refugees poured
14 in from every quarter.
15 Q. That is fine, sir. Let me jump forward to after the
16 time of your arrest. You were at the bridge, everybody
17 turned over their weapons and were taken into custody;
18 do you remember testifying about that?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. At that point, you were beaten by the people --
21 A. Yes, we came to the bridge and all the people were
22 beaten up there.
23 Q. What I want to get at, sir, is this: I understand that
24 at that point the people that arrested you, the people
25 that took you into custody took away all your valuables,
Page 5912
1 is that right, that they took all your jewellery and
2 your watches and your rings and your money, anything
3 that was worth anything?
4 A. The watches, everything, driving permit, identity cards,
5 everything, they took everything, even the shoelaces,
6 our belts, everything, my coat.
7 Q. After they did that they made you walk about 2.5
8 kilometres to the camp; is that right?
9 A. To the camp in the direction of the camp. I cannot tell
10 you exactly how many kilometres, perhaps 3.
11 Q. But it was not a short walk but not a long walk,
12 basically.
13 A. We crossed the railway line and the bridge towards
14 Celebici and then we followed the railway tracks until
15 we reached the entrance to the camp. I had never been
16 there before.
17 Q. Okay, sir, I am going to jump way ahead in your
18 testimony here. You testified on direct about an
19 incident where Mr Delic, you said, fired a shot into the
20 roof of hangar number 6. Do you remember testifying
21 about that, sir?
22 A. He shot the ceiling of hangar number 6.
23 Q. And it what, ricocheted around?
24 A. Yes, it hit the iron structure and ricocheted and hit
25 one of the Kuljanins, I am not quite sure who exactly it
Page 5913
1 was of all the people that were sitting there.
2 Q. You are not saying, are you, that he deliberately shot
3 someone, are you?
4 A. I did not say that he deliberately shot at someone, he
5 shot at the roof and the bullet ricocheted from the iron
6 structure and hit the man.
7 Q. Okay, sir. Also on your direct, you testified about a
8 man named Boric. Do you recall that?
9 A. Boric, yes, I do.
10 Q. You said he gave some food to a man named Cecez. What
11 was the first name of that person?
12 A. He gave him food, he brought food to Cedo Cecez, the
13 mechanic.
14 Q. Do you know whether that person is any relation to
15 Grozdana Cecez?
16 A. I do not know whether they are related. I think not.
17 Q. Okay.
18 A. I do not know for sure.
19 Q. There is just one other thing, I think, and then we are
20 going to be done, sir. I do not believe you testified
21 about this on direct, but let me -- do you remember back
22 in August 1992 when the first group of people were
23 released from the Celebici camp?
24 A. Yes, I do, I remember.
25 Q. You remember that Hazim Delic came into hangar number 6
Page 5914
1 with a list of names of people to be released, do you
2 not?
3 A. I remember well.
4 Q. He called out all those names of people to be released,
5 did he not?
6 A. Yes, he did.
7 Q. Your name was on that list, was it not?
8 A. He called my name, yes. I did not dare go home because
9 I heard that before Zivak had left the camp and been
10 killed, so I was afraid of that. The Red Cross people
11 had come and I thought I would be protected in the camp.
12 Q. What you are telling these judges is that you had a
13 chance in 1992 to be released from custody and sent home
14 and rather than being released, you chose to stay in the
15 camp because in your opinion it was safer for you; is
16 that what you are telling the judges?
17 A. I wish to tell the judges that I did not dare leave
18 because we heard that Zivak had been killed after he
19 left. As the Red Cross people had come I thought
20 I would be protected by them and I did not dare go on
21 account of this story which I had heard.
22 Q. Yes, sir. So you had the opportunity to be released in
23 August 1992 and turned down that opportunity because you
24 felt that the camp was a safer place for you, yes or no?
25 A. No, I thought that because the Red Cross had registered
Page 5915
1 us and as Zivak had been killed, this youth that had
2 left before had been killed, I just did not dare go home
3 because I thought I would be killed in my house, on the
4 road, but as I told you, because the Red Cross was there
5 and we had been registered in their cards, I asked to be
6 exchanged -- I did not dare to go home because I thought
7 I would be in the same situation as in the camp and
8 I had no right to go anywhere.
9 MR. MORAN: Thank you, sir. Pass the witness, your Honour.
10 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: You may proceed, Ms. McMurray.
11 Cross-examined by MS. McMURREY
12 Q. Good afternoon, Mr. Sudar.
13 A. Good afternoon. I wish you a good afternoon too.
14 Q. My name is Cynthia McMurray and I am one of the
15 attorneys that represents Esad Landzo. I know that the
16 Prosecution, Mr. Niemann, had discussed with you before
17 you testified that you were only to give evidence to
18 this court about things you have personally experienced
19 and personally witnessed. Am I correct about that?
20 A. I do not know, I have never been in court before. This
21 is the first time, so what do I know? I do not know the
22 court rules.
23 Q. But the Prosecution discussed with you that you should
24 only give evidence about what you personally know about,
25 is that not true?
Page 5916
1 A. How can they say anything? I am testifying about what
2 I saw.
3 Q. That is all I am asking you. I am asking you, before we
4 begin today, if you and I can come to an agreement that
5 you will listen to my questions and you will only answer
6 about things that you personally saw, personally felt or
7 personally heard. Do we have an agreement on that?
8 A. Yes, we have agreed on that.
9 Q. Havala. On February 26th 1996, you visited with the
10 Prosecution and after that the Prosecutor let you now
11 that we of the Defence would like to have a chance to
12 visit with you; is that true?
13 A. I cannot remember that, cannot.
14 Q. I believe you already stated that you are a member of
15 the association of detainees from Belgrade; is that
16 true?
17 A. Yes, I am a member.
18 Q. You list as your address the Association of Detainees in
19 Belgrade, do you not?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Besides the Prosecution and your statement that you gave
22 in 1996, what other people have you discussed your
23 experiences at Celebici with?
24 A. I have not with anyone. I made this statement and no
25 other.
Page 5917
1 Q. You and Mirko Babic are good friends, are you not?
2 A. No.
3 Q. I want to take you back to your testimony last
4 Thursday. I believe that you said that, and please
5 forgive my pronunciation of these words, I am really bad
6 at some of these, but I am going to try, that Strahinja
7 Cecez and Slobodan Draganic negotiated the conditions of
8 surrender for Cerici; is that correct?
9 A. No, not the conditions on surrender. The people called
10 up the President of the municipality to ask him not to
11 shell the place because there was shelling of Cerici,
12 and people called up the President of the municipality,
13 begging him that this should stop and it stopped,
14 because no one was firing from Cerici, nor was anybody
15 fighting from there.
16 Q. Whether it is considered the conditions of surrender or
17 whether it is considered the cease firing on Cerici,
18 those are the two people you named as chief negotiators;
19 is that true?
20 A. That was no surrender, it was calling up the President.
21 He knew him and he spoke to him and then the shelling
22 stopped.
23 Q. So the two people that you named on Thursday, they are
24 the ones who negotiated the ceasefire on Cerici; is that
25 correct?
Page 5918
1 A. Not about the ceasefire. There was no fire from the
2 Serbian side. No one was shooting, nor were there
3 military uniforms, nothing, we were all civilians in
4 civilian clothes.
5 Q. Help me. You said these two people negotiated -- what?
6 Is it the ceasing of the shelling by the Territorial
7 Defence and the HVO on Cerici; is that what was
8 negotiated?
9 A. Yes, that is it.
10 Q. Thank you. So if -- by the way, do you know a Miro
11 Golubovic?
12 A. Miro? Miro Golubovic? I know him, he lived in town but
13 he was born in Cerici.
14 Q. So if Miro Golubovic said his father Slavo had organised
15 this ceasing of the shelling of Cerici, he would be
16 wrong; is that correct?
17 A. Let me tell you, Slavko was there, too, and Mirko Cecez
18 was there too, I just mentioned two people, but I was
19 there too, next to my father's house, but we did not go
20 inside, that is all.
21 Q. I want to take you back, I know Thursday seems a long
22 way removed from now, it is hard for me to remember what
23 was said then also, but you said when you were taken to
24 Celebici camp on May 22nd you were put into a small
25 building known as building number 22, which I believe
Page 5919
1 you pointed out on this model; is that true?
2 A. Yes, number 22, the building is close to the main
3 gates. Later a hospital was there.
4 Q. I believe you said there were about 20 of you that were
5 taken to building number 22 at the same time; would that
6 be accurate?
7 A. About 20 of us were brought there, and there were some
8 others already there. Among them I recognised Zivak
9 Danilo and Babic Slobodan. Babic Slobodan was covered
10 in blood and lying on the floor.
11 Q. The people already in there were just a few people.
12 There was no way in this building number 22 that there
13 were around 100 people in there at one time, is there?
14 A. I do not know, there were not 100, but 40 or 50 perhaps,
15 I cannot tell you exactly. We were sitting one on top
16 of the other. At that moment I could not look around,
17 I cannot remember, it was terrible. We were one on top
18 of the other.
19 Q. You were born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, were you not?
20 A. I was born in Cerici, Konjic municipality.
21 Q. Which is inside Bosnia-Herzegovina?
22 A. Yes, it is in Bosnia-Herzegovina, former
23 Bosnia-Herzegovina, the former Yugoslavia.
24 Q. You could have voted if you had chosen to in the
25 referendum on March 1st 1992, could you not?
Page 5920
1 A. What, March 1992?
2 Q. March 1st 1992 there was a referendum. I do not know
3 whether you voted or not, but you could have, could you
4 not?
5 A. I do not know, I cannot remember these things. I cannot
6 remember that. Whether I voted or not -- I do not know,
7 I think -- I do not know. I have forgotten all those
8 details.
9 Q. My question was not whether you had voted, it was you
10 had the opportunity and you fit all the criteria to vote
11 if you had chosen to?
12 A. I do not know what to say to that, judges. I do not
13 know what I was supposed to vote for. The people had
14 been divided up at that time. Nobody wanted without
15 Yugoslavia, we did not wish to vote because we were in
16 Yugoslavia and I did not know what to vote for.
17 I cannot really recall the exact point in time.
18 Q. You said that when you arrived on May 22nd 1992 at
19 Celebici, it is true that the Celebici camp was mainly
20 run by HVO officers then, HVO soldiers, is it not?
21 A. No, I did not say that. How could I have said that, it
22 was mainly run by the HVO. There were military men,
23 Muslims, I do not know. I noticed there were a few
24 wearing black shirts, black suits. We were forced to
25 line up against the wall, we could not see. We had to
Page 5921
1 hold our hands up like this against the wall
2 (indicates).
3 Q. You were absent from the Celebici camp from what dates,
4 from May 22nd until what date was it that you arrived at
5 the Celebici camp?
6 A. Until Bajram, the holiday, Bajram. I cannot remember
7 the date, but I know it was Bajram when I was
8 transferred back from the sports hall to Celebici.
9 Q. I know that myself I am not familiar with the Islamic
10 faith and I do not know whether at least two of the
11 judges are, but for clarification, can you give us a
12 date somewhere near when Bajram begins?
13 A. I cannot remember. It was June as far as I can recall,
14 as far as I know, but it was a long time ago. I cannot
15 recall, but I do remember that it was Bajram that
16 evening.
17 Q. When you say June, I think your testimony before was
18 that you spent about 20 days at Musala; is that pretty
19 accurate?
20 A. I do not know exactly, I did not count the days. I was
21 under pressure, how could I count? As if any of us
22 could count. Nobody counted, nor did I have time to
23 count. Roughly, I do not know exactly the number of
24 days, I just do remember that it was Bajram.
25 Q. When you came back to Celebici --
Page 5922
1 A. Delic brought me back and there were another two or
2 three or four, I do not know, I cannot remember.
3 Someone else was there.
4 Q. Excuse me, Mr. Sudar, remember we talked about having an
5 agreement earlier. I would just like you to listen to
6 my question. I did not ask you who brought you back.
7 I am asking you about the date you were brought back and
8 I am trying to get the dates accurate.
9 A. Fine, very well.
10 Q. I assume, since I do not know when Bajram is, that you
11 returned to Celebici some time in the middle of June,
12 would that be close?
13 A. I cannot tell exactly. All I know is that it was
14 Bajram. I did not know what date it was, out of fear.
15 Q. Do you remember a date in the middle of June when about
16 seven or eight new young guards were brought to
17 Celebici?
18 A. What date?
19 Q. Some time in the middle of June, around June 12th.
20 A. I cannot remember those details. Maybe if I can think
21 back a little, but I cannot remember the day. Let me
22 see.
23 Q. I am asking if you remember an incident when a number of
24 young guards, 18 or 19 year old guards were brought to
25 Celebici some time around the middle of June. If you do
Page 5923
1 not remember, that is fine too.
2 A. I cannot remember that. I do not remember.
3 Q. Thank you very much. I believe when you came back to
4 Celebici, you were placed in hangar number 6; is that
5 not right?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. You testified on Thursday that you sat close to the
8 doorway facing it with your back; is that right?
9 A. I was sitting in the second row near the entrance, third
10 or fourth, something like that.
11 Q. I am going to ask the assistance of the usher, please?
12 This is a picture that has already been marked in
13 Prosecution exhibit number 1, they have been kind enough
14 to give me a clean piece of it. I would like to have it
15 shown to the witness and placed on the ELMO, please.
16 I would also like to have it marked as a Defence
17 exhibit.
18 THE REGISTRAR: It is marked as D17/4.
19 MS. McMURREY: Thank you. (Handed). Can we have it turned
20 on and ask the witness to look at it please? I know
21 there is a pointer there but does he have a pencil or
22 pen that he can mark on this exhibit with? Mr. Sudar, if
23 you will look at the actual drawing that is on the ELMO,
24 thank you. Do you recognise that as hangar number 6?
25 A. I think the door was here somewhere (indicates). The
Page 5924
1 main gate was over there and the road was there. There
2 was a concrete part and the door.
3 Q. I did not ask you to describe it for me. Do you
4 recognise that as what looks like the inside of hangar
5 number 6?
6 A. I cannot, it was in steel. How can I recognise it? It
7 was a steel structure. I am not good with drawings.
8 I am no draftsman. It was a hangar made of steel.
9 I did not measure it in steps length wise or width wise.
10 Q. Can you tell us how many months you spent in hangar
11 number 6?
12 A. I was in hangar number 6 from Bajram until the beginning
13 of September, something like that. I cannot recall the
14 dates. The dates are the most difficult for me to
15 remember.
16 Q. Would you please look back at the exhibit that is on the
17 ELMO. Do you recognise that the door in the lower right
18 hand column would be what would represent the door that
19 opened in hangar number 6?
20 A. What do you mean, the approach?
21 Q. I would like for you to look at it and see if -- this is
22 an exhibit --
23 A. I cannot recognise drawings, only if I was to see the
24 hangar properly made. I am not very good with drawings,
25 I do not understand them.
Page 5925
1 Q. What I was going to ask you to do is put an X on the
2 spot approximately where you sat inside of the hangar,
3 but if you cannot recognise the hangar at all, then
4 I will not be able to ask you that question. Can you
5 recognise the --
6 MR. NIEMANN: I object, your Honour. The witness has said
7 repeatedly that he does not recognise the drawing of the
8 hangar. On that basis, I object to further questions
9 being put to this witness on that matter.
10 MS. McMURREY: Your Honour, I guess if he does not
11 recognise that as hangar number 6 then I certainly
12 cannot proceed with any further questions on that line.
13 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: I thought as much.
14 MISS McMURREY: That is correct. Could I ask the usher's
15 assistance one more time, please? I would like the
16 record to reflect that the witness was unable to
17 identify hangar number 6 as introduced by the
18 Prosecution. Could this be marked as another Defence
19 exhibit and placed on the ELMO also.
20 MR. NIEMANN: Your Honour, if I may, I object to that
21 characterisation. The witness was not shown hangar
22 number 6, the witness was shown an exhibit. So I would
23 ask that the record reflect that the witness was not
24 able to identify the hangar from the exhibit that was
25 shown.
Page 5926
1 MS. McMURREY: Your Honour, if I might respond, I just
2 wanted the record to reflect that the witness did not
3 recognise a Prosecution exhibit that has been introduced
4 into evidence. That is all.
5 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Let us get the sequence of the
6 questions. The witness was shown an exhibit
7 representing the hangar. He was unable to identify it,
8 is that it?
9 MS. McMURREY: Thank you, that clears it up completely.
10 A. I can recognise the rows, but not the hangar. I cannot
11 recognise the drawing, but I can show you the rows of
12 people.
13 MS. McMURREY: Maybe you will have a little more success
14 with this next exhibit. Could we exchange the first
15 exhibit with the second exhibit, please? Mr. Sudar,
16 I know that this is not completely proportionate, this
17 is just an estimation of how it might have appeared and
18 I know there were people sitting on another side of the
19 building there that are not reflected in this drawing,
20 but can you look at this exhibit and can you recognise
21 it as something that might be close to the seating
22 arrangement that was inside hangar number 6 in the
23 summer of 1992?
24 A. In hangar number 6, like this, there was a row going
25 along here, round here, all the way round. Then there
Page 5927
1 was a row like this and another row like this. I was in
2 this row. I do not know exactly -- there was some
3 people behind me, I suppose. Somewhere here
4 (indicates).
5 Q. Just for clarification, the wall to the right had a row
6 of people seated along it also, did it not?
7 A. It is not a wall, it is sheet metal. I do not know that
8 there was any wall. It was metal, steel, as far as
9 I remember.
10 Q. Thank you, but you do recognise this as close to the
11 seating arrangement of the detainees inside hangar
12 number 6; is that true?
13 A. How do I know about the seating arrangement? There were
14 more than 50 people in one row. The door was here
15 somewhere and here there was no one, there was a bucket
16 for toilet purposes here and we would eat here.
17 Q. My question is; do you recognise this as something
18 familiar to you, familiar, almost like the seating
19 arrangement was in 1992?
20 A. It is something like this, it looks like it.
21 Q. Let me ask you --
22 A. I do not understand drawings well, but if I were to see
23 a building, a model, then maybe.
24 Q. Let me ask you: the place that is marked on there that
25 says -- I do not have it in front of me, but looks like
Page 5928
1 it is approximately where you were seated, can you tell
2 us how many people were seated to your right?
3 A. To my right? Again, I do not know exactly. There were
4 250 of us, I did not count. There was a wall to the
5 right on both sides, the people were sitting on both
6 sides of the hangar in several rows.
7 Q. If you could look back at this drawing again. You see
8 two of the rows, the rows closest to the door are facing
9 toward the back wall of the hangar and the two rows on
10 the back wall of the hangar are facing toward the door;
11 is that accurate?
12 A. Yes, two rows were facing forward and the other two were
13 facing towards the door.
14 Q. You were facing with your back to the door; is that not
15 correct?
16 A. Yes, but I would turn around now and then. I turned
17 around.
18 Q. When you were put in hangar number 6, I believe you also
19 testified the other day "we mostly had to sit with our
20 hands on our knees, crouching, and we had to bend our
21 heads down in that position."
22 Was that not your testimony on Thursday?
23 A. Yes, that is how we sat but in the meantime when they
24 would pass by, we would turn around.
25 Q. If you did lift your head up when a guard was inside the
Page 5929
1 hangar, you would get punished, would you not?
2 A. They would pass by us, they would go down to the end of
3 the building, they would lead a dog. I could look up a
4 little bit.
5 Q. I want to ask you one more time before I leave your
6 exhibit and I am sorry, Mr Registrar, did I get a
7 document number for that one?
8 THE REGISTRAR: D18/4.
9 MS. McMURREY: On that one, if you look approximately at
10 where you were seated, facing the back wall of the
11 hangar, how many people were closer to the door than you
12 were in the row you were in?
13 A. I cannot remember the names of those people, there were
14 people were all over, from Bjelasnica, from Sarajevo,
15 from Bradina, from Sarajevo. There was Babic --
16 Q. I am not asking their names, I just want to know how
17 many. I do not want to know who they are, just how many
18 were seated closer to the door to your right
19 approximately?
20 A. To my right -- when I came I was the last, then
21 afterwards two or three were brought in later, Amici,
22 somebody called Zivak, Zivak Amici, I cannot remember
23 those men, three or four of them, I suppose, sometimes
24 five, it depends when they were brought in, thrown in.
25 How do I know?
Page 5930
1 Q. Your testimony is that some time during that period of
2 time you could have been fourth, fifth or sixth in that
3 row?
4 A. I cannot remember the details exactly. I said that when
5 I first came I was at the end, then afterwards three or
6 four men were brought in.
7 Q. I would like for you to look again at this drawing. The
8 door that is there in the corner of hangar number 6, the
9 hinge of that door is on the corner of the building and
10 it opens outward, does it not?
11 A. I cannot remember, I cannot recognise drawings. This is
12 more slanting than it was, I think, in my opinion. If
13 I were to see the hangar and enter the hangar then, of
14 course, I would feel differently and I would get my way
15 around more easily. I do not understand drawings.
16 Q. If you were facing the hangar from the outside and the
17 door is to the right, over to the right outside the
18 hangar was a hill, was it not?
19 A. There was a slope, when you went to the toilet, there
20 was a hill behind the hangar.
21 Q. On this drawing, can you also show us where Nedeljko
22 Draganic?
23 A. Nedeljko Draganic sat in the third row facing me.
24 Q. Was that toward the back of the hangar or toward the
25 door?
Page 5931
1 A. In the middle row, but further away from me, up there,
2 somewhere near the end.
3 Q. Near the end to the left?
4 A. I do not know exactly. I cannot remember these
5 details. I did not count.
6 Q. Can you point with your pointer on the diagram
7 approximately where you think Nedeljko Draganic sat?
8 A. Roughly he was sitting here somewhere in this row. How
9 many people there were I do not know.
10 Q. You need to point on the drawing behind you.
11 A. It was this row, he was here somewhere, I think, but
12 I cannot recall exactly. Here, this part.
13 Q. Just to let the record reflect, it reflects row 3, about
14 two-thirds back to the back of the hangar, where he has
15 pointed to?
16 A. Further up, further here somewhere.
17 Q. Thank you. Maybe that is about three, four down towards
18 the back of the hangar. Would you also show us where
19 (redacted)?
20 A. (redacted), he was near him.
21 I do not know exactly, but he was there somewhere. We
22 would change around sometimes so I do not know. He
23 would make him get up and then he would change his
24 position, so I do not know all the details, I cannot
25 recall them.
Page 5932
1 Q. You were never moved to another position in hangar
2 number 6 for the whole time you were there, were you?
3 A. I was in my place all the time.
4 MS. McMURREY: Thank you. Your Honours, I would like to
5 have this admitted as Defence exhibit number 18/4 to
6 illustrate where this person approximately sat in the
7 hangar and what his view was of the door.
8 MR. NIEMANN: Your Honours, we object to the tender of this
9 exhibit. It has not been identified by this witness,
10 the witness has consistently said that he cannot
11 recognise drawings. The way it was put to him is "do
12 you recognise it as something familiar to you, almost
13 like the seating arrangements" in my submission
14 your Honours we would be much assisted by having the
15 person who drew the plan come before the court and tell
16 us what factors he took into account and upon what basis
17 he determined measurements and so forth. I think if
18 that evidence is given to the court, there would be no
19 objection to it based on what this witness has said. My
20 suggestion, your Honours, is that it be marked for
21 identification and when the author of the plan comes
22 forward to give us that necessary information, it can be
23 tendered at that stage, your Honour.
24 MS. McMURREY: Your Honour, may I respond? I believe that
25 Mr. Niemann's attempt to prevent this document from
Page 5933
1 coming into evidence is his approach to that -- whoever
2 made this is irrelevant. If the Defence made it as a
3 Defence exhibit and the witness recognises it as nearly
4 or close to representing the seating arrangement in
5 1992, then it should be admitted for demonstrative
6 purposes.
7 We are asking that the court recognise that this
8 witness has said that was where he was sitting, he
9 identified where Nedeljko Draganic was sitting, he
10 identified where (redacted), and it also
11 shows where the door was and how he was facing. I think
12 it is very helpful and instructive for this court to be
13 able to have it before it when it is considering all the
14 evidence at a later time.
15 JUDGE JAN: It is part of your evidence, the site plan. All
16 she is asking the witness is to identify the place where
17 he was sitting. This is part of your report.
18 MR. NIEMANN: No, your Honour, I do not believe it is.
19 JUDGE JAN: It is a copy of that, I think. This is a
20 photograph. What she is interested in finding out from
21 the site plan, from the one she showed to him first, is
22 where he was sitting.
23 MR. NIEMANN: Your Honour, the witness has said that he does
24 not recognise drawings. He specifically stated that the
25 angle of the view is not correct; he believes it is too
Page 5934
1 slanted. When pressed, and I did not object to the
2 continuing questioning of this witness when he was
3 protesting about his inability to recognise drawings and
4 that if he had been shown the hangar or presumably a
5 model of it he would have been happy with that, but he
6 continually expressed his dissatisfaction on being
7 questioned on that, I did not object to that and I am
8 not objecting ultimately to the tender of this document,
9 all I am saying is there is insufficient information
10 which has been given to the court on the accuracy of the
11 document for in any way it to be reliable. All it
12 requires is for whoever drew it to come forward and give
13 us the basis on which it was drawn, and then I am sure
14 that would put the document into a category of accuracy
15 and reliability which would make it admissible.
16 MS. McMURREY: Your Honour, if I might respond briefly?
17 This document is not introduced for the accuracy of
18 building number 6. It is introduced only to identify
19 approximately where this witness was seated during the
20 whole time he stayed in hangar number 6. He testified
21 he never moved. He testified that this did look
22 familiar to him. He said these were the witnesses, they
23 were seated this way, there were about 50 on each row,
24 and he was able to identify his location in the hangar,
25 and we are offering it only for that purpose. Who drew
Page 5935
1 it is irrelevant. It is only that the witness can
2 identify it and he can point out where he was located on
3 this drawing.
4 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Actually, the Trial Chamber has
5 building number 6 as an exhibit.
6 JUDGE JAN: Do you not have enough material to identify the
7 place he was sitting? He was in the second row, facing
8 towards the back, away from the door. That should be
9 sufficient for your purposes.
10 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: The description is sufficient for
11 whatever you want to use it for.
12 JUDGE JAN: He was in the second row, facing towards the
13 other side. That should be sufficient for you.
14 MISS McMURREY: Of course, for demonstrative purposes,
15 I would prefer to have the Chamber be able to refer to
16 this document at a later time. I would ask that it be
17 admitted, as I do think the record is clear, but I would
18 like to ask that this document be admitted for
19 demonstrative purposes only.
20 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: Because of the nature of the answers
21 the witness is giving, it does not appear he is
22 sufficiently conversant with what that particular
23 exhibit is demonstrating. It might be fairly difficult,
24 except we rely on a description of where he was sitting
25 and imagine whether he could see all parts of the plan
Page 5936
1 from that point. I thought in fact in the first stage
2 you could have used building number 6, which is already
3 an exhibit, for the purpose.
4 MS. McMURREY: Your Honours, I would have loved to have
5 used that, that would have been more instructive, I
6 would have put it in with all the other prosecution
7 exhibits showing the same location, but this witness
8 said he did not recognise it, so I had to go to another
9 venue to try to get the information in. I will withdraw
10 that exhibit right now, but I would like to show the
11 witness another drawing at this time and see if he can
12 recognise this. I will save that for another witness
13 who can identify it. Thank you. Could I have the
14 assistance of the usher again, please?
15 A. If you show me the model I will say whatever is
16 necessary, but I do not find my way around drawings.
17 One would have to draw the people on these drawings, it
18 would be necessary to draw each individual head of each
19 individual detainee, and I just cannot find my way
20 around on drawings.
21 JUDGE JAN: Is it from this model possible to remove the
22 roof so he can show us?
23 MS. McMURREY: Your Honour, for his protection he is not
24 able to walk in front of the model right now, and it
25 inhibits us, unless we go into closed session, and then
Page 5937
1 I do not know that we would have a camera to look down
2 to show the court and preserve it for your review at a
3 later time either.
4 JUDGE JAN: He has identified the place where the hangar
5 was, and if the roof was removed he could probably
6 indicate the place he was sitting, but all the curtains
7 have to come down so he can walk up. If it is important
8 for you we can do that.
9 MS. McMURREY: Your Honours, I believe that if you are
10 satisfied that you understand where he was seated -- he
11 was facing a different direction.
12 JUDGE JAN: I am quite clear for myself. He sat second row,
13 facing towards the other side from the door, and he was
14 sitting nearer the door.
15 MS. McMURREY: About four, five or six people in. Then
16 that is clear, I will leave that now.
17 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: There is too much tendency here for
18 arguing matters which are clearly understood. I do not
19 see the point at all.
20 MS. McMURREY: I withdraw that, but I would like to have
21 this exhibit marked as D19/4.
22 JUDGE JAN: What is this?
23 MS. McMURREY: It is another exhibit I would like to place
24 before the witness. Mr. Sudar, can you look at this
25 drawing? Is this approximately how you were asked to
Page 5938
1 sit, what position you were forced to sit in in hangar
2 number 6, not only you but all the other detainees?
3 A. We did not sit like this. Like this (indicates) that is
4 how we sat, and on this drawing you have depicted us
5 with our heads completely bowed down.
6 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: I really do not understand what you are
7 about. Do you think people are machines? Merely
8 because they were asked to sit like that, they cannot at
9 any stage, no matter what happens, turn around? He has
10 been telling us all along that whenever they had the
11 opportunity, they turned around. Why are you insisting
12 that he could not do so?
13 MS. McMURREY: Your Honour, I am attempting to impeach him,
14 because if he raises his head he is punished, any time
15 there is a guard.
16 JUDGE KARIBI-WHYTE: I agree. They did not discover him to
17 punish him, but he did it. I think the Trial Chamber
18 will break now. You can continue tomorrow morning.
19 (5.35 pm)
20 (Court adjourned until 10.00 am the following day)
21
22
23
24
25