1 Tuesday, 9 July 2002

2 [Open session]

3 [The accused entered court]

4 --- Upon commencing at 10.07 a.m.

5 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Good morning, everybody. Could we please hear

6 the case.

7 THE REGISTRAR: Yes, Your Honour. This is the case number, Case

8 Number IT-97-24-T, the Prosecutor versus Milomir Stakic.

9 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. And may we have the appearances.

10 MR. KOUMJIAN: Good morning, Your Honours. Nicholas Koumjian with

11 Ruth Karper for the Office of the Prosecutor.

12 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you.

13 MR. LUKIC: Good morning, Your Honours. Branko Lukic for the

14 Defence.

15 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. As far as I have heard, we have no

16 witness today. We have to concentrate on other issues. This is already

17 the second time that we don't have a witness. As it states in the United

18 States, isn't it, we have a rule of three strikes out. I hope that we'll,

19 in future, not face the same situation again and always a witness is ready

20 and prepared. But how does the OTP want to proceed?

21 MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, we have the radio tape that Your

22 Honour asked be played. We would like to play that first. We also have a

23 group of documents, I think about 22 additional documents we would like to

24 offer into evidence some time today. And just to explain to Your Honour

25 or just to alert Your Honours and the Defence, we're having a lot of

1 problems this month with witnesses. Two of the witnesses we had hoped to

2 call have indicated that they refuse to come. One we can just no longer

3 contact. They don't answer the phone. The other has indicated medical

4 problems and will not come. We are trying to get other witnesses to fill

5 those holes. It's difficult because as we come towards the end of the

6 case, we have fewer witnesses left to ask to change their schedule. Many

7 of them cannot do that. Many of the remaining witnesses are experts whose

8 reports are not completed or not disclosed yet. One of the things we are

9 considering is because of these two witnesses dropping out, we are

10 considering filling the hole left from the lack of their testimony with

11 either calling a witness who had earlier been listed as 92 bis or a

12 witness that we had earlier decided did not contribute enough to call to

13 the case, but that witness had been here and we did not call earlier. We

14 haven't made a decision or actually contacted those witnesses yet. And we

15 would have to then be asking the Court also for permission to move a

16 witness back from 92 bis to live, on the basis that the witness who was

17 going to testify live -- testify live about those events is no longer

18 coming.

19 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: May I ask the parties when there are such

20 problems, to contact the Chamber directly that we can find a solution. As

21 it was indicated earlier, we are aware that there are elections in the

22 near future, but nevertheless, on a daily basis, we have indeed to find

23 out if the interest of justice demands that we hear the one or other

24 witness in the area. And the Judges are prepared; it's a question of

25 finding out if the security situation so allows or not. And if or not

1 it's appropriate to go there. Please let us know what is necessary. On

2 the other hand, when we have once decided that certain evidence can be

3 introduced via 92 bis, we shouldn't, just in order to fill gaps and to use

4 time, come back to hear a witness viva voce. I don't think that makes

5 much sense. But we have discussed this in concreto on the basis of a

6 concrete witness.

7 MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, at this time we would like to play the

8 audiotape that had the 65 ter number 440 and I believe it has the S number

9 of 91 [Realtime transcript read in error "92"]. And the transcripts, I

10 believe, are already distributed.

11 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Yes.

12 MR. KOUMJIAN: The tape itself, perhaps, should be given a number.

13 I think the previous numbers that we gave to the transcripts were 91 --

14 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Shouldn't it be, yes, the same number?

15 MR. KOUMJIAN: So it just be 91 without a letter, or 91C? I

16 thought we were leaving that for French translations.

17 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I think it should be the famous dash version,

18 and let's have it. Is it 92?

19 MR. KOUMJIAN: I believe it's 91.

20 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: 91, right. Because I could read on the

21 transcript 92. 91, that's right. We have already 91A and 91B. It's in

22 B/C/S?

23 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes.

24 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: So let's call it 91B-1.

25 MR. KOUMJIAN: We have additional copies of the English

1 translation if that's needed, and the B/C/S.

2 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I wonder, if it's possible to hear a video, and

3 at the same time hear the translation? But let's try it. Do you have any

4 experience with this as regards the speed of hearing such a tape?

5 Therefore, my suggestion would be let's hear it step by step, for example,

6 if I can see here, it starts with Simo Miskovic. Why shouldn't we hear

7 the first portion, the original voice of Mr. Miskovic, and then later on

8 just hear the English translation before us, and then it's, of course, the

9 possibility for both the Defence and the accused himself to give the one

10 or other hint if the one or other believes that the translation may be

11 incorrect or misleading. But to give us an impression, we should start

12 hearing the audiotape until the end of the speech of Mr. Miskovic.

13 [Audiotape played]

14 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: May we stop here at the end of this page. Thank

15 you. May we then hear the English translation of the first page from

16 B/C/S please.

17 THE INTERPRETER: [As read] When the first T84 tank entered the

18 barracks compound, I remember the joy and delight on both sides. That's

19 the course we had charted to prepare people for the defence, and that is

20 how we generally prepared for the defence in this region. I would also

21 like to emphasise something which is typical of Prijedor. We have not had

22 a single paramilitary or sabotage action in this region, and still the job

23 was done. Although those from Sanski Most, Novi, Bosanska Dubica, and

24 Dvor na Uni and other places offered to help, I did not allow that. After

25 the establishment of the -- that is to say, we established an HQ here and

1 linked up the units with battalion commanders and all the rest, so we were

2 prepared for a possible showdown in this region. You are well aware of

3 the events that ensued. However, as the president of the party and the

4 chairman of the Crisis Staff, at the moment, my plan was that the takeover

5 should be done on a nonworking day, Saturday or Sunday, in order to avoid

6 conflict and bloodshed in this region. However, some other unexpected

7 events prevented this. The telex from Jerko Doko was captured which

8 explicitly ordered attacks on barracks, military facilities, police, the

9 confiscation of artillery pieces, et cetera. "Immediately now," it read.

10 It was already the 29th. I was at the meeting at that moment with Mr.

11 Cehajic and Mirza Mujadzic at the SUP, that is to say, the Prijedor MUP.

12 As soon as I finished there, when I learned about the telex, I went up to

13 the barracks where Kuruzovic, Mico Kovacevic, and Stakic, Simo Jankovic,

14 Cadzo and others were. And from the military side, there were Arsic and

15 Zeka and the deputy Evic. During the conversation which was then held, I

16 remember well Colonel Arsic, who then encouraged us. We were dealing with

17 something uncertain, and thought that everything was supposed to be done

18 perfectly and function excellently, because we did not have any

19 experience. As a warrior who had already gone through Slavonija, he

20 encouraged us by saying that not everything was that bad and that we

21 should not have any problems and had good prospects of succeeding, since

22 all the tasks in the military and police sectors had been accomplished.

23 He said that they were not going to be any problems. He suggested that

24 the best thing would be to do that -- to do that on the following day,

25 since it was a working day. I remember when he decidedly asked me: "Who

1 would you seize power from Saturday or Sunday, Simo? These are not

2 working days. There's no one to seize power from." I took it jokingly

3 then, but later I fully realised that his remark was right to the point.

4 Having analysed everything in detail, and after everyone had clarified

5 their stands, we realise that we were prepared. Then I scheduled a

6 meeting of the Crisis Staff for 2.00 a.m. and ordered Mr. Kuruzovic and

7 Simo Drljaca to do the job with the army, as we had agreed at the said

8 meeting, and that they were going to submit the report by 2.00 a.m. We

9 acted in accordance with this agreement and in the meantime, when I went

10 home, Arsic and Zeljaja called me, informing me that Mirza appeared and

11 wanted to talk and that it would be good if we all met. Of course, I

12 arrived immediately. Later, during the conversation with Mr. Mujadzic, we

13 agreed to go out for dinner that night, and Mirza proposed that we go to

14 the Luna restaurant in Gomjenica, and I responded that that was not okay

15 since we were after all local public figures.

16 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. May we then hear the end of this

17 clip of Mr. Miskovic in B/C/S.

18 [Audiotape played]

19 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Please -- could you please stop the B/C/S

20 version. Thank you. We were already with the first sentence of the

21 reporter. Now, the English contribution of Mr. Miskovic, please, until

22 the end.

23 THE INTERPRETER: [Voiceover] And that we should be seen together

24 downtown. And so, I proposed another venue, Evropa, but Mirza was not in

25 the mood to go to Evropa, and then I insisted that we go to the Novi

1 Hotel, and so we went to the Novi Hotel. Since I had some business to

2 finish at home, I went home. And later, we, of course, went -- I saw that

3 the plan had been changed in the meantime, and that they were not at the

4 Novi Hotel. They were in the Europe restaurant. We stayed in the Europe

5 and had dinner until around 11.00 p.m., and since I owned a cafe in the

6 Mrakovica cinema, in the vicinity, after the dinner and the conversation

7 we had -- I went to the cafe, and while I was there, until 40 past

8 midnight or quarter to 1.00 past midnight, about five or six people came

9 to the door and checked whether I was inside. They were probably scanning

10 the situation and checking if anything was going to happen that night.

11 The citizens remember well the rumours saying that they were going

12 to slay people any night. Chaos was being created, and people were

13 panic-stricken. Since they saw that there were many customers in the bar,

14 and that I was behaving normally, they thought it was just another false

15 alarm. At 2.00 a.m., I attended the session of the Crisis Staff when the

16 reports were submitted that it was -- and it was decided by the Crisis

17 Staff that the takeover would commence at 4.00 a.m. And that's how it

18 started. It all went smooth. However, my main concern, like everyone

19 else's, was the fact that nothing had been reported from the MUP yet. All

20 the more so, since there were mixed patrols down there, and armed men,

21 professionals, if you will, and I was afraid shooting might start and

22 someone might get injured or killed, God forbid.

23 When I received information that no harm had been done, I felt

24 relieved, like everyone else, and then everything continued the way it

25 did. That was the most important part that has to be told. I've already

1 mentioned in the introductory part that we had already established

2 authority in the assembly, and all our representatives of the SDS were

3 tasked to be at their offices at 6.00 a.m. There were only five or six

4 people who were not allowed to enter the municipal building, while all the

5 rest functioned normally. That was yet another proof that the middle

6 letter D, democratic, in the name of our party really meant something.

7 Our intention was to break the permanent blockade with regard to the

8 division of power and eliminate the possibility of surprise and

9 intentional creation of chaos in this region. We had made a promise that

10 these people would not be fooled and outsmarted for a third time in a row

11 in history, and that's how we proceeded the way we did. I have no more to

12 say.

13 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: We already had the next sentence of the

14 reporter. Could you please also read this sentence.

15 THE INTERPRETER: Reporter: Dear listeners, this was Mr. Simo

16 Drljaca who spoke in detail about the preparations and the seizure of

17 power. I have to say right away that here...

18 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. Question for the OTP, regarding the

19 burden of proof, what do you believe was it the voice of -- question is

20 not of belief here, how can you prove that the voice we heard one of

21 Mr. Miskovic --

22 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, Your Honour, please.

23 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: The voice of Mr. Miskovic as we can see it on

24 the English translation, or is it true that what the reporter now says

25 that we heard Mr. Drljaca.

1 MR. KOUMJIAN: I think if Your Honour reads the rest of this

2 paragraph it's obvious that was a slip of the tongue, because the next

3 sentence is "I have here also Mr. Drljaca and Mr. Kuruzovic who are going

4 to comment upon these events from the point of view of the police and the

5 army." And then it goes on to say: "Since Mr. Drljaca, Simo Miskovic

6 said that the Crisis Staff concluded that it had been done and acted

7 accordingly," it again refers to Mr. Miskovic. But the statements of the

8 speaker that we heard first clearly indicate that it's Mr. Miskovic.

9 First, Mr. Mujadzic testified that, in fact, he indeed did have dinner

10 with Mr. Miskovic. Further, the speaker identifies himself as the

11 president of the SDS party. We know from the documents presented that

12 that was Simo Miskovic. He also identifies himself as the president of the

13 Crisis Staff at that time. And the evidence that has been presented so

14 far and will be perhaps even clarified further later is that the Crisis

15 Staff was first set up an intraparty Crisis Staff was set up on the orders

16 of the republic level, and that would have as the president, the president

17 of the party, Mr. Miskovic. After the takeover, the Crisis Staff head was

18 the president of the party, after it took on the prerogatives of a

19 government. So I think the context is extremely clear that the president

20 of the party, the president of the then-existing pretakeover Crisis Staff

21 is Mr. Miskovic, and he, in fact, is the person who had dinner with Mr.

22 Mujadzic, who did not have dinner with Mr. Drljaca.

23 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Right. The problem is only that unfortunately,

24 the English translation we have before us starts at another portion. If

25 we compare it with the B/C/S we have before us, in B/C/S, you can't read

1 the first sentence how it all happened and the name before. It doesn't

2 start with a name in B/C/S. And if you could please, additionally, give

3 us a hint when was this tape taken? We know it's about 1803 or 1804

4 hours, but not the day when it was taken.

5 MR. KOUMJIAN: I don't know if I would be able to tell Your

6 Honours that. This was a tape that was seized. I think at one point -- I

7 have to through this again, but I think at one point they indicate that

8 this is the anniversary of the takeover several years later. A note on one

9 of my documents indicates 1995, so it would be the April 29th or April

10 30th of 1995. But it's definitely clear from the context that it's

11 talking about the takeover several years later.

12 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: That's right. But of course, it would be of

13 interest which year it indeed was.

14 MR. KOUMJIAN: I can tell you it was seized in 1997. So it was

15 before that.

16 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Somewhere between 1992 and 1997. Okay.

17 MR. KOUMJIAN: At one point, if you look on page 3728, the last

18 four digits of the --

19 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I mentioned this, it's 18.03 or 18.04.

20 MR. KOUMJIAN: What I'm looking at is on page 3728. It indicates

21 from the reporter: "This is a good occasion to make a parallel at the end

22 of our conversation and compare the SDS then in April 1992 and now in

23 April 1995."

24 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Okay. Thank you for this clarification. Having

25 this background, we can continue, and let's hear the next portion until

1 the end of the contribution of Mr. Kuruzovic.

2 [Audiotape played]

3 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. May we please stop. May we hear now

4 the English and French version.

5 THE INTERPRETER: [Voiceover] Reporter: Dear listeners, this was

6 Mr. Simo Drljaca who spoke in detail about the preparations and the

7 seizure of power. I have to say right away that here, with us, are also

8 Mr. Drljaca and Mr. Kuruzovic who are going to comment on these events

9 from the point of view of the police and the former Serbian Army which was

10 then called the TO staff of the Serbian Army.

11 They are going to talk about how it looked from their

12 perspective, since Mr. Simo Drljaca, Simo Miskovic said that the Crisis

13 Staff concluded that it had to be done and acted accordingly.

14 Music.

15 Reporter: It is three or four minutes past 6.00, that is, if the

16 clock is showing the correct time here in the Crvena Sala of the Express

17 Restaurant of the Ljubija Ironworks. In this broadcast we remember April

18 1992, the time when on the night of the 29th, the decision was reached

19 that the SDS, that is, the people from the SDS should take all the

20 prominent positions and assume all the vital functions in the territory of

21 Prijedor Municipality. One of the men who actually participated in all

22 these decisions and activities taken on the night of the 29th was

23 Mr. Slobodan Kuruzovic, the former commander of the TO of the town of

24 Prijedor who we would like to, first of all, welcome. Mr. Slobodan

25 Kuruzovic, this is the right moment to remember once again, after

1 Mr. Simo Miskovic, the night of the 29th and also to stretch our memory a

2 little bit further into the past and recall some of the times that had

3 preceded these events.

4 Slobodan Kuruzovic: As regards the political assessment of the

5 situation, Simo and Dusan Kurnoga, the present -- the current president of

6 the municipality have already covered it and said what had to be said. I

7 would like to focus on the military aspect, and I would like to relate the

8 situation chronologically, in a manner of speaking, and explain what

9 happened and how it happened. Sometime around noon, this infamous Jerko

10 Doko from Sarajevo sent this official dispatch, and we Serbs should

11 perhaps be grateful to him because of that. Otherwise, we would have

12 hesitated even more, which would have been extremely difficult to do

13 since, as Dusan Kurnoga correctly pointed out, each and every one of us

14 placed our families in jeopardy, since we had to do something which had

15 never been done before, and that is to seize power.

16 The situation was pretty clear, as explain as a pike staff, as

17 our people say. It was clear what they were up to and what they were

18 going to do to us. We knew exactly their location, how they were armed,

19 where, and how they were trained in Kozarac, up there in Benkovac,

20 Hambarine, and Puharska. We knew who had brought the weapons and how they

21 were organised. We knew everything. It was in the air. As Simo said

22 earlier, this Jerko Doko helped us by sending us this dispatch, and they

23 thought that the Serbs would never get hold of that dispatch since the

24 Muslims were in power. But they were wrong. Within 15 minutes, the

25 dispatch was in my hands. I read it, and then we sat down and agreed on

1 how we should proceed. As Simo said, at 5.00 p.m., we went up there to

2 the barracks to discuss our military tactics and decide when and what was

3 to be done. Dr. Stakic, former president of the municipality, myself,

4 Drljaca, Jankovic, and Cadzo, Miskovic as the chairman of the SDS, and

5 Lieutenant-Colonel Arsic were there. Arsic then held the rank of

6 Lieutenant-Colonel and was the commander of the barracks and the commander

7 of the 43rd Brigade. This group of people discussed this until nearly

8 7.00, and Arso insisted to decide that the moment was right and that it

9 had to be done right away with no special preparations since we had had

10 enough force at our disposal to prevent a massacre from occurring in the

11 town. In that case, the consequences would have been unforeseeable.

12 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. We have now access to the original

13 tape. And if there should be any problems as regards authenticity, the

14 party may object. But in principle, I believe we can proceed now as

15 follows: That we hear on one channel the tape in B/C/S, and on the other

16 channel in English to be read out the text before us, and the French. I

17 know very well it's not possible to do it simultaneously or not even

18 parallelly, but it doesn't matter. It's just to give access to the

19 content of this document in the three languages that are needed in this

20 case. And let's try to proceed this way, if it's technically possible.

21 MR. KOUMJIAN: Just a suggestion, perhaps the tape could be

22 stopped after every approximately five minutes and the booth can wait for

23 the interpreters to catch up.

24 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I think we should be aware that it's nearly

25 impossible to catch up or to read or translate even parallelly. So no

1 doubt, B/C/S will be finished first, then English, then French. But it

2 doesn't matter. I can't see any other solution. Let's try it this way.

3 THE INTERPRETER: [Voiceover] Reporter, before the 29th and 30th

4 of April 1992, Serbian people tried in every conceivable way to preserve

5 peace, not only in the Municipality of Prijedor, but wider in the

6 territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina by offering to the SDA various

7 proposals for an agreement. What we are interested in here and what our

8 listeners would like to hear is if you are depict the atmosphere in that

9 room where you were making this important decision between let's say 1400

10 or 1500 and 1700 hours.

11 Kuruzovic: It is difficult is to describe that. A moment ago, I

12 wanted to say something in this respect. It was an uneasy situation to do

13 something like this. It was obvious that we held no power, either in

14 Prijedor or at the republican level. It was such a big town, and so many

15 people who were not in harmony with us, and the political problems

16 concerning the division of power and all other issues were dragging on for

17 a year and a half, and the situation was very complicated. However, the

18 decision was made, and we agreed, that the takeover should be carried out

19 by the police, who together with the Croats and Muslims wore those blue

20 uniforms, trying to maintain law and order in the town, and we decided

21 that they should do it down here in the town whereas that the military

22 aspect, which was under my authority, should be taken care by us. In

23 other words, that this takeover should be secured by the armed Serbs.

24 Allow me to put things in chronological perspective. After that

25 agreement, sometime around 1900 hours, Captain Bojic, Captain Savic,

1 myself and the late Major Karlica sat down and drew up a plan. We had

2 everything in front of us, the whole town and the combat disposition of

3 the forces. It is no secret any more. We knew exactly where they had

4 their people and units. They even had arms, et cetera. At 2100 hours, of

5 course, it was the 29th April, 1992, I summoned all commanders of the

6 regional staffs in our town, both from urban and suburban areas,

7 settlements, and villages. They came to that building of the Slovenian

8 company in the field in Cirkin Polje, where later the HQ of the Serbian TO

9 staff was established and whose commander I was. I had been officially

10 appointed by the Serbian Municipal Assembly and we agreed on how to

11 proceed and the mobilisation was ordered to be carried out at 0200 hours

12 a.m. All armed Serbs in the settlements, suburban areas, and villages

13 were supposed to take their positions at the given moment. We agreed on

14 the manner how it should be done. They had to be ready to enter the town

15 strictly upon my order at 4.00 a.m., if need be. And that's what

16 happened. In the meantime, Simo, Dule Jankovic, Cadzo, and many others

17 such as Marko Djenadija, Jakovljevic, Pop Mudrinic and others from the

18 police, who need not to be mentioned now, but who had done a lot of work.

19 This reserve police force came to the dom in Cirkin Polje. According to

20 our assessment, the callups were sent out for 260 people for the job.

21 However, a lot more appeared. That is partly an answer to the question.

22 This hall was fully packed and people talked and smoked. No one made

23 noise or shouted. I have no words to depict the atmosphere in that room.

24 People were aware of the seriousness of the task ahead of us and they

25 acted according to the situation. At 4.00, the first convoys, so to

1 speak, of people who were organised and tasked to take over all vital

2 buildings and functions in the municipality set off. This little mini-bus

3 that Mico Janjetovic used to take the Rudar players to the soccer matches

4 in was used and the rounds were made to the SUP, the Court, the municipal

5 building, the Kozarski Vjesnik, et cetera. Maybe this might sound funny,

6 but the last building that was taken was the Public Auditing Service,

7 because the guard there who was a Serb had fallen asleep, and I vividly

8 remember how we sat in that room, Simo, Djule Jankovic, Cadzo, and myself,

9 listening to the man talking on the Motorola whether they should break in

10 through the door or not, and someone said: "Why bother breaking in, since

11 he would wake up eventually" and that's what happened.

12 There were no incidents, nothing, and at 4.25, the last report

13 came through. The procedure was rather simple. One would just say

14 "over." And that was a sign that the task was completed, i.e., that a

15 certain office i.e., function had been taken. And that was it.

16 At 4.25, it was all over. At 5.00, the representatives of our

17 Serbian authorities came to me to the HQ, the president of the

18 municipality, the vice-president of the municipality, chairman of the

19 executive committee, secretary for the economy, defence minister, and all

20 the others, according to the respective departments in the municipality,

21 and then we began dispatching them. There were also a few prominent

22 general managers there. There's no need to name everyone. They went to

23 their respective offices, where our armed policemen were waiting for them

24 with the lists of the people who were not to be allowed to enter the

25 municipal building, the Court, the SUP building, and so on, not those who

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1 could. Simo has just mentioned that, and I think it is good idea that we

2 luckily came to that smart idea that the president of the municipality,

3 the chairman of the party, and some top officials, supporters of the SDA,

4 were not granted access, while all other Muslims or Croats, regardless of

5 nationality and regular employees came to work as usual, the only

6 difference being that the Serbian flag and the Yugoslav flag were hoisted

7 up on the municipal building to mark that the takeover had been carried

8 out. By 6.00 a.m., it was all over. We informed Vojo Kupresanin in Banja

9 Luka. At that time, there was still the Autonomous Region of the Krajina,

10 since everything had not been done yet. He could not believe when we told

11 him it was over and that we have seized the power in the municipality,

12 since it was much more difficult to do it here than in those smaller towns

13 like Novi Dubica, Sana, because, and it is well known, we were a big

14 regional centre and the chief of this regional centre was this Mirza

15 Mujadzic, and since Simo has already said everything about him, there is

16 no need for me to repeat.

17 Reporter: Since this action to seize power in the municipality

18 had been meticulously planned and carried out without a single incident or

19 shot being fired, we would like to know what were the assessments that

20 afternoon on 29th. Did you expect an immediate reaction on the part of

21 the SDA, and what would have been your course of action had something like

22 that happened?

23 Kuruzovic: It is very difficult to answer to the first part of

24 the question with regard to their possible reaction. I do not know if the

25 time is right to discuss all that, but we knew that they had been armed,

1 we knew where they were, we knew where their strongest units were, but

2 there was something else about which they did not pay attention all the

3 while. As Simo said, As we were trying the democratic option and trying

4 to draw to their attention to that was wrong and -- later throughout that

5 month. Maybe it's not okay that I say that, as the general manager of our

6 company, but we will talk about what happened during that month here in

7 Prijedor. We fought in the western Slavonija for a year, and they did

8 not, and that was our enormous advantage since we knew that they did not

9 stand a ghost of a chance to do something so drastic. And eventually it

10 proved right when 120 of them carried that attack thinking that they could

11 do something using rifles, and you know how this attempt ended. Our

12 assumption was -- we predicted that nothing silly would happen, in other

13 words, that they might cause an incident, because in each and every

14 Serbian village, in every part of the town of Prijedor, in every suburban

15 settlement where the Serbs lived, everything was organised.

16 Reporter: Were you much surprised by the action which ensued on

17 29 or 30 May when the Muslims, Muslim fanatics of the SDA attacked the

18 town of Prijedor?

19 Kuruzovic: We expected something like that any day, because we

20 knew they could not get over that. Our people will proudly remember that,

21 and their people will remember it as well, although they will judge it

22 differently. We simply outsmarted them and seized power in 25 minutes

23 without having fired a single shot, because we did not want it to happen

24 any other way.

25 Let me take the opportunity and remind you that even before that,

1 there were many problems. There were burglaries, robberies et cetera, in

2 the town, and that was one of the compelling reasons since we wanted to

3 prevent that. They did not surprise us because we knew they did not have

4 respectable force, but I was personally surprised a little bit because

5 this Slavko Acimovic was my pupil. I could not believe it. He was

6 something of an enigma. We knew he had been plotting something and that

7 he was a member of the HDZ, but that he was capable of something like

8 that, that was beyond expectation. I know why that happened. We talked a

9 lot about that later on. They did not want that much to seize power.

10 Their intention was to excuse themselves before their own people. Alija

11 is doing something similar at the moment. He constantly attacks and

12 reports casualties. Let me not mention all of it now, but for instance,

13 the Markale incident, or the French being killed, et cetera, et cetera,

14 merely to prove that something is being done. Maybe it is not fair to

15 talk like this, but I know they took a hell of a lot of money from their

16 people in order to procure weapons to attack the Serbs, slaughter them,

17 and eventually cause an exodus. We struggled for a month to persuade them

18 to disarm and hand in those weapons, to resolve all the problems, preserve

19 peace and schedule elections - we don't care who wins - to preserve peace

20 and order in the town, but to no avail. Of course, in that case, they

21 would have to return the money to the people.

22 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: [Previous translation continues]... and listen

23 until we have the end of the French.

24 THE INTERPRETER: Reporter: This is a good occasion to make a

25 parallel at the end of our conversation and to compare the SDS then in

1 April 1992 and now in April 1995.

2 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: The French version is also done?

3 THE INTERPRETER: The French interpreters finished at the same

4 time as the English booth.

5 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Let's have a break of half an hour now, until

6 11.30.

7 --- Recess taken at 11.00 a.m.

8 --- On resuming at 11.33 a.m.

9 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Please be seated. May we now continue in the

10 way we did it. May we so start the B/C/S version, and then at the same

11 time start with English and French. Thank you.

12 THE INTERPRETER: [Voiceover] This is Prijedor radio, live

13 broadcast from the Crvena sala of the express restaurant of the Ljubija

14 mine ironworks and the studio of the Prijedor radio. And now we are going

15 to play some music and let the colleagues from the studio take over.

16 Reporter: And so dear listeners, we have slowly brought this

17 programme to an end. Today we look back on the 30th of April, 1992, when

18 the SDS assumed power in this town and this municipality. We heard a lot

19 about immediate preparations, and the takeover. Our next guest, Mr. Mico

20 Kovacevic, the first chairman of the executive committee of the Prijedor

21 Municipality could tell us something about the functioning of the

22 authorities. The SDS took power exactly at dawn on the 30th of April, and

23 on the very same day, there was a session of our government which as Mico

24 has said just now, as we are preparing this conversation, was a shadow

25 government. Mr. Kovacevic, how do it all look back then?

1 Kovacevic: I would first of all like to greet our listeners, if

2 anyone is listening to us. I would not like to talk about the

3 preparations since many before me commented on this, and on what it looked

4 like. The question indicated that it did not altogether happen

5 spontaneously, that it happened in a disorganised manner, et cetera. As

6 those who preceded me already said in this programme, it is all very well

7 prepared. Having seen that we did not stand a ghost of a chance in this

8 Alija's unitarian state, I'm not interested in how he pictured that --

9 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Please stop. The OTP has --

10 MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, if I'm correct, I just noticed on the

11 English translation, I think because of some confusion when we ended, we

12 actually lost about a page of the B/C/S. I think it stopped on page --

13 the translation at the break at page 3727, around the middle where it says

14 Kuruzovic we simply outsmarted them and seized power because we did not

15 want it to happen any other way. I think that was the end of the English

16 translation, with this is Prijedor live broadcast. I'm mainly concerned

17 about the French, and I didn't follow that. But I presume we might have

18 lost the same or more on the French translation.

19 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Sorry, but I had the other impression that we

20 had the break at the end of the contribution of Mr. Kuruzovic on page

21 33728. And then continuing...

22 MR. KOUMJIAN: Okay. I understand now, it's just the matter of

23 the Live Note is behind, and the actual translation was done. So as long

24 as the French booth and the English booth feel that they are up to date,

25 that's fine.

1 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: It's difficult to see through the shaded

2 glasses.

3 MR. KOUMJIAN: I see the English says okay.

4 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Then let's continue where we just stopped.

5 THE INTERPRETER: [Voiceover] I'm concerned with how we pictured

6 that. We did not deny anything to anyone, neither then nor now, but we

7 have to pursue our right, and we will succeed one way or another. Serb

8 must remain in a single state. Not in these Serbian Krajina, Krajina

9 Serbia, Montenegro and whatnot. It's all the same to me. That's the

10 course that we had taken then, and I believe the majority still adheres to

11 the same principles. Otherwise, it would be no good. I would not like to

12 make any further comments on the preparations. We had earlier formed the

13 so-called shadow government. This is a political expression, although for

14 us it was a government which had already been in function at the time.

15 When we decided to do it, we did it the way we did it. We set up a staff.

16 I'm not going to give any names. It is known. Someone knows. I do not

17 have to know that. On today's date, we had talks about it, and scheduled

18 the date and all that, and then we decided that we should do it on such

19 and such a day at a certain hour. The government was there from the

20 president of the municipality to those structures which I am still not

21 familiar with, evening after two years in power, since it does not

22 interest me. My field is medicine. Some were from the SDS, some from the

23 executive committee. It was all neatly prepared and done, and we waited

24 for that moment that we set, and then on today's date, at 4.00 a.m., a few

25 years ago, we did what we did.

1 To my own and everyone else's surprise, it really went the way we

2 had planned it, I mean, those from the SUP, that is to say, from the

3 centre, Simo and others, told me that they had announced from our HQ that

4 the movement was to begin, and in 28 minutes, I was in the position of the

5 chairman of the executive committee, and Stakic held the position of the

6 president of the Municipal Assembly. All bodies of authority were in

7 their positions and began functioning from that moment on. Therefore,

8 some kind of transition was made from those national parties. Today,

9 opinions may vary. But those were indeed national parties, and it is good

10 that it was done the way it was done. So 20 minutes after setting out

11 from Cirkin Polje, the municipality resumed its work as if nothing had

12 happened. That was done without casualties or shooting. Nothing. We

13 just came to our respective offices and began working, as if it had been

14 for centuries like that. And thank God it still goes on like that. A lot

15 has been sacrificed and a high price has been paid but it is all right as

16 long as the price is not even higher.

17 Reporter: When you took on the duty as the chairman of the first

18 Executive Committee of the former Serbian Assembly, that is, Prijedor

19 Municipality, in addition to the difficulties and problems that plagued

20 you at the time, that plagued at the time, not only Prijedor but this

21 entire region, you had yet another demanding task which you, from our

22 point of view, fulfilled in a rather charming manner. You were the first

23 man in Prijedor to receive foreign journalists and explain what was going

24 on. How did you do that?

25 Kovacevic: I followed a rather simple principle. As a doctor and

1 a humanist by profession, I dealt with it accordingly. Up until then I

2 treated people regardless of nationality, race, colour of skin. I do not

3 know what the principle was well established in the field of medicine. It

4 is not relevant whether a person is yellow, white, Muslim, Catholic,

5 Buddhist or Orthodox by faith. It was all the same to me. However,

6 journalists approached me with provocative questions, and I simply

7 followed the principle to which I still adhere today. Even today, I could

8 successfully deal with any delegation from CNN to ICRC. You can verify

9 this in Banja Luka. For example, I just received a new representative.

10 My principle was the truth. I present them with the bare and unpleasant

11 truth, and I disarmed them on the spot. I placed my cards on the table

12 equally for those from CNN and those from Russia who usually lack

13 information just like you and for all the others, regardless of their

14 confession. I played poker with all the cards on the table. I used to

15 play it, and now I'm an elderly man and I have other responsibilities. And

16 then we play, and he cannot fool me over anything. It was the easiest

17 thing for me. If you use the trigger, too, I knew them immediately, but I

18 did not want to use them on purpose, and he had to succumb. Sometimes I

19 had the courage to say things. I'm not afraid of any one of those 21

20 cells in The Hague. I then said: "Take me and Genscher before the court

21 and then we'll see who is going to be hanged on this Cyrillic letter G.

22 They gave me a firm promise that they would translate it like that both

23 for the CNN and in Germany, but they did now. I got the information. I

24 know that he was not playing a fair game with me. As soon as you are

25 hiding something, you are handicapped. I can easily deal with this type.

1 That was my principle.

2 Reporter: Dear listeners, that is our interlocutor earned the

3 nickname "Pukovnik," Colonel, although he is not one. All foreign

4 journalists called him Pukovnik just because of his outspoken attitude,

5 his eloquence, and the agility with which he presented the truth. Thank

6 you for the participation in this conversation.

7 Kovacevic: I would like to insert a correction.

8 Reporter: Please.

9 Kovacevic: I told everyone and those who listened to me

10 understood. They do not want to listen. They come with their own truth.

11 I told everyone I am a colonel in the medical corps who was retired at his

12 own expense. Often they do not know how to translate that and they do not

13 know what they are searching for. No one can promote or demote me, or

14 strip me of my rank. Best regards to the listeners.

15 Reporter: We thank "the colonel who was retired at this own

16 expense."

17 Excerpts from the session of the Municipal Assembly broadcast by

18 Prijedor Radio.

19 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. Of course, it's right for the

20 parties to give observations on this issue, on the tape we just heard.

21 MR. KOUMJIAN: If I could ask, I don't know if the translation

22 stopped before the end of the announcement. I think there's some

23 significance to that, because it's talking about the consequences of not

24 accepting the Vance-Owen plan. It's just an additional way of placing the

25 tape in a time sequence, that it was 1995.

1 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: But is it related to the reporter, and I think

2 the reporter closed "retired at his own expense" and then there is a

3 new -- it seems to be only headlines. And I can't see the relevance of

4 this additional part.

5 MR. KOUMJIAN: I could be wrong. My understanding is this is just

6 a continuation of the same tape, may be a new segment starting. But Your

7 Honour just asked me about the time.

8 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: If you please compare the last page in B/C/S,

9 you can see that it ends with "we thank the Colonel who is retired at his

10 own expense." And the following, you can't find in B/C/S.

11 MR. KOUMJIAN: I see it wasn't put on the transcript, but it's on

12 the tape. If Your Honours don't think it's helpful, that's fine with me.

13 Just you asked about the time; I think it helps.

14 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Apparently one couldn't find it on the same side

15 of the tape, and as it reads in English, side B seems to be empty.

16 But please, it's the right of the parties to comment on that what

17 we have heard. Any observations by the Defence?

18 MR. LUKIC: As we could follow regarding the translation, it was

19 correct.

20 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: And as -- of course, we can't --

21 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, Your Honour.

22 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Of course you can't cross-examine, but it's your

23 right to comment also on the content of these parts we just heard.

24 MR. LUKIC: But we object to the authenticity, Your Honour, of

25 this tape, because we just heard that it has been seized, but we don't

1 know where. Maybe Mr. Inayat can help when he comes. But for now, we

2 would like to reserve our right to object to this tape as well.

3 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. OTP?

4 MR. KOUMJIAN: Thank you. Yes, Mr. Inayat will testify that it

5 was seized in December 1997 from the Prijedor radio station. But I think

6 the tape --

7 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I think it's good to know that it's contested,

8 whenever we have a new witness from the area, knowing the acting persons

9 there, we can once again play and ask whether or not a person can identify

10 the voice of these persons we heard on the tape. We shouldn't forget

11 that.

12 MR. KOUMJIAN: Okay.

13 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: No other comments. Then nevertheless, under the

14 rules, we had until now, and we continue without doubt with these rules.

15 This is admitted into evidence under the number given before, -1.

16 Mr. Lukic, please.

17 MR. LUKIC: If I may, Your Honour, we would like to -- we would

18 like the Chamber to instruct the OTP not to play this tape to the

19 witnesses prior to their testimony. The other way they could be

20 instructed who is who.

21 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I don't hope that any party instructs a witness

22 to give a certain testimony, but indeed, it could be preferable to hear

23 the tape in the courtroom, and then ask the witness whether or not the

24 voice can be identified.

25 But then let's proceed. We heard in the beginning of this session

1 that the OTP is prepared to tender another set of documents. And is it

2 the understanding, this would be now List 5? Do you agree to have it as

3 List 5?

4 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes. And we -- the actual list is on top of the

5 documents.

6 If I could just make one brief comment regarding the last matter

7 raised by Mr. Lukic.

8 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Please, don't hesitate.

9 MR. KOUMJIAN: The Trial Chamber has imposed some time limitations

10 on our case. We're trying to focus our case on real issues. There's --

11 this is a tape that was seized from the radio station in Prijedor. I

12 don't think a court of law we should lose basic common sense. There's

13 absolutely no evidence right now that the people named in that tape a Mr.

14 Drljaca, Mr. Kovacevic, Mr. Kuruzovic, are not the people that were

15 speaking. It really doesn't -- common sense tells you that those were the

16 people that were speaking. I don't think the OTP intends to waste time,

17 given the reasonable limits that the Court has imposed on us on things

18 that are not in issue. We don't see an issue. If the Defence raises one,

19 we can address it. But this is just common sense that these are the

20 people that are speaking.

21 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: We have heard the message, and no doubt there is

22 a lot of truth in this message.

23 Let's turn to the documents immediately. Could the OTP please be

24 so kind and give us some guidance when we are going through these

25 documents now. And let's do it in the way that you indicate which

1 document is of special importance from your point of view in order that it

2 can be read out. On the other hand, it should be the -- first of all, on

3 the question of whether or not to admit into evidence these documents.

4 Please, feel free to take the floor.

5 MR. KOUMJIAN: Thank you. Actually, I selected these documents.

6 I think all are very relevant, but there may be in some of the longer

7 documents, there may be only portions that are relevant. And if that's

8 the case, I will indicate to the Court. Also, some of these we only have

9 draft translations, on just a few of these.

10 But the first one is 65 ter number 5 involves a certificate on the

11 election to the post of Municipal Assemblyman. I would ask that be marked

12 next in order.

13 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Please have the next exhibit number. 190. Is

14 it correct?

15 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes. I see, unfortunately, on this one, we have

16 both a translation and a draft. Never mind. Apparently you don't have

17 that. You have the correct translation.

18 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: May I ask the registry, please, the next

19 following number is 190. Is that correct?

20 THE REGISTRAR: I look at this exhibit list. The next number

21 should be S189.

22 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Didn't we have that yesterday?

23 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes, that was the diagram of the courtroom that we

24 marked.

25 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Yes. So 65 ter number 5 then receives S190.

1 Objections?

2 MR. LUKIC: Your Honours, this is the first time I have these

3 documents with me. Can we go with the possible objections afterwards when

4 I discuss these documents with Dr. Stakic, please.

5 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Right. Then we proceed this way, that we give a

6 provisional exhibit number, as we did it in the past, for the documents

7 and decide later on on the admission. Therefore, this is now S190. And

8 may S190 provisional be read out in English.

9 THE REGISTRAR: "Form number 21, [Article 19, item 6, and Article

10 22, item 4] of the law.

11 "Municipal electoral committee Prijedor.

12 "01-193/90.

13 "Prijedor, 11 December, 1990.

14 ""Prijedor municipal electoral committee for the election of

15 assemblymen to the Prijedor Municipal Assembly.

16 "Pursuant to Article 19, item 6, or Article 22, item 4, of the law

17 on the election of assemblymen and deputies into the assemblies of

18 sociopolitical communities, [SRBiH, Socialist Republic of BiH, Official

19 Gazette, Number 21-90] hereby issues a certificate of election to the post

20 of municipal assemblyman Dr. Stakic, Milomir, from Omarska, at the

21 elections held on 18 November, 1990, in the constituency of Omarska has

22 been elected assemblyman of the Prijedor Municipal Assembly.

23 "Signed, president Nedzad Seric. Secretary, Radmila Majkic".

24 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. The next one where we have a draft

25 translation. It was 65 ter number 8. This would be now provisional

1 S191, A and B respectively. Has document such an importance that it's

2 necessary to be read out?

3 THE REGISTRAR: "Socialist --

4 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Just a minute. The OTP may --

5 MR. KOUMJIAN: I don't have an objection to reading it all out,

6 but if I can just indicate --

7 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: We have to limit ourselves.

8 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes. I can indicate that in this report of the

9 election commission, it indicates which people were elected from various

10 parts of the municipality. The relevance would be that it indicates that

11 Mr. Stakic again was elected from Omarska. It also indicates some of the

12 areas that are of -- in which there were particularly brutal attacks, such

13 as Kozarac, it indicates which parties were elected there showing, I

14 think, in Kozarac that it was about --

15 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I believe it's not necessary to read out this

16 entire document. We can see on page 7 that in the Omarska electoral

17 district, assemblyman of the Serbian democratic party is Dr. Milomir

18 Stakic.

19 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes. And in the Omarska -- in the Kozarac area, in

20 addition to the SDA deputies, I think there were 11 of those, and several

21 of the names which I think everyone can understand are relevant because

22 they were mentioned as people who were in prison in Omarska or other

23 places. There also was a member of the reformist party, a member of the

24 SDS party, Vinko Kos, and a member of the league of communists. And there

25 are several names that have come up in the testimony such as that --

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the French and

13 English transcripts.

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

1 another person elected from the reformist party was Riza Beglerbegovic.

2 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Right.

3 The next one 65 ter number 43, which is S192A and B respectively.

4 It would be a great surprise if the Prosecutor would not ask to read this

5 document, but apparently the B/C/S version seems to be longer than the

6 English. Or is it once again twice the same document?

7 MR. KOUMJIAN: It's twice the same document, I believe. The

8 document in B/C/S that has the ERN range of 00633787 to 3788 was seized

9 from a police station, while the following document with the range

10 P0007162 to 7163 was seized from the Municipal Assembly building.

11 Again, since the authenticity of the documents are at issue, the

12 fact that the document was found twice at two different locations, we

13 think it's relevant that both be admitted.

14 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Then not yet admitted, but provisionally, the

15 one starting with -- ending with S787 will be now 192B-1. And the other

16 one ending with the number 7162 will be 192B-2.

17 May we now, please, hear the English translation.

18 THE REGISTRAR: "Article of the constitutional act on the

19 implementation of the constitution of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and

20 Herzegovina in the decision of the Autonomous Region of Krajina stipulate

21 that the laws and other regulations of the SFRJ were applied until such

22 time as the appropriate laws and other regulations of the republic are

23 passed, provide that they conform to the constitution --

24 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Sorry, do we have the same document before us?

25 It should read 00916642.

1 THE REGISTRAR: The first page is missing from my document here.

2 Sorry about that.

3 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: May I help you out.

4 THE REGISTRAR: "Pursuant to Article 12 of the constitutional act

5 on the implementation of the constitution of the Serbian Republic of

6 Bosnia and Herzegovina [Official gazette of the Serbian people in BH,

7 number 3/92] Article 46 of the law of basic property and legal relations

8 [Official gazette of the Socialist federal Republic of Yugoslavia, number

9 6/80], the decision of the assembly and the Crisis Staff of the Autonomous

10 Region of Krajina, number 03-300/92, dated 28 April; and 03-513/92, dated

11 19 June, 1992; and Article 230 of the statute of the Prijedor Municipality

12 [Official gazette of the Prijedor Municipality number 7/84, 9/85, 1/90,

13 6/90, and 1/91] the Prijedor Municipal Assembly passed the following

14 decision at its session held on 1992, passed the following decision on

15 proclaiming abandoned property, property of the state: Paragraph "Article

16 1: All abandoned property [Real estate and moveable items] of persons

17 who have left the territory of the Prijedor Municipality, and of persons

18 who participated in the armed uprising, is temporarily proclaimed state

19 property, the Prijedor Municipality becoming entitled to all possession

20 rights.

21 "Article 2: The municipal secretariat for city planning, housing,

22 and utilities, and legal property affairs, and the municipal land survey

23 department, in cooperation with other municipal organs, shall make an

24 inventory of all real estate [Land, family houses, business premises,

25 property and economic facilities] belonging to persons referred to in

1 Article 1 of this decision.

2 Article 3: The allotment of the property referred to in Article 1

3 of this decision will be determined by a separate decision of the

4 Municipal Assembly.

5 "Article 4: This decision shall be effective until the

6 appropriate legislation for these matters has been passed by the Assembly

7 of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

8 "Article 5: This decision comes into effect on the day on which

9 it is passed and will be published in the official gazette of the Prijedor

10 Municipality.

11 "Signed, president of the municipal assembly, Dr. Milomir Stakic.

12 "Rationale, legal grounds:

13 "Article 12 of the constitutional act on the implementation of the

14 constitution of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and

15 decision of the Assembly on the Autonomous Region of Krajina stipulate

16 that the laws and other regulations of the SFRJ will apply until such time

17 as the appropriate laws and other regulations of the Republic are passed,

18 provided that they con form to the constitution of the Serbian Republic of

19 Bosnia and Herzegovina, the laws and other regulations passed by the

20 Assembly of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, the

21 People's Assembly. Therefore, the legal grounds for this decision are

22 found in Article 46 of the federal law on basic property and legal rights

23 which stipulates that the right of ownership terminates with abandonment

24 and that abandoned real estate becomes socially owned property at the time

25 it was abandoned.

1 "In addition to the above-mentioned legal grounds, additional

2 legal ground can be found in the decision of the Crisis Staff of the

3 Autonomous Region of Krajina, which stipulates that all the abandoned

4 property must immediately be registered and then declared state property,

5 with the municipality claiming full ownership rights.

6 "Reasons for reaching this decision: A certain number of people

7 have left the municipality and abandoned their property. There is also

8 property that belongs to those who participated in the armed uprising and

9 their property should temporarily be declared state property so that it

10 can be allocated for use. The proclamation for state property is

11 temporary because appropriate legal regulations will be passed in relation

12 to this."

13 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. The next one --

14 MR. KOUMJIAN: May I just inquire of the Trial Chamber, some of

15 the other documents that had even an typed signature, I know the documents

16 with the actual handwritten signature, Your Honour wanted the originals.

17 I don't know if you want to have the originals of the typed signatures

18 only but if so, we can provide that. When I say the originals, I mean the

19 document we have in evidence, of course.

20 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Right. We have to be aware that no doubt -- no

21 date is filled in, both in the beginning and at the end of the document.

22 And even the line that reads "number" is not filled in. So probably,

23 maybe it's only a draft. We have to come back to this later when we have

24 an overview of all the documents. The same is true, and I think because

25 it's in close connection so that what we just recently heard, and it's

1 open to the parties to read themselves, the next document needs not to be

2 read out, but of course we attribute a provisional number, and this would

3 be for 65 ter Document Number 45, it should be S193, A and B respectively.

4 Then we may turn to 65 ter number 48. It's the same. It's not

5 dated. And no number has been attributed, but nevertheless, following the

6 policy, it may turn out, I don't know, that some of these documents appear

7 in the official gazette then later on. The former 48 will now be

8 provisional S194, A and B respectively, hoping that this time, you have

9 both pages. Could you please read out the English document. 48, now 194.

10 THE REGISTRAR: "Pursuant to Article 12 of the constitutional law

11 on the implementation of the constitution of the Serbian Republic of

12 Bosnia and Herzegovina [Official gazette of the Serbian people in BH

13 number 3/82] Article 5, paragraph 1, and Article 34 of the law on housing

14 [Official gazette of the SR/Serbian Republic of BiH, number 14/84 and

15 12/87] And Article 230 of the statute of the Municipality of Prijedor

16 number 7/84, 9/85, 6/90, and 2/91], the Municipal Assembly of Prijedor at

17 its session on 1992 adopted the following decision on amendments to the

18 decision on the conditions and mode of allocation for use of apartments at

19 the disposal of the Municipality of Prijedor.

20 "Article 1: In the decision on the conditions and mode of

21 allocation for use of apartments at the disposal of the Municipality of

22 Prijedor [Official Gazette of the Municipality of Prijedor number 5/85 and

23 4/91] in Article 14, after paragraph 1, new paragraphs 2 and 3 are added

24 which read as follows:

25 `Apartments from paragraph 1 of this article, once they are

1 emptied of people and belongings, shall be registered in the housing fund

2 for soldiers of the army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and

3 Herzegovina.

4 `The Centre for Social Welfare shall immediately inform the

5 competent organ and enable the use of these apartments.'

6 "Article 2: The professional service is authorised to finalise

7 the redacted text of the decision.

8 "Article 3: This decision shall come into effect on the date of

9 its adoption and will be published in the Official Gazette of the

10 Municipality of Prijedor.

11 "President of the Municipal Assembly, Dr. Milomir Stakic.

12 "Statement of reasons, Article 1 and paragraph 4, and Article 14,

13 paragraph 1 of the decision on the conditions and means of allocation for

14 use of the apartments at the disposal of the Municipality of Prijedor

15 prescribe that apartments obtained by the Municipality on the grounds of

16 nationalisation and confiscation shall be given for use solely to persons

17 who are in a situation of social need, on the basis of the recommendations

18 of the Centre for Social Welfare in Prijedor.

19 "Due to the pronounced need for a large number of apartments and

20 their allocation to the participants in the war, it is necessary to

21 register these apartments with the housing fund for soldiers of the army

22 of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well.

23 "Since substantial amendments were made to the decision in 1991, a

24 redaction of the text is necessary, for which the SO professional service

25 has been authorised."

1 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. And now for document former 65 ter

2 49, it will have provisionally the number S195A and B respectively. As to

3 the fact that the content is closely related to the document we just

4 heard, I think it's not necessary to read out this document.

5 The following one, the former 65 ter 55 [Realtime transcript read

6 in error "95"] would now provisionally have the number S196A and B

7 respectively. Here, it's a total issue, and therefore I would ask the

8 registry to read out this document in the English version.

9 THE REGISTRAR: "Pursuant to Articles 3 and 7 of the decision on

10 the organisation and work of the Crisis Staff of Prijedor Municipality, at

11 a session held on, the war presidency of the Prijedor Municipality adopted

12 a decision:

13 "Article 1: This decision establishes the criteria for the

14 division of real estate declared to be state or municipal property,

15 residential buildings, family homes [Hereinafter referred to as property]

16 among the Serbian population of Prijedor Municipality, families of fallen

17 combatants, and the Serbian population moving in from areas affected by

18 the war [Hereinafter refugees].

19 "Article 2: Citizens have the right to a share in this property

20 according to the following categories:

21 "1, the first category applies to citizens of Serbian nationality

22 who have been left without property as a result of the fighting in

23 Prijedor Municipality.

24 "2, the second category applies to citizens left without property

25 who have refugee status and wish to reside permanently in Prijedor

1 Municipality.

2 "The third category applies to combatants of the Serbian Republic

3 of Bosnia and Herzegovina who have no property or whose property is

4 insufficient for future existence.

5 "Article 3: When resolving the division of property, the relevant

6 administrative organs will take into account the status of property of

7 citizens, meaning the size and value of property lost and destroyed, and

8 that the property apportioned be of approximately the same size and value

9 of the property lost or destroyed.

10 "Members of the military and families of fallen combatants shall

11 have priority in the right established in the preceding paragraph within

12 the group to which they belong according to the criteria established

13 above.

14 "Article 4: Only those citizens who can present the relevant

15 administrative organs with documentation of ownership or entitlement or

16 prove their right in a legitimate manner shall be entitled to the

17 resolution of property.

18 "Article 5: Those persons who have established their right in

19 accordance with the criteria established above shall have the right of

20 ownership of this property.

21 "Article 6: Pursuant to procedure carried out before the relevant

22 organs, citizens shall be issued with a decision which shall be verified

23 by the Municipal Assembly on the basis of which the rights of the owner to

24 the property shall be registered to the land registry.

25 "Article 7: Persons who have acquired the right to ownership of

1 property pursuant to this decision are forbidden from conveyancing the

2 allotted property for a period of 30 years.

3 "Article 8: The rights established by this decision are

4 provisional.

5 "After the adoption of appropriate regulations, this decision will

6 be harmonised with them.

7 "Article 9: This decision comes into force on the day of its

8 adoption and shall be published in the Official Gazette of Prijedor

9 Municipality.

10 "Number 01-023 Prijedor. Date: 1992.

11 "President, War Presidency, Dr. Milomir Stakic."

12 MR. KOUMJIAN: Just one minor correction: On page 36, line 15,

13 the correct 65 ter number is 55. The transcript read 95, but the document

14 just read is 65 ter number 55.

15 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. The next document before us seems to

16 have nearly the same content as the document before. I think here we need

17 later on some explanation by the OTP --

18 MR. LUKIC: Your Honour, excuse me.

19 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Please.

20 MR. LUKIC: May I intervene. This is one of very doubtful

21 documents, and we would like the OTP to disclose the document which was

22 marked as 25 in the first set of documents. The document has the same

23 substance only it's also different from this one. Actually, we have three

24 documents with similar text. It's this 55, also number 66 in disclosed

25 exhibits. But in the first set of documents under number 25, we have a

1 document which is not marked as a War Presidency, but as a Municipal

2 Assembly decision. So we would like all those documents to be disclosed,

3 and we would be able to judge about the substance of the document and the

4 source of the document.

5 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Right. I already started indicating I'm not

6 prepared to read out now the additional document, the 65 ter 63, which

7 will be now S197A and B. But I think, indeed, explanation is needed why

8 two nearly identical but in fact not identical documents on the same

9 issue - one including 9 the other 8 paragraphs - but the contents seems to

10 be the same. And you heard the commentary of the Defence, and we should

11 go into certain detail. Please.

12 MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, we pick these documents up as we find

13 them. As to why there are slightly different versions of the same subject

14 matter, orders regarding the same subject matter, I'd be speculating right

15 now. It could be, as Your Honour indicated earlier, that there are

16 various drafts of the same decision.

17 And just to clarify, I think when counsel referred to number 25,

18 was that the 65 ter number, or the S number?

19 MR. LUKIC: It's not 65 ter. It's --

20 MR. KOUMJIAN: S number, the exhibit number?

21 MR. LUKIC: It's not exhibit number either. I marked it as A

22 because I found three times, as I explained previously, number 25 in your

23 documents. So we have three groups of documents. This is in the first

24 group, probably disclosed in 2001.

25 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Would the parties please be so kind and to

1 convene later, probably already today, and identify the documents that

2 seem to be drafts. Probably the solution can be found in the Official

3 Gazette. And it is not without reason that the Bench has asked the OTP to

4 bring some order into the documents tendered.

5 But I believe it would be a guessing game for today. And

6 therefore, we can't continue a debate on this. No doubt, a solution has

7 to be found whether these are all drafts or a version can be found in the

8 Official Gazette.

9 Now, the --

10 MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, if we go on to the next one, 103,

11 could we go into closed session for just a moment, or private session.

12 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Private session, please.

13 [Private session]

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24 (redacted)

25 (redacted)

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15 [Open session]

16 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Former 65 ter 137 will now be S199 --

17 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please, Your Honour.

18 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: -- S199, A and B respectively from the newspaper

19 Politika, it's only the marked article in Cyrillic.

20 Then Document 65 ter 159 will be S200A and B.

21 65 ter 160 will be S201. And only the article in Kozarski Vjesnik

22 related to this translated text is admitted -- is tendered, sorry, is

23 tendered until now.

24 The former 180 will be now S202, if I'm right.

25 Former S189 [sic] will be 203. Didn't we have this already

1 earlier?

2 MR. KOUMJIAN: I thought, but at least not under that 65 ter

3 number. It's possible that it was part of another larger group of

4 decisions.

5 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I think it was in List 2 or 3. But

6 nevertheless, we give the provisional number 203, and in B/C/S, it's only

7 the portion in the official gazette under number 55. Please check again

8 whether or not we had it already.

9 MR. KOUMJIAN: I can check. It's also possible that the other

10 version was the decision, not the published decision. This is from the

11 gazette.

12 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: 193 will be 204.

13 206 will be 205. And then 231 will be 206.

14 Let's stop here and, for consideration, whether or not this needs

15 to be read out. Let's have a break until 1.00 sharp.

16 --- Recess taken at 12.34 p.m.

17 --- On resuming at 1.01 p.m.

18 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Please be seated.

19 The latest document before us was, I believe, the 65 ter number

20 231, which is now 206. And I think this document should be read out in

21 English. And just to clarify, in the B/C/S version, this will say S206B,

22 admitted is only the left-hand part, the left-hand column, 168 of the

23 document. So please.

24 THE REGISTRAR: "Monday, 8 June, 1992, number 8, page 307.

25 Official Gazette of the Serbian people of BH. 168.

1 "Pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 6 and 7, of the constitutional

2 law on implementation of the constitution of the Serbian Republic of

3 Bosnia and Herzegovina [Official Gazette of the Serbian people in BiH,

4 number 3/92 and 6/92], the presidency of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia

5 and Herzegovina hereby issues the following decision on the formation of

6 war presidencies in municipalities in times of war or the immediate threat

7 of war.

8 "Article 1: War presidencies shall be formed in the

9 municipalities of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina where the

10 assembly and executive body are unable to exercise their authority.

11 "Article 2: A war presidency shall consist of a representative of

12 the republic and generally the president of the Municipal Assembly or his

13 deputy or the vice-president, president of the executive committee or his

14 deputy, or the vice-president or a citizen chosen from among the

15 representatives of committee members.

16 "Article 3: A war presidency should organise, coordinate and

17 adjust activities for the defence of the Serbian people and for the

18 establishment of the lawful municipal authorities; perform all the duties

19 of the assembly and the executive body until the said authorities are able

20 to convene and work; create and ensure conditions for the work of military

21 bodies and units in defending the Serbian nation; carry out other tasks of

22 state bodies if they are unable to convene.

23 "Article 4: The Presidency of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and

24 Herzegovina shall appoint the republic's representative who shall give

25 professional and other assistance to war presidencies.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the French and

13 English transcripts.

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

1 The republic's representative shall have the right and duty to

2 undertake all measures relating to appointments in the organisation and

3 work of war presidencies and to ensure permanent coordination and

4 implementation of the policies and measures defined and adopted by the

5 republic's state institutions and the main staff the Army of the Serbian

6 Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

7 "The republic's representative may be authorised to cover several

8 municipalities in conformity with the organisation of the Army of Serbian

9 Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

10 "Article 5: War presidencies should be formed within 15 days of

11 the date this decision comes into force.

12 The day war presidencies are established, Crisis Staffs shall

13 cease to operate in municipalities across the Serbian Republic of Bosnia

14 and Herzegovina.

15 "Article 6: This decision should come into force on the day of

16 issue and shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Serbian

17 Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

18 "Number 03-512. 31st May, 1992. President of the presidency of

19 the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr. Radovan Karadzic.

20 Signed."

21 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. The now following document causes

22 problems insofar as the entire document is already admitted into evidence

23 in the form of the entire Official Gazette of Prijedor Municipality of 25

24 June, 1992, which is S180.

25 MR. KOUMJIAN: Then I will withdraw that. We don't have to mark

1 it.

2 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. We now turn to 234, which would be

3 then 207, A and B respectively. And here, once again, may this document

4 be read out in English, please.

5 THE REGISTRAR: "Tuesday, 30 June, 1992, Official Gazette of the

6 Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, number 10, page 345. 217. In

7 accordance with Article 5, paragraphs 6 and 7, of the constitutional act

8 for implementing the constitution of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and

9 Herzegovina [Official Gazette of the Serbian people in Bosnia and

10 Herzegovina number 3/92 and 6/92], the presidency of the Serbian Republic

11 of Bosnia and Herzegovina hereby adopts the following decision: Decision

12 on the formation of war commissions in municipalities in time of war or

13 the imminent threat of war.

14 "Article 1: War commissions shall be formed in war-afflicted

15 municipalities of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina or where

16 there is a threat of war.

17 "Article 2: A war commission shall consist of a Republic

18 commissioner and four members chosen from among the most prominent

19 citizens on Crisis Staffs, the business community, and the ruling party.

20 "Article 3: A war commission shall cooperate very closely with

21 lawful authorities, pass on directives from the war presidency of the

22 Republic, transmit information regarding the problems, needs, and

23 activities of municipal organs through its commissioners, cooperate with

24 the authorities in creating conditions for the work of military organs and

25 units in defending the Serbian people.

1 "Article 4: In order to provide professional and other support to

2 the war commissions, the presidency of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and

3 Herzegovina shall appoint Republic commissioners.

4 "A Republic commissioner shall appoint a war commission in

5 agreement with the war presidency of the Republic.

6 "A Republic commissioner shall, in agreement with the war

7 presidency of the Republic, dissolve a municipal war commission and

8 appoint new members.

9 "Article 5: War commissions shall be formed within 15 days of the

10 date this decision enters into force.

11 "The day the war commissions are formed, Crisis Staffs shall cease

12 to operate in municipalities across the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and

13 Herzegovina.

14 "Article 6: The decision on the formation of war presidencies in

15 municipalities in time of war or the imminent threat of war, number

16 03-512, of 31 May, 1992, Official Gazette of the Serbia people in BH

17 number 8/92 shall annulled by this decision.

18 "Article 7: This decision shall enter into force on the day of

19 its adoption and will be published in the Official Gazette of the Serbian

20 people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

21 "Number 01-33/92. 10th of June, 1992.

22 "President of the Presidency of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and

23 Herzegovina, Dr. Radovan Karadzic. Signed."

24 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. Then we have 65 ter number 240. It

25 is tendered only a short article which, on the B/C/S copy of Kozarski

1 Vjesnik, apparently it is on the right-hand column, the second upper

2 article. Only this part is relevant. May I ask here any objections

3 against the admission into evidence of this document? Question to

4 Mr. Lukic.

5 MR. LUKIC: I think we have the same objection we previously

6 stated in connection with the similar or the same documents.

7 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Okay. Then we leave open also the decision on

8 this document. But nevertheless, this document has then the new number

9 S208, A and B respectively. May we hear the English translation of this

10 article, please.

11 THE REGISTRAR: "Publication, Kozarski Vjesnik. Date: 12th of

12 June, 1992. Head line: Ban on travel into and out of town. Author: Not

13 available. Subject: Crisis Staff decision.

14 "Given the security situation in the municipality of Prijedor, the

15 Prijedor Municipality Crisis Staff, at a session held on 6 June of this

16 year, deemed it necessary to uphold the ban on travel into and out of the

17 town, although giving its approval for the movement of passenger trains

18 between Prijedor and Banja Luka.

19 "Women and children are permitted to travel on this route, whereas

20 men require the appropriate permits from Prijedor public security station.

21 "According to information from Prijedor railway station, five

22 trains run on this route daily. Departure are at 0530, 0742, 1225, 1425,

23 and 1742 hours."

24 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. As regards the now following two

25 documents, the same is true; we have already admitted them under S180, the

1 entire Official Gazette of Prijedor. Withdraw? Thank you.

2 MR. KOUMJIAN: That's correct.

3 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: This concludes List Number 5, as already

4 indicated yesterday, we have now to turn once again to the former list,

5 and the next one in the order would be S93, which is 65 ter number 21.

6 THE REGISTRAR: BH Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, Prijedor SDS

7 municipal board Prijedor. Number 12/91. Date: 9 July, 1991.

8 "At a meeting held on 9 July, 1991, the Prijedor SDS Municipal

9 Board adopted the following decision to elect representatives for the

10 annual BH SDS convention.

11 "The following proposals were adopted: One, Milomir Stakic; two,

12 Dusan Kurnoga; 3, Dusko Vujinovic.

13 "Forward to: BH SDS GO/main board/archives.

14 "President of the Prijedor OOSDS, Srdjo Srdic."

15 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you for reading out this document that in

16 case it's a reliable document, it's now the 11th anniversary of this

17 document.

18 Then the next one.

19 THE REGISTRAR: S94?

20 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Just wait a minute. The question is what about

21 the necessity to read out this extremely long document in its entirety. I

22 can't see any special reason for this. If the OTP please can help us?

23 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes, Your Honour, I think we already read out the

24 relevant portions of this during the testimony of Mr. Mujadzic. So I

25 would agree with Your Honour.

1 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you for this. Then we can proceed to the

2 next document. May I once again ask any special relevance of this

3 document? I think we touched upon this document on several occasions; and

4 if I understood, it was to draw our attention on, yes, the appointment of

5 Dr. Stakic as regards social wellness affairs. But please.

6 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes, and I think the other important point which I

7 think was touched on by both Dr. Donja, and if I recall, from reading the

8 transcript, Mr. Sejmenovic, I believe, was the fact that Mr. Miskovic read

9 out the instructions forwarded from the SDS main board. But we would --

10 what's commonly called the variant A and variant B document.

11 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: It was discussed with Witness Mirsad Mujadzic as

12 well. So I think it's not necessary to read this document.

13 The following was read out, 96. Then 97, there wasn't anything

14 special with this. 98, could I please ask the registry to read out this

15 document, the English translation, S98, the former 65 ter 79.

16 THE REGISTRAR: Yes, Your Honour.

17 "Serbian Democratic Party, Executive Board. Sarajevo, 13 March,

18 1992.

19 "Handwritten, Titova 7A.

20 "To all municipal boards of the Serbian democratic party:

21 "In accordance with the stance adopted, you are required to assess

22 the possibility of establishing a Serbian Municipality in the area of your

23 activity.

24 "Your projection of the territory which your Serbian municipality

25 would comprise, needs to include a list of the local communes and

1 populated areas, or parts of populated areas which would become part of

2 the Serbian municipality.

3 "Please inform us of your stand, and the area designated to

4 comprise a Serbian municipality by letter or by telefax [Number 217-583]

5 by Tuesday, 17 March 1992 at the latest.

6 "President of the Executive Board of the SDS, Rajko Dukic.

7 Signature and stamp reading, Serbian Democratic Party of BH, main board,

8 Sarajevo."

9 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. The next following -- two following

10 documents, they were discussed in the presence of Witness Mirsad Mujadzic,

11 so the next one to be discussed would be document S109, the former 65 ter

12 222. May I hear the comments of the OTP whether or not it is necessary to

13 read this lengthy document in part? 109.

14 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes, on this, the decisions that I believe are most

15 relevant would be number 1, not number 2, not number 3, number 4, I

16 believe is relevant. Not number 5. Number 6, point 5 we believe is

17 relevant. Number 7, particularly points number 1 and number 5. Not

18 number 8. Not number 9. Not number 10. Not number 11. Number 12, yes,

19 we believe is important, particularly 12.2. Not number 13. Not number

20 14. Not number 15. Not number 16. Not number 17. I just would

21 emphasise, I'm trying to get the most relevant. Some of these have some

22 relevance, but I'm trying to cut it down.

23 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Probably you can direct us later on. Let us

24 start immediately as you indicated, you are the moving party, and you

25 tendered this document. I understood decision number 1 in its entirety.

1 Right?

2 MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes.

3 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: So could we please hear number 1.

4 THE REGISTRAR: "Number 1, Official Gazette of the Autonomous

5 Region of Krajina. Year 1, issue 2. Banja Luka, 5 June, 1992. Annual

6 subscription, 6.000 dinars.

7 "Number 1: Pursuant to the decision of the Ministry of National

8 Defence of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, number 1/92,

9 dated 16 April 1992, and an evaluation of the situation on the territory,

10 with the aim of defending and protecting the people and property and of

11 maintaining peace for all who live in these areas, the secretariat for

12 national defence of the Autonomous Region of Krajina has made the

13 following decision:

14 "1, general public mobilisation is ordered on the entire territory

15 of the Autonomous Region of Krajina.

16 "2, all persons of military age in the Autonomous Region of

17 Krajina must make themselves immediately available to the municipal

18 headquarters of Territorial Defence which will then, according to their

19 estimates and plans, carry out mobilisations, the formation, and

20 engagement of units.

21 "3, all organs of social communities and all economic and other

22 organisations shall immediately shift to the wartime schedules.

23 "4, a curfew shall be introduced on the entire territory during

24 the period from 2200 till 0500 hours, except for persons with official

25 police authorisation, military police, and members of the Serbian

1 Territorial Defence.

2 "5, all paramilitary formations and individuals who illegally

3 possess weapons and ammunition are to immediately, and by 1500 hours on 11

4 May, 1992, at the latest, surrender them to the municipal headquarters of

5 Territorial Defence or to the nearest public security station. After this

6 deadline, competent bodies shall carry out a search and confiscate weapons

7 and ammunition with the application of the most rigorous sanctions.

8 "Reasons: 1, the carrying out of a general public mobilisation

9 involves taking all the necessary steps ensuing from the situation,

10 according to the concrete circumstances on the territory of each

11 municipality.

12 "2, in carrying out the general public mobilisation, the following

13 steps should be taken: Mobilisation of the units added to the JNA forces,

14 not withdrawing troops from the war units; in the remainder of the

15 Territorial Defence, mobilise the headquarters and those units and

16 material goods which can be employed to completely secure the territory

17 and protect the population, without any possibility of surprise; all

18 persons of military age and citizens whose wartime assignment and place of

19 reporting have been established are to report to their respective

20 mobilisation areas after receiving their callup papers, while those

21 persons of military age and citizens without wartime assignments, are to

22 report to the military departments, secretariats for national defence, or

23 to their local communes.

24 "3, in effecting the shift to the wartime operation in social

25 communities and economic and other organisations, their competent services

1 and organs shall take the following steps: Ensure communications

2 according to priorities; determine and ensure priorities in the supply of

3 food, oil derivatives, energy and other requirements; organise and provide

4 continuous production in the new circumstances.

5 "4, presidents of municipal Crisis Staffs shall be responsible for

6 the implementation of this decision and for the implementation of this

7 decision, they are given all authorisation.

8 "5, this decision shall come into force on the day it is issued.

9 It will be published in the Official Gazette of the Autonomous Region of

10 Krajina.

11 "Secretary of the national defence, secretariat of the Autonomous

12 Region of Krajina, Lieutenant-Colonel Milorad Sajic.

13 "Number 03-282/92. 4 May 1992, Banja Luka."

14 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you, may we then turn to page 5 of the

15 same documents where we can find conclusion number 4.

16 THE REGISTRAR: "Number 4: At its meeting held on 8 May, 1992,

17 the Crisis Staff of the Autonomous Region of Krajina reached the following

18 conclusions:

19 "1, presidents of the national defence council are to supply

20 detailed information to the war staff of the Autonomous Region of Krajina

21 about mobilisation in their municipalities.

22 "2 the distribution of oil products and consumer goods is to be

23 placed under the control of the National Defence Councils.

24 "3, presidents of the national defence councils are to report to

25 the war staff of the Autonomous Region of Krajina" --

1 MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, I think after point 3 the only

2 relevant point would be number 9 on this document.

3 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Then please go to number 9 immediately.

4 THE REGISTRAR: "Number 9: All war plans in Krajina enterprises

5 must be analysed and approved by the National Defence Council of the

6 relevant municipality or the war staff the Autonomous Region of Krajina.

7 "All management posts in enterprises must be held by persons

8 absolutely loyal to the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina."

9 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. Then page 13, conclusion number 6,

10 here I understood limited to point 5.

11 THE REGISTRAR: "5, we appeal again to the presidents of the

12 National Defence Councils to take steps to disarm paramilitary formations

13 and individuals who illegally own weapons and ammunition.

14 "The weapons should be turned over to the nearest public security

15 station by 1500 hours on 11 May, 1992 at the latest.

16 "Firm action shall be taken against those who refuse to return

17 weapons."

18 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Just for the record, it is allegedly a document

19 from 9 May, 1992, and allegedly signed by the president of the Crisis

20 Staff, Radislav Brdjanin.

21 Then page 15, 7 from the beginning until the end of number 5.

22 THE REGISTRAR: "7: At a session held on 11th of May, 1992, the

23 Crisis Staff the Autonomous Region of Krajina reached the following

24 conclusions:

25 "1, the deadline for the surrender of illegally acquired weapons

1 has been extended to 14 May 1992 at 2400 hours.

2 "The deadline by which all weapons were to be handed in expired

3 today and has been extended at the request of citizens of all

4 nationalities. This decision was explained by the wish for the weapons to

5 be returned in a peaceful manner and without police intervention.

6 "After the deadline expires, weapons will be confiscated by

7 employees of the Security Services Centre of the Autonomous Region of

8 Krajina, and severe sanctions will be imposed on those who ignore the call

9 of the Crisis Staff.

10 "2, the classes in all primary and secondary schools in the

11 Autonomous Region of Krajina shall end by 20 May 1992 at the latest.

12 "3, JNA organs are to return immediately all military records to

13 the relevant municipal national defence secretariats.

14 "4, the work of the Crisis Staff of the Autonomous Region of

15 Krajina is given full support.

16 "5, all work plans of Krajina enterprises must be analysed and

17 approved by the National Defence Council of the relevant municipality or

18 by the war staff of the Autonomous Region of Krajina.

19 "Management posts in Krajina enterprises must be filled by persons

20 who are absolutely loyal to the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and

21 Herzegovina."

22 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. Also this document is allegedly

23 signed by Radislav Brdjanin, president of the Crisis Staff.

24 MR. KOUMJIAN: I'm sorry, Your Honour, I think point number 6 is

25 relevant. I'm sorry if I didn't indicate that before. Just ask that be

1 read.

2 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Also point 6.

3 THE REGISTRAR: "6, all able-bodied men aged between 18 and 55

4 years who have fled from the Autonomous Region of Krajina, must

5 immediately return to their municipalities and help their fellow citizens

6 in the fight against the enemy.

7 "Ignoring the above-mentioned calls shall result in a ban on the

8 return of the said individuals to their homes, that is, to the area of the

9 Autonomous Region of Krajina, and the confiscation of all their property,

10 both moveable and immoveable."

11 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you.

12 Then may we turn to page 21, conclusion 12 from the beginning

13 until the end of number 2.

14 THE REGISTRAR: "12, at a meeting of the Crisis Staff of the

15 Autonomous Region of Krajina held on 18 May, 1992" --

16 THE INTERPRETER: Please slow down when reading the document.

17 THE REGISTRAR: Sorry about that.

18 "On 18 May, 1992, the following conclusions were reached:

19 Conclusions:

20 "1, a delegation of the Autonomous Region of Krajina, consisting

21 of Vojo Kupresanin, Nikola Erceg, Milorad Sajic, and Stojan Zupljanin is

22 to go to Pale and hold talks on defining the territory towards Semberija.

23 "2, the Crisis Staffs are now the highest organ of authorities in

24 the municipalities.

25 "3, Illegally obtained weapons will be taken away by members of

1 the municipality and civilian police."

2 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you.

3 MR. LUKIC: Your Honour, would it be for point 5 to be read out,

4 please.

5 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: No doubt. Please continue until we have

6 concluded point 5.

7 THE REGISTRAR: Should I continue with point 3?

8 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Yes.

9 THE REGISTRAR: "3, I illegally obtained weapons will be taken

10 away members of the military and civilian police.

11 "4, all formations that are not in the army of the Serbian

12 Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Banja Luka Security Services

13 Centre and are in the Autonomous Region of Krajina are considered

14 paramilitary formations and must be disarmed.

15 "All those who are not part of the armed forces of the Serbian

16 Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina or its police must return their

17 weapons.

18 "5, members of other nationalities living in these areas must come

19 to the defence of their centuries-old homesteads under the banner of the

20 Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina because peace must be the

21 common interest."

22 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you for this. And thank you for on the

23 direction of the Defence that we could hear this in the context.

24 Following the list before me, there would be nothing additional,

25 no additional document which would be necessary read out because it was

1 either read out in its entirety or in the portions in the presence of the

2 one or other witness. But the OTP may let us know if they are interested

3 in reading out any other documents. From our point of view, as regards

4 Lists 2, 3, 4, 5, the work is done.

5 May we then -- yes, please.

6 MR. KOUMJIAN: I just wanted to give the Court and Defence counsel

7 notice of the schedule, at least at the moment, because we have been -- it

8 has been changing hour by hour. Right now, for next week, we have number

9 22 who we anticipate will testify Monday and Tuesday. And number 59 for

10 Wednesday and Thursday.

11 Also, we have a report which we are going to disclose today. It's

12 from one of the experts that we've had on our list to testify, the

13 demographer. This report, however, is -- it's Witness number 77. It's an

14 in-house expert. The report was actually prepared for the Keraterm case.

15 It concerns, though, the municipality of Prijedor. We have asked the

16 demographic unit to update that because it's based upon data that's a

17 couple years old. And we have been waiting somewhat to update it because

18 of new data coming from two different sources. One is the book of missing

19 persons. We're supposed to get an electronic copy update of their data.

20 We were supposed to get it at the end of June, but it has not arrived yet.

21 And secondly, we were also waiting for the information from the exhumation

22 at Jakarina Kos where about 300 bodies were exhumed. So I have asked her

23 to update that report in regards to the number of people missing and

24 killed in Prijedor in 1992. However, the Keraterm report also includes

25 information on population displacements, in other words, changes in the

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1 percentages of different ethnic groups, based upon data available in 1991,

2 1993, 1995, and 1997. Obviously, the most relevant is 1993, but the most

3 accurate data would be from 1997, which was when there were elections

4 held.

5 What I've asked her to do is we're going to take that data from

6 the Keraterm report which we'll disclose today and try to make that into a

7 small report so that she can testify this month regarding the population

8 changes. Regarding the people missing, the total number of people missing

9 and killed in Prijedor in 1992, that report won't be ready this month, but

10 I hope to use our time this month, I hope to have her testify regarding

11 the population displacements. That will be a short testimony in July.

12 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. I understand that it will be

13 distributed now? May the usher please distribute the document.

14 MR. KOUMJIAN: Sorry, we have the copy for the Defence only today,

15 although I have an extra copy. We have two copies. We can give it later

16 to the Chamber.

17 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you.

18 MR. KOUMJIAN: And we have this translated into French.

19 JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. "Merci beaucoup."

20 Any other observations by the Defence? It's not the case. Let's

21 hope that we have witnesses available next week. For the reason of the

22 upcoming plenary of the Judges, the trial stays adjourned until next

23 Monday, 2.15.

24 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at

25 1.45 p.m., to be reconvened on

1 Monday, the 15th day of July, 2002,

2 at 2.15 p.m.

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