Kravica: Witness problems for prosecution

Two witnesses testifying in the Kravica genocide case are not cooperating with the court, the prosecution complained on Thursday.

In court, Sinisa Becarevic – a policeman in Bratunac – and Obradin Balcakovic – a former member of the second detachment unit Sekovici of the Republika Srpska army – both changed the statements they had previously given to investigative authorities.

Taking the witness stand on Thursday, Becarevic claimed he could not remember the events from July 1995, when around a thousand Bosniaks were executed in Kravica village following the fall of Srebrenica. The prosecution is trying to prove that 11 former Bosnian Serb soldiers and policemen are responsible for the Kravica killings.

But in the statement he gave to the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in October last year, Becarevic said that “in the period between July 11 and 15, 1995” his commander, and one of the indictees Milos Stupar, called him to join the troops in Konjevic Polje.

In the statement to SIPA, which was read out in the courtroom, Becarevic also said that on the way there he saw an empty bus that was used to transport members of the special police of third platoon Skelani, part of the Sekovici detachment to which some of the indictees belonged.

Becarevic had also said that he did not personally participate in the detachment’s further actions.

But on Thursday Becarevic said he could not remember saying what was read out from the statement.

Faced with the contents of the previous statement and the prosecution’s charges that he did not want to participate, Becirevic claimed that he has “psychological problems”. He provided a doctor’s note dated March this year to support his claim.

He said that he takes medication regularly, and that as a current policeman “he does not carry weapons when under stress”.

The defence did not question this witness, stating that he was “in bad psychological health” and not able to testify.

The trial chamber decided that a court-appointed expert psychologist should determine the psychological health of Becarevic.

The second witness to appear on Thursday also said that the statement he gave to SIPA was not trustworthy. He said that when speaking to the investigators he based his testimony on rumours and alleged that the statement had been extracted from him “accompanied by fear and threats”.

In the SIPA statement, which was read out in court,witness Balcakovic said that he was in the same army unit as defendants Milos Stupar, Brano Dzinic and Milovan Matic and he had recognised the other indictees as members of the Skelani unit.

On Thursday, however, he said did not participate in the attack on Srebrenica, so therefore he did not know whether any of the defendants were there.

The trial will continue on July 14, when new prosecution witnesses will be called.