Alic: Video for History

The trial of Sefik Alic has continued with the testimony of prosecution witness Meho Veladzic.

Veladzic, a former member of Moral Sector of the 505th Buzim Brigade, also worked as the brigade cameraman. He recorded “military operations and positions at the battlefield”.

The prosecution considers that Veladzic made a recording of the “Oluja” military operation, which is one of the key pieces of evidence presented by the prosecution at this trial.

The indictment alleges that members of “Hamze” battalion arrested, on 5 August 1995, four soldiers, members of the Republika Srpska Krajina Army, who were murdered on the same day. The prosecution considers Alic responsible for having failed to “investigate and punish” the perpetrators of the murders.

The indictment further alleges that the prisoners were killed by Arabian citizen Tewfik Al Harbi, who is currently on the run.

The witness has answered most questions made by Prosecutor Peter Kidd by saying that he does not remember. Trial Chamber Chairwoman Minka Kreho has pointed out that the witness, however, has given concrete answers to the questions made by the defence attorney. “I simply feel familiarity with the indictee’s defence attorney,” Veladzic has explained.

In the course of the “Oluja” military operation Veladzic was with the members of the First Squad of “Hamze” Battalion. He has not been able to recall the exact situations when he recorded the prisoners. However, he has been able to confirm that the prisoners were not maltreated.

Veladzic has said that, while the army was on the move, Battalion Commander Asim Bajraktarevic took care of the prisoners.

The prosecutor has reminded the witness of his statement given to the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in which he said that he did not know who had taken charge of the prisoners from that moment.

The witness has explained that, when he gave the statement to the prosecution, he denied this and some other statements contained in his earlier statement given to SIPA.

“You can suppress some recollections, but you can not recreate them,” the witness has explained the discrepancies between his statements. He claims not to have paid much attention when he was giving the statement to SIPA, because he was feasting and he was tired, but also because the investigators informed him that he could withdraw the statement whenever he wanted.

Veladzic has also said that, later on he saw four bodies, which, he supposed, belonged to the imprisoned soldiers.

“I briefly ‘scanned’ the bodies with my camera. I thought it might have some value. Historical value,” he has told the court.

He says he never found out what had happened with the bodies or who had committed the murder. He has confirmed that the murder was a revenge for the killing of Izet Nanic, Commander of the 505th Buzim Brigade. He never discussed the murder with Tewfik al Harbi, with whom he established friendship at an occasion when they visited a mosque together.

“I felt something nice for him,” Veladzic has said. He saw Tewfik with the prisoners, but he cannot recall when exactly that happened or what Al Harbi was doing at the moment.

The witness has said that he knew Sefik Alic, but he does not know what his function was in the course of the “Oluja” military operation. He further claims he does not remember seeing Alic with the prisoners.

The witness was shown two DVD recordings while the public was excluded from the courtroom. One of them was shown by the prosecution and the other one by the defence. Commenting on the prosecution’s recording, Veladzic has said that “something is wrong” and “something has been adjusted”.

The defence has handed over to the Trial Chamber the DVD, the transcript of the DVD and 72 photographs extracted from the recording as material evidence.

The trial is due to continue on 9 October.