Karadzic: Artillery Fire
At the trial of the former Republika Srpska President, prosecution witness Major Francis Roy Thomas continued his testimony, saying United Nations observers did not record any cases of Bosnian forces opening artillery fire in 1993 and 1994.
This post is also available in: Bosnian
During the course of cross-examination Major Thomas said that Serb forces never complained to UN observers about tanks from Bosnian forces opening fire on them.
“If artillery weapons are used for sustaining defence, it is considered a legitimate target, but if civilians are harmed, it is not legitimate. If a military document makes no mention of civilians, it does not mean we did not get a report on the number of killed civilians,” witness Thomas said, explaining several documents presented to him by indictee Karadzic.
Thomas testified for the Hague Prosecution at the trial of Radovan Karadzic, former Supreme Commander of Republika Srpska armed forces. Karadzic is on trial on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and contribution to spreading terror among the civilians population of Sarajevo through a sniper and shelling campaign conducted in Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995.
Major Thomas disagreed with Karadzic’s statement that between 50 and 80 thousand members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who Karadzic said were able to open fire on positions held by Bosnian Serbs, were based in Sarajevo.
“I think they exaggerated when they spoke about the numbers. We had some estimates, but I believe they did not correspond to the actual numbers,” Thomas said, confirming that 42 kilometers of front lines held by Bosnian Serbs and Muslims in Sarajevo adjoined each other. That figure later increased to 62 kilometers.
During the course of the examination Thomas confirmed that members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, shelled the city for a certain period of time. The witness explained that he often used this fact as an anecdote to describe the nature of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, explaining that Croats from Kiseljak opened fire on Croats living in Sarajevo.
Speaking about sniper fire, the witness said an elderly man was hit in the vicinity of the airport, on the road leading towards the Dobrinja settlement, as a crew from U.S. broadcaster CNN was passing by.
Thomas said they were not able to identify the position from which the man had been wounded. He mentioned the fact that the reporters’ crew was passing by and filmed the incident, which was then broadcast in the news, in an effort to show the situation in Sarajevo at that time.
The trial is due to continue on September 27.
“If artillery weapons are used for sustaining defence, it is considered a legitimate target, but if civilians are harmed, it is not legitimate. If a military document makes no mention of civilians, it does not mean we did not get a report on the number of killed civilians,” witness Thomas said, explaining several documents presented to him by indictee Karadzic.
Thomas testified for the Hague Prosecution at the trial of Radovan Karadzic, former Supreme Commander of Republika Srpska armed forces. Karadzic is on trial on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and contribution to spreading terror among the civilians population of Sarajevo through a sniper and shelling campaign conducted in Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995.
Major Thomas disagreed with Karadzic’s statement that between 50 and 80 thousand members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who Karadzic said were able to open fire on positions held by Bosnian Serbs, were based in Sarajevo.
“I think they exaggerated when they spoke about the numbers. We had some estimates, but I believe they did not correspond to the actual numbers,” Thomas said, confirming that 42 kilometers of front lines held by Bosnian Serbs and Muslims in Sarajevo adjoined each other. That figure later increased to 62 kilometers.
During the course of the examination Thomas confirmed that members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, shelled the city for a certain period of time. The witness explained that he often used this fact as an anecdote to describe the nature of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, explaining that Croats from Kiseljak opened fire on Croats living in Sarajevo.
Speaking about sniper fire, the witness said an elderly man was hit in the vicinity of the airport, on the road leading towards the Dobrinja settlement, as a crew from U.S. broadcaster CNN was passing by.
Thomas said they were not able to identify the position from which the man had been wounded. He mentioned the fact that the reporters’ crew was passing by and filmed the incident, which was then broadcast in the news, in an effort to show the situation in Sarajevo at that time.
The trial is due to continue on September 27.
E.M.
