Karadzic: Details “Inconsistent”
As he continued his cross-examination of a Prosecution witness, Radovan Karadzic analyzed individual incidents of sniper fire in Sarajevo which are included in the indictment.
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During his examination of witness Patrick Van Der Weijden, an expert in sniper fire, Karadzic said that during the course of the investigations into the sniper incidents “things were fixed in such a way as to correspond to positions held by Serbs”, arguing that the investigators did not look for the firing locations but for Serb positions.
“The entire mess and inconsistency and all the things charged against me are based on details. (…) I need time in order to go through each incident that remains in the indictment. Otherwise, all sniper incidents contained in List F should be dismissed,” Karadzic said.
The Hague Prosecution has charged Karadzic, the former President of Republika Srpska, with genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. Among other things, he is charged with participation in a sniper and shelling campaign against Sarajevo, during which thousands of people, including children and the elderly, were killed and wounded.
The indictment against Karadzic lists 16 incidents of sniper fire in Sarajevo in the period from 1992 to 1995. Patrick Van Der Weijden, who began his testimony on September 27, said he visited all those locations in 2006 and 2009 in order to identify the area from which the sniper fire came in each incident.
“My method consisted of preparing a brief description of the situation, visiting the location, examining it and determining the positions from which the bullets were fired. In my reports I only mentioned the general areas where the shooting could have been launched, I did not determine the specific buildings from which the sniper fire came,” the witness said.
The indictee mentioned an incident that took place on May 25, 1994, when, as stated in the indictment, two persons were wounded while riding in a bus in Dobrinja, a district of Sarajevo. He asked the witness how he could determine the position from which the bullet came, given the fact he did not know the angle at which the bullet hit the bus and “its trajectory inside the bus”.
“A Prosecution investigator showed me where the bus had been and the coordinates. He showed me the seats in question and the direction of the bus. On the basis of this and witness statements I determined the bullet came from that street,” Van Der Weijden said.
During the course of his examination of this witness, Karadzic pointed to some other “inconsistencies” in the investigator’s reports. He mentioned an incident that occured on July 22, 1994. As stated in the indictment, on that day a 13-year-old boy was wounded in Miljenka Cvitkovica street. Karadzic said this incident actually happened in Dzemala Bijedica street, which is located in front of Miljenka Cvitkovica.
The indictee asked the Trial Chamber for permission to visit the locations of the sniper incidents included in the indictment. The Court said it would “consider the request”.
While the examination of witness Van Der Weijden was scheduled to be completed at this hearing, the Chamber will allow the indictee to examine him for an additional 30 minutes on September 29.
Karadzic asked the Court to allow him to examine the witness for the entirety of the next hearing, arguing that it would be “of huge benefit to the Chamber and the dignity of the trial”, but the Chamber rejected his request.
“You have had about six and a half hours for examination of this witness, which is two and a half hours more than originally approved. You now have an additional half an hour and it is up to you to plan how you will examine the witness,” Trial Chamber Chairman O-Gon Kwon said.
“The entire mess and inconsistency and all the things charged against me are based on details. (…) I need time in order to go through each incident that remains in the indictment. Otherwise, all sniper incidents contained in List F should be dismissed,” Karadzic said.
The Hague Prosecution has charged Karadzic, the former President of Republika Srpska, with genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. Among other things, he is charged with participation in a sniper and shelling campaign against Sarajevo, during which thousands of people, including children and the elderly, were killed and wounded.
The indictment against Karadzic lists 16 incidents of sniper fire in Sarajevo in the period from 1992 to 1995. Patrick Van Der Weijden, who began his testimony on September 27, said he visited all those locations in 2006 and 2009 in order to identify the area from which the sniper fire came in each incident.
“My method consisted of preparing a brief description of the situation, visiting the location, examining it and determining the positions from which the bullets were fired. In my reports I only mentioned the general areas where the shooting could have been launched, I did not determine the specific buildings from which the sniper fire came,” the witness said.
The indictee mentioned an incident that took place on May 25, 1994, when, as stated in the indictment, two persons were wounded while riding in a bus in Dobrinja, a district of Sarajevo. He asked the witness how he could determine the position from which the bullet came, given the fact he did not know the angle at which the bullet hit the bus and “its trajectory inside the bus”.
“A Prosecution investigator showed me where the bus had been and the coordinates. He showed me the seats in question and the direction of the bus. On the basis of this and witness statements I determined the bullet came from that street,” Van Der Weijden said.
During the course of his examination of this witness, Karadzic pointed to some other “inconsistencies” in the investigator’s reports. He mentioned an incident that occured on July 22, 1994. As stated in the indictment, on that day a 13-year-old boy was wounded in Miljenka Cvitkovica street. Karadzic said this incident actually happened in Dzemala Bijedica street, which is located in front of Miljenka Cvitkovica.
The indictee asked the Trial Chamber for permission to visit the locations of the sniper incidents included in the indictment. The Court said it would “consider the request”.
While the examination of witness Van Der Weijden was scheduled to be completed at this hearing, the Chamber will allow the indictee to examine him for an additional 30 minutes on September 29.
Karadzic asked the Court to allow him to examine the witness for the entirety of the next hearing, arguing that it would be “of huge benefit to the Chamber and the dignity of the trial”, but the Chamber rejected his request.
“You have had about six and a half hours for examination of this witness, which is two and a half hours more than originally approved. You now have an additional half an hour and it is up to you to plan how you will examine the witness,” Trial Chamber Chairman O-Gon Kwon said.
M.H.
