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David Fraser, who was Assistant Commander of UNPROFOR in Sarajevo from April 1994 to May 1995, said he heard about a recording showing “Muslims shooting on their people”, but he did not personally see it. He said that UNPROFOR members conducted an investigation into a shelling incident in the Sarajevo downtown area for which “Muslim forces” were responsible.
“A civilian area was attacked from positions held by Serbs. After that, Muslim forces attacked it as well. (…) It seems to me that their intention was to cause more casualties and blame Serbs for it,” Fraser said.
The Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia considers Karadzic responsible for a shelling and sniping campaign conducted in Sarajevo during the war. He is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995.
Fraser said that UNPROFOR members had difficulties locating Serb snipers, as they were highly specialised.
“Snipers followed a certain pattern. We thought their actions were coordinated by higher level structures and commanded by the Corps,” Fraser said, adding that meetings held between UNPROFOR representatives and the Corps Command staff with the aim of reducing sniper attacks against civilians “yielded temporary results” in most cases.
The Hague Tribunal has rendered second instance verdicts against two former Commanders of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps, SRC, of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS. Stanislav Galic was sentenced to life imprisonment and Dragomir Milosevic to 29 years in prison for the shelling of Sarajevo.
Radovan Karadzic was President of Republika Srpska and Supreme Commander of its armed forces during the course of the war.
The witness told the Court that, besides the shelling and sniping, “the feeling of horror” in Sarajevo was caused by the blocking of humanitarian aid convoys.
Karadzic tried to prove that Serb forces had several reasons for being careful to approve the passage of convoys through Sarajevo, mentioning the participation of UN members in “black market” deals as one of them.
The witness confirmed that the UN opened an investigation into the issue, but he disagreed that the freedom of movement of UN forces should have been restricted.
The cross-examination of the Canadian general is due to continue on Tuesday, October 19.
