Kos et al: Silence Over Events at Branjevo

Dragan Todorovic, former logistics officer with the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, Main Headquarters, said that the soldiers who went to Branjevo on July 15 or 16, 1995, including indictees Franc Kos and Vlastimir Golijan, did not know what they would be doing there.

“They knew where they were going, but they did not know what they would be doing,” Todorovic said, adding that more than five but less than ten members of the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad went to Branjevo.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Franc Kos, Vlastimir Golijan, Stanko Kojic and Zoran Goronja, former members of the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad with the VRS Main Headquarters, with having participated in the murder of more than 800 Srebrenica residents on Branjevo military farm, Zvornik municipality.

According to the State Prosecution, Kos was Commander of a unit with the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad and the other indictees were members of that unit.

The witness identified the four indictees in the courtroom, saying that they were members of the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad with the VRS Main Headquarters.

Todorovic said that he provided his colleagues who went to Branjevo with material and technical resources, but he did not ask them what they had been doing, because, he said, it was in line with “the unit’s rules”, which everyone signed.

“I learnt about the murders committed on Branjevo from the media, when they started digging graves and mentioning members of my unit,” Todorovic said.

The witness mentioned that his unit was directly subordinate to the VRS Main Headquarters and Commander Ratko Mladic, adding that Mladic signed contracts with the unit members on behalf of the Main Headquarters.

Mladic, former Commander of the Main Headquarters of the Republika Srpska Army, was arrested in Serbia on May 26 this year after more than 15 years on the run. He was transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, on May 31 to face charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war.

“The Tenth Reconnaissance Squad entered Srebrenica on July 9 or 10, 1995. We did not face any resistance when we entered Srebrenica. We were ordered to unblock all major buildings,” the witness said, adding that Mladic came to them later on in order to congratulate them.

At this hearing the Defence cross-examined medical court expert Rifat Kesetovic, whom the Prosecution examined on June 3 this year.

Court expert Kesetovic said that through an analysis of bones, it was not possible to determine the cause of death with 100% certainty.

“In some cases bones belonging to one body were found in several graves,” Kesetovic said.

The trial is due to continue on June 17, when the State Prosecution will present material evidence.

A.S.