Karadzic: Deportation Lists

On the third day of his testimony at Karadzic’s trial, Hague Prosecution witness Milorad Davidovic said that, in 1992 the Crisis Committee in Bijeljina had “lists of the Muslim population who were going to be deported”.
 
“I was present in the Crisis Committee premises when they made the plan and decided on the way of work. In that plan they said that they would move Muslims out of Bijeljina. Local Serbian Democratic Party, SDS leaders made lists of people, who were going to be moved out,” Davidovic said.
 
The witness pointed out that in the summer of 1992, he “spoke” to Muslims, who were forced to leave Bijeljina. As he said, they told him that their names were on those lists.
 
Radovan Karadzic is charged with having participated, in collaboration with SDS members, crisis committees and paramilitary units, in a joint criminal enterprise with the aim of deporting the non-Serb population from Bijeljina and 19 other municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
 
Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska, RS and SDS, is on trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY for genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war committed from 1992 to 1995.
 
Davidovic said that he was sent to the Bijeljina and Zvornik areas in 1992 on behalf of the Secretariat for Internal Affairs, SUP of Yugoslavia in order to help RS authorities “prevent robberies and banditry committed by paramilitary units”.
 
According to Davidovic, his unit arrested a few members of the “Zute ose” (“Yellow Wasps”) paramilitary unit in Zvornik in the summer of 1992, but they were released to liberty after being held in detention for a month, because judicial institutions “did not want to criminally prosecute them”.
 
“We arrested the ‘Zute ose’, the gang whose members robbed people. Thirty days later they were released from detention. As far as I know, this was done because Karadzic and Krajisnik insisted on it, as it was said that Serbs should not be prosecuted. The process was discontinued. The case was put in a drawer and was never processed again,” Davidovic said.
 
In 2009, Momcilo Krajisnik, member of the Main Board of SDS, was sentenced before The Hague Tribunal to 20 years in prison for participation in crimes in ten Bosnian municipalities.
 
Responding to Karadzic’s questions, witness Davidovic said that he was never a member of the SDS.
 
“In my opinion, mono-ethnic parties are horrible, conservative and primitive. I think it is a horrible thing if someone attaches special emphasis to one ethnic group only. I was born as a Serb, but I do not deny the right of any other nation or religion to have their own culture,” the witness said.
 
During the course of cross-examination indictee Karadzic said that the witness used to have “problems with the law”, adding that, in Defence’s opinion he was “not an eligible witness”. Davidovic denied his allegations.
 
Davidovic’s cross-examination is due to be continued on Thursday, June 30 this year.