Pelemis and Peric: Type of Death Undetermined

Svetlana Radovanovic, court expert in demography, said that, out of 179 people, who are, as said by the State Prosecution expert witness, directly linked to the grave in Pilica, a DNA link to that grave was present in the case of two persons only.
 
In March 2011, expert witness Radovanovic presented her findings and opinion at the trial of Momir Pelemis and Slavko Peric, saying that Rifat Kesetovic, State Prosecution expert witness, failed to present data about the identification of 179 people, who, as he said, had been identified.
 
“It was said that the mentioned 179 people died between July 12 and 17, 1995, but July 16 was not mentioned as the day of their death,” Radovanovic said.
 
The State Prosecution charges Momir Pelemis and Slavko Peric, former members of the First Battalion Command with the Zvornik Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, with having participated in genocide in Srebrenica in July 1995.
 
According to the charges, Pelemis and Peric participated in a joint plan for the permanent and forcible moving of the Bosniak population from the Srebrenica protected enclave and the murder of more than 1,000 men on Branjevo military farm and in the Cultural Centre in Pilica village, Zvornik municipality on July 15 and 16, 1995.
 
The expert witness said that 83, out of 179, people could be identified as members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while, according to a list made by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina , five of them died prior to 1995.
 
“On the basis of the documents, which I used for preparing my report, the type of death cannot be determined through any scientific method. This means that it cannot be determined whether they died in a combat, committed suicide or something like that,” Radovanovic said.
 
The next hearing is due to be held on Thursday, June 30 this year.

A.J.