Karadzic: Blindfolds and a glass of water
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Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska, is charged with genocide in Srebrenica and seven other municipalities, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war.
According to the indictment, Republika Srpska forces, under the command of Karadzic shot around 1000 people in Orahovac on the 14th and 15th of July 1995, after the capture of Srebrenica.
The Hague prosecution read a summary of a statement which the witness gave during another trial before The Hague tribunal. According to the summary, the witness said he was forcibly removed from his family on July 12th 1995 in Potocari, and was held along with hundreds of other Bosniaks in a warehouse in Bratunac. He said Serb soldiers killed around 80 prisoners around the warehouse.
The detained Bosniaks, 295 of them, were transferred on the 14th of July to a school in Orahovac, after general Mladic told them they were going to be exchanged. Mladic is charged before The Hague tribunal for crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Serb soldiers brought new detainees to the hall of the school all morning. Hundreds were crammed in that little space, under threat that those who protested would be killed”, said the witness.
He added that soldiers then took the detainees out and placed blindfolds on them and gave them a glass of water, before they were put on a truck. KDZ-39 said he was transferred to a nearby meadow, and that he saw bodies across the road.
Serb soldiers, according to the witness, ordered the Bosniaks to stand in line, and fired on them. The witness was not hit, and other bodies fell over him. He said he saw the shootings of new groups of Bosniaks all through the night under lights of machines which were brought to dig out mass graves.
In the morning, the 15th of July, when the Serb soldiers left, KDZ-039 fled and four days later he escaped to territory under the control of the BIH army.
During cross examination, when asked by Karadzic if he was a member of the BiH Army until the demilitarization of Srebrenica, the witness said he was but that he had no uniform of weapon, because he worked in kitchens.
When asked if Srebrenica was demilitarized, the witness said “they say it was, I didn’t demilitarize it, ask others”.
The trial will continue on Monday, the 28th of November.
