Karadzic: Crimes Caused by Hatred

While cross-examining Prosecution witness Momir Nikolic, Karadzic said that the mass murder of Bosniaks following the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995 were caused by attacks by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH from the enclave against the Republika Srpska Army, VRS and the surrounding villages from 1993 onwards, resulting in numerous victims. He said that those were “terrorist operations”. Nikolic, who was Chief of Security with the Bratunac Brigade of VRS at that time, confirmed that Bosniak forces constantly conducted attacks from the enclave, which was protected by the United Nations, UN. When asked by the judges to explain the relevance of the lengthy examination of the witness about events that happened in 1993, Karadzic said that he wanted to determine “the basis for the pattern of behaviour of individuals, groups and perhaps also commands” within the Serbs’ troops in July 1995, “not because we want to justify it, but understand it”. Karadzic, the then President of Republika Srpska, RS, and supreme Commander of the VRS, is charged with genocide against more than 7,000 Bosniak men and persecution of thousands of women and children from Srebrenica. Also, he is charged with persecuting Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, shelling of Sarajevo and taking international personnel hostage. In 2003 Nikolic (56) admitted guilt before the Tribunal for the persecution of Bosniaks from Srebrenica. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He is serving his sentence in Finland. Up to the present date he has testified at several ICTY trials against former VRS officers, who were charged with genocide and other crimes against Bosniaks from Srebrenica. During the course of his testimony, which began on Monday, February 13, Nikolic said that the top level VRS officers, including Commander Ratko Mladic, indicated to him, right after the fall of Srebrenica, that all Bosniak men would be killed. Nikolic confirmed that this actually happened, adding that “a horrible crime” was committed against Bosniaks from Srebrenica. While examining the witness, Karadzic said that the VRS could have occupied Srebrenica in 1993, but he prevented it, ordering them to terminate the offensive. Nikolic confirmed his allegation. By presenting a document issued by Srebrenica authorities at the beginning of 1994, the indictee wanted to prove they intentionally “gave wrong numbers of Muslims living in the enclave, saying that the number was bigger, in order to get additional humanitarian aid, which the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina then took for itself”. According to the document, about 37,000 people lived in Srebrenica in January 1994, but the authorities informed international organizations that Srebrenica had 45,000 inhabitants. “It means 8,000 more people,” Karadzic said. Nikolic said that, according to his estimates at the time, “between 40,000 and 45,000” people lived in Srebrenica. The witness accepted Karadzic’s suggestion that this was the biggest number of inhabitants in the enclave, adding that the number could have only decreased by July 1995. “After Srebrenica had been declared a protected zone in 1993, no mass arrivals in the town were registered. I know that, at the beginning of 1994 between 3,000 and 4,000 people left the enclave with convoys,” Nikolic said. He said that it was true that, in May 1995 the ABiH “planned” an attack from Srebrenica with the aim of expanding the enclave, connecting with its forces in Kladanj and Tuzla and “defeating Serbian forces”. During the examination Karadzic tried to deny the Prosecution’s allegations that the Serbian authorities and Army prevented humanitarian convoys from entering Srebrenica. Calling on a document about a Russian humanitarian convoy, he said that 53 tons of food were brought to the enclave in late May 1995. Nikolic confirmed that it was what the document said, adding that the document did not indicate whether the convoy entered Srebrenica after all. Karadzic is due to continue cross-examining witness Nikolic on February 15. R.M.