Karadzic: Prosecution’s Presentation of Evidence Completed
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Testifying as the last, 195th Prosecution witness, KDZ-071 said that he survived the massacre in the Co-operative warehouse in Kravica, where, according to the charges, Bosnian Serb forces killed 1,000 Bosniak captives on July 13, 1995.
Karadzic, former Supreme Commander of RS armed forces, is charged with genocide against more than 7,000 Bosniaks from Srebrenica, who were shot following the occupation of the enclave by the RS Army on July 11, 1995. Besides that, Karadzic is charged with persecuting Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorising civilians in Sarajevo and taking international soldiers hostage.
KDZ-071 said that he surrendered, along with other men, who were trying to break through the circle around Srebrenica through the woods, to Serb soldiers on July 13. The protected witness said that Ratko Mladic visited them, while they were on a meadow in Sandici.
He asked us if we knew who he was. He then said that it was not good to make war on Serbs. He said: ‘You families have been evacuated to Tuzla, Kladanj, Zivinice. You will most probably be exchanged by the end of the day. Nobody will beat you. It is very hot here, so you will be transferred to a cooler place’. We applauded and said thank you, comrade general. He encouraged us nicely, the witness said.
The witness told the Court that Bosniaks were then walked to the warehouse in Kravica, which had already been full of prisoners, so not even a single match could be put in it.
When the last man entered the room, there was not enough room for him to sit down, although a guard ordered him to do so. They began shooting from all directions. The warehouse became very dark. People started squalling and shouting. I lied down in a corner with Salko, whose body was cut in two halves by a burst of bullets. The shooting continued almost until the evening. We then heard them talking and laughing the whole night, witness KDZ-071 said.
The protected witness said that, in the morning on July 14 Serb soldiers asked if there were any wounded people, inviting them to come out so they could be transferred to hospital. Some men went out. They were killed, the witness said. He spent the day hiding underneath other bodies, while Serb soldiers dragged corpses to the other side of the warehouse.
After midnight on July 15, when the place became totally quiet, the witness dared go out of the warehouse together with another survivor. A guard noticed them and shot at them. They managed to flee. As he said, KDZ-071 was hiding in the woods until the beginning of September.
While Karadzic was cross-examining him, the witness confirmed that, although he was rather old, he became member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.
When asked by the indictee why he told the Tuzla authorities in 1995 that the warehouse in Kravica was empty when the captives were brought, the witness denied having said that, despite having been presented with the statement in the courtroom. When asked if he said that members of Serbian forces shot at the captives from bazookas, he said: They used all kinds of weapons. What is most important is that they killed the people.
The trial of Karadzic will continue soon with a hearing at which the indictee will present his motion for acquittal, based on his allegation that the Prosecution has not proved his guilt during the presentation of its evidence. The prosecutors will respond to the motion in the courtroom. The Trial Chamber will render its decision a short time later.
Karadzic is due to examine a first defence witness on October 16. Until then, he will prepare his defence, as decided by judges.
R.M.
