Karadzic: Crimes Reduced to Minimum
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Supporting his allegation, Katic said that 1,500 non-Serb citizens stayed in Grbavica until the end of the war, adding that they used to receive their pensions and humanitarian aid, just like Serbs.
Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska and Supreme Commander of its Army, is charged with persecuting Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and terrorising civilians in Sarajevo by long-lasting shelling and sniping. He is also charged with genocide and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.
According to the witness, the political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina collapsed in the summer of 1992. He said that, following the establishment of Serb authorities in Novo Sarajevo, crimes were reduced to minimum thanks to Karadzic, among others. Katic denied that Karadzic had ever ordered the cutting of water and electricity supplies to the Sarajevo urban areas.
When asked by Karadzic why the Serb authorities of Novo Sarajevo had been dismissed of their duties prior to him taking over in March 1993, the witness said that his predecessors failed to do enough to prevent irregularities in the distribution of humanitarian aid and pensions. I heard many times that non-Serbs were not treated in the same manner as Serbs, that they left Grbavica and that they were persecuted, he said.
Responding to a question on whether the former authorities committed crimes, Katic said that he had not heard about such things.
While being cross-examined by the Prosecutor, the witness confirmed that some armed people were present on the upper floors of the Metalka building in Grbavica and that, had they wanted to do it, they could have target the area in front of the Holiday Inn Hotel in Sarajevos downtown area.
According to the charges against Karadzic, several trams were attacked in the vicinity of Holiday Inn Hotel from sniper nests of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS located in Metalka building.
During an additional examination Katic said that he personally did not go to Metalka building, adding that soldiers were on frontlines and in basements. They could not go to the upper floors. When asked by presiding judge O-gon Kwon why he had just said that some armed people were present on the upper floors, the witness said that not all apartments were unoccupied.
Luka Dragicevic, who was Assistant Commander for Morale and Religious Issues of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of VRS from November 1994 to the end of the war, testified in Karadzics defence at this hearing.
Dragicevic said that he does not know of any crimes committed in the zone of responsibility of the Corps in that period of time. He said that, acting on orders received from the Command, the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps opened fire only on visible enemy positions in order to prevent civilian victims.
According to Dragicevic, during the course of the war the Corps defended Serb neighbourhoods from attacks by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which used civilian buildings. The witness said that the siege of Sarajevo existed naturally and that nobody created it, because Serb neighbourhoods were located around the city centre area. He said that the Corps had never deprived Sarajevo citizens of electricity, gas and water.
Dragicevic told the Tribunal that the Muslim side rejected VRS offers to conduct joint investigations of the incidents in Sarajevo, blaming the Serb side for them.
The witness confirmed that UNPROFOR members were captured as per an order issued by a higher command in order to protect VRS from NATO air strikes.
Prosecutor Jullian Nicholls dedicated the most part of the cross-examination to denying the credibility of this witness on the basis of orders he issued. The Prosecutor presented Dragicevic with his order to burn down a village in the vicinity of Visegrad in 1992. However, the witness responded by saying that it was a hamlet consisting of three houses and that no civilians lived in it at the time, but the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina used it on the frontline.
The trial of Karadzic is due to continue on Friday.
