Fantasies about the Involvement of Foreign Intelligence Officers

As the trial of Ratko Mladic continues, former Chief Prosecution Investigator for Srebrenica Genocide Jean-Rene Ruez denies a suggestion by Mladic’s Defence that “foreign intelligence services” were involved in mass murders of Srebrenica Muslims in July 1995, saying that it was “a fantasy”.

Defence attorney Branko Lukic asked the witness whether he heard “rumours that foreign intelligence services were involved in the murders of Muslims” during an investigation into Srebrenica events, which he conducted from 1995 to 2001.

“No, when rumours came so close to fantasy, I did not have time to waste on that subject,” Ruez said.

The indictment alleges that Mladic, the then Commander of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, is charged with genocide against about 7,000 Muslim men and persecution of thousands of women and children from Srebrenica in the days after the VRS had occupied the UN protected enclave on July 11, 1995.

When the Defence attorney said local authorities in Sarajevo had classified the Srebrenica crime as genocide even prior to the investigation, the witness said that this was not done until The Hague Tribunal sentenced VRS General Radislav Krstic for assisting in the commission of genocide in Srebrenica.

During the additional examination of the witness Prosecutor Peter Mccloskey presented working orders related to trench-diggers and other VRS heavy machinery, which were deployed to several locations in the vicinity of Zvornik “in order to dig trenches” in mid-July 1995. According to the charges and previous verdicts, Serb forces shot thousands of captured Muslims at those locations.

Ruez said that those working orders confirmed that mass graves had been dug at those locations right after the mass shootings of men from Srebrenica.

During his long-lasting testimony, which was completed today, Ruez gave a detailed explanation of the course of the investigation into the Srebrenica crimes from its very beginning, statements he took from survivors in July 1995 and the discovery of scaffolds and primary and secondary mass graves, containing bodies of hundreds of victims.

The judges heard a testimony by another Prosecution witness behind closed doors, which represents the highest level of witness identity protection.

Mladic’s Defence attorneys requested the Tribunal again to order a four- instead of five-day working week, as has been the case so far. The Defence based its request on a recommendation by a Detention Unit doctor, who said that such decision would be beneficial for Mladic’s health condition.

The Chamber will render a decision concerning the request at a later stage. It previously rejected similar proposals on several occasions. 

The trial of Mladic, who is also charged with persecuting Muslims and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorising civilians in Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage, is due to continue on May 29.