Karadzic “Would Not Sign” Srebrenica Directive

Subotic, who began testifying on Wednesday, June 19, said, during the cross-examination, that such an order to the VRS was illegitimate, but he expressed disbelief that Karadzic had read the directive, which was prepared by the VRS Main Headquarters, prior to signing it.

“I do not believe that he would have accepted it, had he read it… I consider that the President did not read it,” Subotic said. He further said that he “does not exclude the possibility” that the page, containing the mentioned sentence, was included in the Seventh Directive, which Karadzic afterwards sent to the VRS in March 1995.

Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska and supreme Commander of its armed forces, is charged with genocide against about 7,000 Bosniaks in Srebrenica. Besides that, he is charged with persecuting Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorising civilians in Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.

Commenting on Subotic’s allegation that the accusation for genocide was “a deceit of 50 per cent”, Prosecutor Alan Tieger quoted extracts from international community’s documents about the murders, suggesting that both Karadzic and Subotic must have known that. “I am claiming that all this is a lie,” the witness said.

The Prosecution questioned Subotic about the massacre of Bosniaks at Koricanske stijene on Mount Vlasic, where more than 150 Prijedor residents were killed on August 21, 1992. Subotic said that, in his capacity as Minister of Defence of Republika Srpska, he participated in a meeting with local police officials in Banja Luka, adding that they discussed an investigation into that crime. Subotic said that he conveyed Karadzic’s order to undertake an investigation and punish the perpetrators to the police officers.

Responding to the Prosecutor’s allegation that the crime perpetrators were known and that it was easy to identify and arrest them, Subotic said that his interlocutors told him that three policemen were responsible for the crime and that one of them was sentenced later on, while the two others were killed. He said that, after having left the meeting, he did not go into the subject matter again.

Prosecutor Tieger insisted that police officials knew the identity of the perpetrators. Subotic responded by saying: “If you have proof that they knew, I believe you. I did not know about it.” He said that, at that time Karadzic faced “a million of problems”, so he left it to institutions to conduct an investigation.

Subotic said that the then Chief of Prijedor Police Simo Drljaca was later dismissed from his duty. In response to his allegation, the Prosecutor told him that Drljaca was promoted and transferred to the Ministry and that Karadzic decorated him retrospectively.

Speaking about detention camps in the vicinity of Prijedor, Tieger asked Subotic whether he accepted that thousands of Bosniaks were held in inhumane conditions and starved in those camps, presenting a photograph of one of them. “It was not exactly like that. Those things, photographs, were staged,” the witness said.

The trial of Karadzic is due to continue on Friday, June 21.