Denying Testimony about Murder of Srebrenica Residents
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Deronjic said that he was on duty at the Police Station from July 12 to 21, 1995 and that he did not leave the core city area. He denied having been in Konjevic Polje and shooting Bosniaks, along with three other members of Serb forces, on July 13.
In his testimony protected Hague Prosecution witness KDZ-065 accused former policeman Deronjic with having shot 15 Bosniak captives on River Jadar banks on July 13, 1995.
During the cross-examination the Prosecutor presented Deronjic with several documents issued by Zvornik police, indicating that he was deployed to Srebrenica on July 21 and that he had participated in “combat activities” prior to that.
While not denying the authenticity of those documents, the witness, however, stuck to his allegation that he began working at the Police Station in Srebrenica on July 12 and that he did not leave the town for nine days afterwards.
Responding to a suggestion that he was present in Konjevic Polje on July 13, Deronjic said: “No, I told you where I was and what I did”.
Karadzic is charged with genocide against about 7,000 Bosniaks from Srebrenica in July 1995, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorising civilians in Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.
He explained the allegation from the documents that his unit participated in “combat activities” by saying that one part of the Company was in Srebrenica, while the other part was on combat positions.
After the Prosecutor had shown a document to him, Deronjic confirmed that the record in the Srebrenica Police Station diary, referring to his shift on July 13, 1995, was corrected, but he was not able to explain why.
He denied statements given by several witnesses, who said that he participated in an attack on Glogova village, near Bratunac, on May 9, 1995.
His cousin Miroslav Deronjic, the then President of the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, in Bratunac, was among the witnesses who said that. After having committed guilt for murders in Glogova before the Hague Tribunal in 2004, Deronjic was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He died while serving his sentence in 2007.
Nenad Deronjic denied the allegations, saying: “No, it is not true. I was not present in Glogova at that time.”
The trial of Karadzic is due to continue on Wednesday, July 3.
