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Higgs, who reviewed all reports from several investigations about the explosion conducted by UNPROFOR and Sarajevo police, stuck to his allegation that their finding that the grenade was fired from Serb positions on Mount Trebevic was correct.
The indictment charges general Mladic, wartime Commander of VRS, with terror against civilians in Sarajevo by long-lasting mine-thrower and sniper attacks. According to the charges, a mine fired from a VRS mine-thrower, which fell in front of Markale closed market on August 28, 1995, killed 43 and wounded 75 citizens.
Mladics Defence attorney Branko Lukic pointed to errors in Higgs report, suggesting that he subsequently changed the findings he presented at Radovan Karadzics trial in 2010 so they would fit better into the allegations contained in this indictment.
While not denying that he made certain changes, Higgs, however, suggested that they did not influence the final conclusion, which remained the same.
The cross-examination of the Prosecutions expert today focused on the presentation of technical details related to the angle under which the grenade hit the ground, the crater caused by the explosion and possible distances from which the projectile was fired. Responding to Higgs estimate that the grenade most probably came from a distance of 2,400 meters, where VRS positions were located, Defence attorney Lukic said that a special UNPROFOR radar must have registered the flight of such projectile, but it did not happen. Higgs responded by saying that he could not make a final conclusion about that without the information on how the radar was set.
Defence attorney Lukic will continue the cross-examination on November 7.
Mladic is also charged with genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which reached the scale of genocide in seven municipalities, and taking UNPROFOR members hostage. The same crimes are charged upon former Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadzic.
