Saric’s Trial Begins November 19

Prosecutor Ibro Bulic announced that he would need 92 working hours to present evidence. During that time he plans to examine all witnesses and present material evidence. As he said, many of the witnesses have asked for protection measures. Two witnesses will be examined via video link with Serbia. “Only one of the witnesses was granted protection measures by The Hague Tribunal, while the other protected witnesses previously testified in cases before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Bulic said. Aleksandar Lazarevic, Saric’s Defence attorney, said that the Defence would present numerous pieces of evidence during the presentation of Prosecution’s evidence, so the Defence’s evidence presentation process would be very short. Lazarevic requested the Court to allow him to use his laptop in the courtroom during the trial. The Trial Chamber rejected the request, explaining that, for security reasons, he could only use a court computer. Saric’s Defence attorney requested the Court to appoint an additional Defence attorney due to “the complexity, gravity and importance” of the trial. Saric, a former Commander of the Special Brigade of Republika Srpska police, is charged with having deliberately assisted in the commission of genocide, in collaboration with other members of a joint criminal enterprise, which resulted in the forced resettlement of 40,000 Bosniak residents and the murder of more than 7,000 people. According to the charges, Saric commanded police forces, which participated in the search, disarming and forced resettlement of women, children and the elderly, as well as the separation of men and boys, who were later executed. Besides that, he is charged with having issued an order to police members to guard the road between Bratunac and Konjevic Polje and capture the men, who tried to leave the Srebrenica protected zone through the woods.
In a separate trial Saric was sentenced, under a first instance verdict, to 14 years in prison for having committed crimes in Sarajevo in 1992.