Mladic Commanded even When in Belgrade

The Prosecution’s military expert Richard Dannatt says before The Hague Tribunal that Mladic commanded the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, in the days after the occupation of Srebrenica in July 1995, although he was in Belgrade at the time.

General Ratko Mladic is charged with genocide against about 7,000 Srebrenica Muslims in the days that followed the occupation of the United Nations, UN, protected enclave by VRS on July 11, 1995. 

Evidence and his own notes indicate that Mladic was in Belgrade on July 14, 15 and 16, 1995. During his stay he held meetings with the then President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic and representatives of the international community. 

According to the charges and verdicts pronounced by the Tribunal, the VRS shot thousands of Muslims from Srebrenica in that period of time.  

“No matter whether he was in Belgrade or Sarajevo, Mladic had the command,” Dannatt said. 

Milosevic was charged before The Hague Tribunal with having committed war crimes, but he died before the completion of the trial. 

He previously said that, “according to the letter of the law, technically, Mladic did not have the command”, which he transferred to General Headquarters Chief Manojlo Milovanovic during his absence. However, Danatt considered that Milovanovic “would not do anything without Mladic’s approval”. 

During the cross-examination the Defence denied Dannatt’s allegations that Mladic failed to open an investigation into the crimes in Srebrenica, although UNPROFOR Commander Rupert Smith warned him about them during their conversation in Belgrade on July 15, 1995. 

Mladic’s Defence attorney Dejan Ivetic presented the witness with a letter from UN Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi, saying that, during the meeting generals Smith and Mladic reached “an unofficial agreement” about the Red Cross’ access to captured Srebrenica Muslims, which was supposed to be “confirmed” a few days later. 

Dannat responded by saying that, at that moment the disappeared Muslim men from Srebrenica had already been “massacred” and buried in the vicinity of the enclave.

“All that Mladic should have done was to pick up the phone and order an investigation,” the Prosecution’s expert said, suggesting that the VRS Commander did not do it, “because he knew what was going on in Srebrenica”. 

The Defence attorney suggested that Serb paramilitary formations, like the Scorpions, whose members shot six Srebrenica Muslims in Trnovo in July 1995 and recorded the murders with a camcorder, were not under the control of VRS. However, general Dannatt rejected the allegation, saying that they operated in the zone of responsibility of the Bosnian Serbs Army’s Corp. 

“Small units could not have moved 30,000 civilians from Srebrenica and killed and buried nearly 8,000 people. This required a high level of command and control and big resources,” the witness said.

Attorney Ivetic suggested previously that the Scorpios were a part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, MUP, of the Serbian Krajina Republic and associated with the State Security Service of Serbia. 

Responding to a Defence question, Dannatt confirmed that he “has not seen evidence” that Mladic ordered Drina Corps Commander Radislav Krstic to shoot the captives from Srebrenica, adding that this, however, “does not mean that it did not happen that way”. 

Krstic was sentenced to 35 years in prison for having assisted in the commission of genocide in Srebrenica. 

The indictment also charged Mladic with the persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorizing the local population in Sarajevo by artillery and sniping attacks and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.

Following the examination of Dannatt, the prosecutors presented the judges with demographic expert Ewa Tabeau, who is due to continue testifying on Wednesday, November 13