Joining Serb Territories

While cross-examining Defence witness Momcilo Krajisnik, The Hague Prosecution tries to prove that the Bosnian Serbs’ political leadership, led by indictee Radovan Karadzic set six strategic goals for the Army. Forced separation from Bosniaks and Croats was the first one of those goals.

Not denying that he participated in the formulation of those strategic goals, Krajisnik said that they were “political”, not “military” goals, adding that their intention was to achieve them through negotiations, not by using force. He denied that the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, received an order from him and Karadzic to achieve the strategic goals by force.
 
The Hague Tribunal previously pronounced a second instance verdict against Krajisnik, former President of the Republika Srpska Assembly, sentencing him to 20 years in prison for committing crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After having served two-thirds of his sentence, Krajisnik was released to liberty this year.  
 
Karadzic, former President of Republika Srpska and supreme Commander of its armed forces, is also charged with the persecution of the non-Serb population throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which reached the scale of genocide in seven municipalities. Besides that, Karadzic is on trial for genocide in Srebrenica, terror against citizens of Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.
 
Prosecutor Alan Tieger presented Krajisnik with a series of documents issued by VRS and its Commander Ratko Mladic, who too is on trial at The Hague, indicating that the Army was achieving the strategic goals on which political leaders insisted.
 
“The strategic goals were the platform for negotiations… Occupation of territories and forced imposing of a political solution were not the political leadership’s goals… We knew that the war must be ended by consent of all the three sides,” Krajisnik said.
 
While confirming the Serb forces controlled 70 percent of territories in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Krajisnik stuck to his allegation that the VRS did not work on achieving the strategic goals. “Had Mladic tried to achieve the strategic goals, he would have occupied a part of Sarajevo and ensure access to the seacoast…” Krajisnik said, suggesting that the VRS acted spontaneously, trying to defend the Serbian people and territories.
 
When Prosecutor Tieger quoted his statement that “the united Serbian state must be achieve through a political and military plan”, Krajisnik said that “90 percent of Serbs wanted, still want and have always wanted to live with Serbia”, but it was not possible, so “Bosnia and Herzegovina, as it looks today, is a compromise”.
 
Commenting on his own efforts to occupy territories in Sarajevo, Krajisnik said: “I did not say that they should take Bascarsija or Butmir… but just to follow the Serb territories”.
 
“Serb territories should have been liberated and joined with each other. Somebody occupied those territories…The Army had the right to liberate the Serb territories,” Krajisnik said.
 
Quoting a Directive from the spring of 1993, under which the VRS was ordered to undertake continuous activities in order to expel the enemy, “along with the Muslim population”, from Podrinje, Prosecutor Tieger asked Krajisnik whether this was “a criminal order”.
 
“I confirmed that at my trial, as per your suggestion…The author, general Miletic, told me later on that he did not know how such an error could have crept in. We never ordered Mladic to conduct ethnic cleaning of Podrinje. Ethnic cleaning was never a part of our policy,” the witness said.
 
Krajisnik denied having been informed about the crimes against the non-Serb population, claiming that the VRS top leaders had never informed him about them.
 
Prosecutor Tieger quoted to Krajisnik the verdict, under which he was sentenced, as “a crucial” participant in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at forced and permanent removal of Bosniaks and Croats from the territories of the planned Serbian state.
 
“I admit the final verdict, but I do not admit the events that happened,” Krajisnik responded, announcing that he would therefore request “a revision” of the verdict.

The Prosecutor is due to continue cross-examining Krajisnik on Wednesday, November 20.