Equal Rights for Everybody

On the fifth day of his testimony at Radovan Karadzic’s trial witness Momcilo Krajisnik says that ethnic cleansing was not the policy of Bosnian Serb leaders, as alleged under the indictment.

“It was not our policy to perform ethnic cleansing, but to let all people, who wanted that, to stay, but also to allow people to leave, if they wanted to do it voluntarily. We wanted the freedom of movement to exist in parallel and ensure equal rights for those who stayed,” the witness said.  

Krajisnik responded to additional questions by the indictee following a two-day cross-examination by the Prosecutor.  

Karadzic presented Krajisnik with his decree from April 1992 in which he told the Bosniak population, among other things, that they might live in “the Muslim part of Bosnia and Herzegovina or maybe in the Serbian part”.  

“This will depend on a political agreement. For the time being you live in the Serbian Bosnia and Herzegovina and you should enjoy the same rights as Serbs,” the decree said. According to Krajisnik, the decree reflected the Serbian policy as it was at that time.

Krajisnik, former President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, was sentenced, under a second instance verdict pronounced by The Hague Tribunal, to 20 years in prison for forced resettlement, deportation and, partially, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats during the Bosnian war.  

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, as well as genocide in Srebrenica, terror against the local population in Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.   

Responding to questions about the relations between Republika Srpska authorities and the Army, VRS, Krajisnik said that defence ministers were marginalised. He told the Tribunal that VRS officers led by Commander Ratko Mladic were against crimes.

“Whenever he came, Mladic demonstrated a strong resistance towards commission of crimes. Speaking about paramilitary formations, he used to say that criminals could never create a state. I must say that, despite the split between us that existed over a certain period of time,” Krajisnik said.
 
Mladic is also on trial before the Tribunal for genocide and other crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  

According to Krajisnik’s testimony, the Serb side’s policy was to release prisoners according to “all for all” principle, but not all Bosniak representatives accepted it.  

Krajisnik, who was released to liberty on August 31, after having served two-thirds of his sentence, completed his testimony by thanking the judges for their assistance in regard to his motion for revision of his verdict.

The trial of Karadzic is due to continue on Tuesday, November 26.