Carrying out Strategic Goals

As he continues testifying at Ratko Mladic’s trial at The Hague, the Prosecution’s military expert Reynaud Theunens confirms that, in his capacity as Commander of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, the indictee forcedly carried out the six strategic war goals, the first and comprehensive one being the separation of Serbs from Muslims and Croats.

The strategic goals, which were adopted by the RS Assembly on May 12, also included the elimination of border between Serbs along River Drina, making a corridor that would connect Serb territories in the west and east with Serbia, establishment of a western border on River Neretva and ensuring access to the Adriatic Sea.

According to Theunens, General Mladic carried out those goals at an operational level through seven VRS directives, which he signed in the period from 1992 to 1995. In order to achieve those strategic war goals, it was necessary to “occupy and control” the territories marked as Serbs’ under those directives.

“If you wanted to establish a corridor between Bosanska Krajina and Semberija, you had to control not only the road, but the entire areas inhabited by non-Serb majority, which resulted in the significant removal or departure of the non-Serb population,” Theunens said.

The indictment charges Mladic with the persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which reached the scale of genocide in seven municipalities, terror against the population in Sarajevo and other crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the expert’s testimony, as a commander, Mladic was “very focused on achieving goals” and, in doing that, he did not pay much attention to violation of war rules or commission of crimes even, when he still served in Kninska Krajina in 1991.

As an illustration for his allegations, Theunens mentioned the way in which Mladic was trying to achieve the division of Sarajevo, as a strategic goal of special “symbolic value”.

Given the fact that, as he said at an Assembly session on May 12, 1992, he thought that “Sarajevo cannot be conquered by occasional spitting out from mine-throwers and howitzers”, Mladic announced that he would “put a loop around the dragon’s neck in Sarajevo”.

“Therefore, Mladic used control over water, electricity and gas supply systems as a weapon for achieving the strategic goal,” Theunens said.

Theunens is due to continue testifying tomorrow, December 6.

Indictee Mladic gave up his right to attend the hearing tomorrow.