Hague Tribunal Urged to Reject Mladic’s Acquittal Bid

“The prosecution called hundreds of witnesses and presented thousands of pieces of evidence. This evidence clearly shows the truth about all the crimes and criminal acts in the indictment, as well as the Mladic’s role in these acts and his responsibility,” prosecutor Dermot Groome told the international court’s judges on Tuesday.

Mladic on Monday appealed for acquittal at the mid-point of his trial, arguing that there was “no evidence” that he committed genocide and other wartime crimes.

But the prosecutor said that Mladic and former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic, who is also on trial in The Hague, were “the most prominent members of the joint criminal enterprise”.

“All the evidence clearly shows that Mladic was the key figure in the establishment of the joint criminal enterprise from May 1992 to November 1995, aimed at permanently and forcibly removing Bosniaks and Croats through ethnic cleansing and crimes of persecution, killings and other atrocities,” said Groome.

Mladic’s defence wants the court to drop charges of genocide in Srebrenica, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which reached the scale of genocide in seven municipalities, terrorising civilians in Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

But the prosecutor said that all the crimes listed in the indictment were used as a way of fulfilling the objectives of the Bosnian Serb joint criminal enterprise during wartime.

“The terror of shelling and sniper shooting in Sarajevo was used to put pressure on the Bosniak government and international community to meet the demographic goals of Serbs, and taking the UN peacekeeping hostage to pressure UN and NATO. The most notable in doing that were Karadzic and general Mladic,” said the prosecutor.

Groome rejected a claim by Mladic’s defence that the prosecution was essentially arguing that the Bosnian Serb commander “must be guilty of the crimes of his subordinates”.

“Mladic contributed to the commission of crimes with his authority and ability to engage the authorities in the implementation of criminal acts. Mladic was supervising the collaboration of the Bosnian Serb Army with other institutions, which worked with other members of the joint criminal enterprise,” said the prosecutor.

Groome cited witnesses and experts who testified that Mladic was present at the scenes of crimes, as well as about his control over the troops on the ground, who he commanded “directly and actively”.

Mladic’s defence will present its rebuttal of the prosecution claims on Wednesday.