Witness’ Partial Recollections

Bato Milosevic said that he was member of the Communications Section of the Sixth Battalion with the Zvornik Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army. He said that indictee Stanisic was Commander of the Sixth Battalion of the Zvornik Brigade, while Milosevic was his Deputy. According to the witness’ testimony, the Battalion’s Command was located in Petkovci village, near Zvornik.

The witness explained how the communication system of the Sixth Battalion worked, adding that they had one telephone switchboard and a radio device. He said that the Communications Section consisted of eight people and that their job was to transfer telephone calls. The witness said that he did not know whether he could hear conversations between people after the Communications Section had connected them.

The witness did not remember where he was after the VRS had entered Srebrenica on July 11, 1995.

“I cannot remember where I was at that time. A number of years have passed after all,” he said.

After having been presented with an attendance registry of the Communications Section for July 1995, the witness confirmed that he wrote down their first and last names, but he did not know what some marks, like pluses, meant. The entry presented by Prosecutor Predrag Tomic contained the witness’ first and last names. Also, pluses were written down next to his name for the period from July 11 to 21. When asked by the Prosecutor if the plus meant that he was present and where he was, the witness responded by saying that he could not remember.

Stanisic and Milosevic are on trial for having killed about 1,000 detainees from Srebrenica on a dam near Petkovci village in mid-July 1995. The indictment alleges that the captives were held in Petkovic prior to being executed.

The witness said that he heard from the media that the captives were brought to Petkovci, but he did not know when it happened.

The trial is due to continue on May 14.