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Testifying at Ratko Mladic’s trial, Defence witness Blasko Rasevic denies allegations that Republika Srpska Army’s snipers and mine-throwers shot at civilians in Sarajevo.
Rasevic, former Commander of one of the companies with the Romanija Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, said that fire was never opened at local residents of Sedrenik neighbourhood, Sarajevo, from positions on Spicasta Stijena, which were held by that Company.
“While I was in that Company it did not happen even once – at least not as far as I know,” Rasevic said.
The indictment charges former VRS Commander Mladic with having terrorised the local population in Sarajevo through artillery and sniper attacks. According to the charges, a VRS sniper nest was situated at Spicasta Stijena. It is alleged that civilians were wounded and killed from that nest.
Mladic is on trial for genocide in Srebrenica and seven other municipalities, persecution of non-Serb civilians and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.
According to the witness’ testimony, “Muslim forces from Sarajevo” constantly opened fire towards Spicasta Stijena from mobile mine-throwers, which were hidden between civilian buildings, like the hospital and stadium in Kosevo neighbourhood, school buildings and kindergartens.
The Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, conducted several infantry attacks on that position, which was of key importance for cutting the communication with Serbian municipalities Vogosca, Rajlovac and Hadzici, Rasevic said.
In order to prove that the Defence played a recording of a fierce battle at Spicasta Stijena, which happened when the Army of BiH tried and then briefly managed to occupy the area. “They stayed there for between 12 and 15 hours. They stayed overnight, but we then conquered the position again,” Rasevic said.
He said that trenches at Spicasta Stijena were 50 meters away from eachother, so Serb soldiers shouted to “local Muslims”, who warned them about the arrivals of “some other Muslims, those from Sandzak”, who used to open fire.
On the other hand, Serb soldiers would warn the Muslim civilians at the bottom of Spicasta Stijena not to perform works in the agricultural fields, in order to avoid situations like “somebody opens fire…a grenade goes astray…and kills an innocent man.”
In his written statement Rasevic denied the allegation that a mine-thrower grenade, which killed 66 and wounded 140 citizens at Markale open market in Sarajevo on February 5, 1994, came from positions held by his Company in Mrkovici village.
During the cross-examination the Prosecutors presented the witness with UNPROFOR documents, according to which sniper and mine-thrower fire was opened at civilians, killing two of them, from positions at Spicasta Stijena and in Mrkovici in the spring and summer of 1995. The witness stuck to his statement that his Company did not shoot at civilians.
The trial of Mladic is due to continue on Tuesday, July 8.
