Civilians Should not Be Present in Combat Zones
This post is also available in: Bosnian
Colonel Sehovac said, testifying in defence of Mladic, that no exclusive civilian zones existed in Hrasnica and Dobrinja neighbourhoods, Sarajevo, during the war, because positions held by Muslim forces, from which they opened fire on his Unit, were situated in those neighbourhoods.
Just like all of the previous Mladic witnesses, he denied that the VRS had ever deliberately opened artillery and sniper fire against civilians in the city. On the contrary, the witness said that it was explicitly forbidden.
General Mladic is charged with having terrorised the local population in Sarajevo through long-lasting mine-thrower and sniper attacks.
“Those, who are planning to conduct military actions in an inhabited place, are obliged to remove civilians from the combat zone. The presence of civilians in that zone is in contradiction with the international law. The 104th Muslim Brigade of ABiH violated this rule in Sarajevo,” Sehovac said.
Listing VRS war goals in the Sarajevo surroundings, the witness mentioned the protection of Serbian territory and civilians and blockade of the First Corps of ABiH.
“We did not have an option to withdraw. We conducted a decisive defence. Any type of withdrawal would have had far-reaching consequences for the territory and Army of RS,” the witness pointed out.
As he said, Sehovac’s Brigade conducted attacks only with the aim of improving its tactical positions. This witness did not consider them as “widespread and systematic attacks against civilians”, as alleged by the Prosecution.
Denying the allegations related to sniper attacks against civilians, Sehovac said that his Unit had 2 snipers, but all of them were on frontlines outside Sarajevo and targeted enemy soldiers and chieftains.
“I think that I made a good use of my snipers in accordance with the international laws,” the witness said.
He confirmed the allegation that, on April 6, 1995 the VRS fired a modified air-bomb on “Aleksa Santic” school building in Hrasnica, where, according to his allegations, ABiH used to produce ammunition.
“You know, the bomb contains between 105 and 107 kilograms of explosive. When it explodes, it casts around 550 cubic metres of land. If it falls within an inhabited place, it creates a huge cloud of smoke and dust, whose diameter is 100 metres… The bomb crater is usually up to 18 meters wide and up to five metres deep,” Sehovac said, explaining the effects of the projectile explosion.
The Prosecutors are due to cross-examine Sehovac tomorrow, July 15.
The indictment charges Mladic with genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout BiH, which reached the scale of genocide in seven municipalities, and taking UN “blue helmets” hostage.
