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Investigator’s Threats

3. November 2014.00:00
Testifying at the trial for genocide in Srebrenica, a State Prosecution witness says that he saw a person, whose name, as he heard, was Goran Saric on Mount Jahorina.

This post is also available in: Bosnian

Milorad Saric told the Court that he was arrested in Serbia in 1995 and taken to Jahorina, where the Training Centre was situated. He said that, during his stay on Mount Jahorina, he heard that “Brigade Commander Goran Saric” was coming.

“I saw the man, but I did not know whether it was him. He said that we would go to Konjevic Polje in order to guard the roads,” witness Saric said.

When asked by Prosecutor Ibro Bulic how the person looked like, the witness said: “I do not know. I had never seen him before or after that”.

Goran Saric is charged with having participated in a joint criminal enterprise, which resulted in the forced relocation of 40,000 Bosniak residents and the murder of more than 7,000 persons from the Srebrenica area.

According to the charges, Saric commanded the police forces, which participated in the search, disarming and occupation of positions held by members of the UN as well as the forced relocation of women, children and the elderly and separation of men and boys, who were later executed.

The witness said that he stayed in the Bratunac area for five to seven days and that, during the mentioned period of time he guarded the road between Bratunac and Konjevic Polje.

“I saw a group of people in my vicinity. I saw them coming out of the woods and leaving, but I do not know where,” he said.

After that the Prosecutor read a part of a statement, in which the witness said that the men whom he saw, surrendered and that “the instructors came and asked who wanted to go and kill them”. The witness responded by saying that he was mistreated while giving the statement.

Also, he explained that, while guarding the road, he heard somebody mentioning murders, but he did not know who said that, because it happened during the night.

The Defence asked the witness why, in one of his statements, he said that he was not present in Srebrenica. The witness responded by saying that, upon his return on Mount Jahorina, he heard that it was forbidden to speak about that specific field mission and that an investigator with the State Investigation and Protection Agency even threatened him, while he was giving his second statement.

The trial is due to continue on November 10 with the examination of a new State Prosecution witness.

Selma Učanbarlić


This post is also available in: Bosnian