Bosnian Serb Army HQ ‘Didn’t Order Srebrenica Killings’

Testifying in defence of Mladic at the Hague Tribunal on Wednesday, the main communications operative at the Bosnian Serb Army main headquarters, Tihomir Stevanovic, denied that his military chief ordered the massacres of Bosniaks from Srebrenica in July 1995.

Stevanovic told the Tribunal that Mladic was not in the main headquarters in Han Pijesam from July 15, 1995 and that he gave no orders.

Asked by Mladic’s lawyer Dragan Ivetic whether his communications services were used to relay an order related to any crimes, Stevanovic answered: “Absolutely not.”

Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, is charged with orchestrating and executing the Srebrenica genocide, in which approximately 7,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed. The killings took place following the occupation of Srebrenica, a UN-protected enclave, by the Bosnian Serb Army on July 11, 1995.

Mladic has also been charged with persecution of Bosniaks and Croats, which allegedly reached the scale of genocide in some municipalities, terrorising the population of Sarajevo, and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Peter McCloskey asked Stevanovic if he believed that “thousands of sons and fathers from Srebrenica were killed after the fall of the enclave”.

“I do not know the number, but I know some were killed,” Stevanovic responded.

Asked if he accepted that thousands were killed, the witness said: “When you say thousands, that could mean 20,000. I cannot answer.”

Stevanovic refused to give his own figure for the number of Srebrenica victims, even when asked to give a rough estimate .

“My family upbringing does not allow me to trade with such issues. Out of respect to the victims of Srebrenica and those on other sides, I will not give an estimate,” he said.

Stevanovic said that on July 13 and 14, 1995 he was in his home village near Zvornik, but denied having knowledge about thousands of Bosniak prisoners executed by Bosnian Serb forces on those days.

“I did not know. The first information I had about that was from media in the Bosnian Federation entity. I really didn’t know,” he said.

Asked about his opinion of Mladic, Stevanovic replied: “He is a very professional soldier; just, but tough. He is a man who does not stand for and dislikes defeat, who respects all peoples, but very much respects and protects his own people. He personally and his family became victims of such views and such work.”

Asked to explain the final sentence of his reply, the witness said that during the war, Mladic “lost his daughter, a doctor, and he personally fell ill. A greater tragedy is impossible”.

Mladic’s daughter Ana committed suicide in 1993 in Belgrade.

The trial continues on Thursday.