State Prosecution Presents Closing Statements at Aleksandar Cvetkovic Trial

Presenting its closing arguments at the Aleksandar Cvetkovic trial, the state prosecution said Cvetkovic’s Tenth Sabotage Detachment of the Bosnian Serb Army participated in attacks on Srebrenica and the execution of hundreds of Srebrenica civilians at the Branjevo farm in July 1995.

Prosecutor Dubravko Campara said the trial chamber had a lot to deal with due to the number and diversity of evidence the prosecution submitted in this case.

The evidence includes testimony from the two witnesses who survived the Branjevo killings, the facts established from previous verdicts of the Hague Tribunal and the Bosnian state court, statements of persons convicted of the Branjevo shooting, intercepted conversations, notes, diaries and orders for military operations in the protected enclaves of Srebrenica, Zepa, and Gorazde.

“The chamber should focus its attention on the evidence overall, and it should also note and appreciate the inconsistent and inconclusive testimony of certain witnesses, who changed their statements during the trial for their own benefit or in order to protect the accused,” Campara said.

Campara commented on the statements of witnesses who had said either during the trial or the investigation that Cvetkovic was one of the perpetrators of the shooting at Branjevo.

In response to a comment Cvetkovic made during the investigation, Campara said the defendant’s claim that he joined the Tenth Sabotage Detachment on July 15, 1995, was not confirmed by other evidence and witnesses.

According to Campara, Cvetkovic’s claim that he was sent to Karakaj in order to ensure the exchange of captured civilians from Srebrenica, discredited the defense’s argument that his role was that of a driver.
Campara described the position of Srebrenica enclave, its strategic importance for the Bosnian Serb Army and “for implementing a new ethnically pure Serbian state.”

Campara said evidence presented by the prosecution indicates that in late June 1995, Cvetkovic participated in the first attack on the protected enclave of Srebrenica and the UNPROFOR military base with the aim of disturbing the Bosniak population and forcing them to leave the area.

According to Campara, Cvetkovic participated in a military operation called Krivaja 95, which entailed the capture of Srebrenica, on July 11, 1995.

Describing testimony given by members of the Dutch battalion, Campara detailed the situation in Srebrenica during the shelling, the forced migration of civilians in Potocari and the separation of men from their families, as well as the expulsion of women, children and the elderly.

Campara also described the way in which Srebrenica civilians were brought to a school in Kula in Pilica, and how they were transferred to Branjevo from that point. Campara said members of the Tenth Reconnaissance Squad knew of this plan and participated in it.

“In Pilica, citizens from Srebrenica went through a brief but terrible period of detention. The men who were destined for execution suffered terribly,” Campara said.

Campara described the testimony of victims who survived the shooting, the testimony of witnesses who described the burial of bodies in Branjevo, and also statements made by participants in the shooting, which prove Cvetkovic’s participation in the crime.

He said that during the killing, Cvetkovic ordered one of the members of the Tenth Sabotage Detachment to shoot the detainees from a machine gun, in order to kill the victims faster.

The prosecution will continue presenting its closing arguments on Thursday, 14 May.