Long-term Imprisonment for Cvetkovic Requested

The state prosecution requested long-term imprisonment for Aleksandar Cvetkovc, who’s been charged with genocide in Srebrenica.

Cvetkovic, a former member of the Tenth Commando Squad of the Main Headquarters of the Bosnian Serb Army, has been charged with participating in the shooting of about 900 Srebrenica men on Branjevo in the municipality of Zvornik on July 16, 1995.

The indictment alleges that Cvetkovic participated in the first attack on the UN protected zone of Srebrenica and the UNPROFOR base in late June 1995, with the aim of removing the Bosniak population. He’s also been charged with participating in the Krivaja 95 military operation on July 11, 1995.

On the second day of closing statements, prosecutor Dubravko Campara said a maximal sentence should be pronounced for “genocide, the gravest of all crimes.”

He said the defendant’s actions were of such intensity that they proved that there was an intention to ethnically cleanse the Bosniak population.

“Cvetkovic knew Bosniaks were being killed only because they were Bosniaks. Cvetkovic’s proposal to use machine guns was intentional. The defendant must have known that killing so many people would bring on the destruction of Bosniaks,” Campara said.

According to Campara, Cvetkovic demonstrated persistence and determination in the commission of his crimes and proposed that others speed up the killing.

“The defendant didn’t show remorse. He is still trying to avoid the consequences of his acts. The defendant was not just a robot in the perpetration of these crimes, but he had an intention to perpetrate them,” Campara said.

As far as the the defendant is concerned, Campara said he’s contradicted himself since 2005 and claimed that the men represented a legitimate military target.

“The defense says those men were a legitimate military target. Such a defense tells us that the crimes were legitimate,” Campara said. He said the goal of the policy was to ethnically cleanse the area.

He said Cvetkovic’s Tenth Commando Squad was the highest commando unit within the Bosnian Serb Army, and it was formed as the first professional unit. He said its members were volunteers who received the highest salaries and the best training.

The prosecution requested an extension of custody measures for the defendant as well.

The defense will present its closing statement on June 2.