Hague Investigator Recalls Momir Nikolic’s Statements

Former Bosnian Serb Army commander Ratko Mladic has been charged with orchestrating the Srebrenica genocide, in which approximately 7000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995. Mladic is also charged with the persecution of the non-Serb population, terrorizing the local citizens of Sarajevo, and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.

The former investigator, Bruce Bursek, told the Hague Tribunal he questioned Nikolic, the former Bratunac Brigade security officer, in an official capacity several times. He said Nikolic didn’t state during each round of questioning that Mladic gestured to him in July 1995, indicating an order to kill Srebrenica captives.

Bursek said Nikolic had mentioned Mladic’s gesture towards him in April 2003, but not one month later when he plead guilty for crimes committed in Srebrenica before the Hague Tribunal.

“There were inconsistencies, I agree,” Bursek said.

Nikolic was sentenced to 20 years in prison after signing a plea agreement with Hague prosecutors. In June 2013, he testified against Mladic. He said he met Mladic on July 13, 1995, near Srebrenica. On that date, Nikolic said Mladic gestured to him, indicating that all Srebrenica captives were to be killed.

In his plea agreement, which Mladic’s defense attorney Branko Lukic presented to the trial chamber, Nikolic said he met Mladic near Konjevic Polje and told him the captives would be exchanged.

Bursek said Nikolic could have amended his plea deal, but failed to do so at the time.

Bursek said the meeting he had with Nikolic in April 2003 wasn’t recorded, although it should have been according to Hague Tribunal regulations.

“That was I mistake I take full responsibility for,” Bursek said.

Bursek said the goal of the April 2003 meeting was to “see what Nikolic was ready to admit to.”

Mladic’s defense asked Bursek if a signed plea deal or his claim was stronger evidence.

“The signed document,” Bursek said.

Bursek said Nikolic originally admitted to having given the order to kill 1000 Bosniaks in Kravica, but later retracted this claim, since he believed that an admission of guilt was a precondition for the plea agreement.

According to Bursek, Nikolic first refused to cooperate, but eventually started providing information.

“By the end I believed he was telling the truth, if not the whole story,” Bursek said.

The trial continues next Tuesday.