Trial of Milomir Savcic for Srebrenica Genocide Starts on March 23
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The trial of Milomir Savcic, former commander of the 65th Motorized Protective Regiment of the Main Headquarters with the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, who has been accused of Srebrenica genocide, is due to begin on March 23, as agreed at a status conference.
In its written motion the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina indicated it planned to examine 97 witnesses, six of whom would testify under pseudonyms, and read five records of investigation interviews with witnesses who had passed away in the meantime. The Prosecution will also re-examine two expert witnesses and present 272 pieces of material evidence.
Prosecutor Predrag Tomic said he would need around 190 hours for evidence presentation.
Trial chamber chairwoman Zeljka Marenic said she hoped the Prosecution would reduce the number of evidence, because, as she said, there was no need to hear 30 witnesses about the same circumstances.
She said the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina had assigned pseudonyms to witnesses without filing a proposal for protective measures with the Court.
“You should have filed the proposal during the investigation. You have assigned pseudonyms on your own. It cannot be done by the Prosecution,” judge Marenic said, adding that the Prosecution can contact witnesses until they have taken an oath in court. After that it can only do it with Court’s permission.
On January 13 this year the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed an indictment, charging Savcic, former member of the 65th Motorized Protective Regiment of the VRS Main Headquarters, with having planned, commanded and supervised activities by his subordinates during the capture of several hundred Bosniak men in the Nova Kasaba area, as well as their unlawful detention, abuse and murders.
According to the charges, between July 11 and 15, 1995 in the area of Nova Kasaba Savcic deliberately offered assistance to other members of a joint criminal enterprise, namely Ratko Mladic, commander of the VRS Main Headquarters, and Ljubisa Beara, chief of security of the VRS Main Headquarters, other commanders of Drinski Corps and Zvornicka Brigade, as well as police units, in capturing and summarily executing able-bodied Bosniak men from the Srebrenica enclave and burying their dead bodies, thus destroying them as an ethnic group in a certain area.
Under a first instance verdict passed down by the Hague Tribunal, Mladic was found guilty and sentenced to life for genocide and other crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Beara died in prison in Berlin in 2017 while serving his life sentence pronounced by the Hague Tribunal.
The reading of the indictment and presentation of introductory statement is scheduled for March 23.
