Vukovic and Tomic: Killing in a Planned Manner

“Things should be named correctly. What happened in Srebrenica was genocide. Its perpetrators will bear the stigma, which will serve as a warning for the future. We consider that, on the basis of the presented evidence, the Chamber can determine that the indictees committed the crime charged upon them. The sentence, prescribed for this type of crime, is 45 years’ imprisonment. We consider there are no circumstances that could lead to a reduction of the sentence,” State Prosecutor Ibro Bulic said.

The Prosecution charges Radomir Vukovic and Zoran Tomic, former members of the Second Special Police Squad with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, MUP RS, with helping to secure the road between Bratunac and Konjevic polje and capturing a large group of men from Srebrenica on July 12 and 13, 1995.

The indictment alleges that the indictees and other members of the Second Squad escorted more than 1,000 Bosniaks to the Kravica Agricultural Cooperative, where they were shot in the evening hours of July 13.

“The killing was committed in a planned manner. The indictees and the others were ordered to stand in a semi-circle and shoot. The cries of people who were dying in agony were obvious to the indictees. (…) The crime was committed from a close distance, with the images and smell of massacre and sounds of dying,” Bulic said.

The Prosecution considers that it has proved that the indictees were aware of the plan for the forcible resettlement and extermination of Bosniaks from Srebrenica and that “they played their role in a joint criminal enterprise and genocide”.

“On July 13 a large group of Bosniaks surrendered. In line with the order, indictees Vukovic and Tomic searched them and took away their belongings. This indicates that members of the Second Squad understood the plan for the extermination of Bosniaks. (…) The indictees’ awareness of the genocidal plan was confirmed by the genocidal context, which was obvious. The indictees did not create the plan, but provided the means for its implementation,” the Prosecutor said.

The Prosecution considers that, on the basis of evidence “it can be determined” that more than 1,000 Bosniaks were detained in Kravica on July 13, 1995 and that the shooting, in which, as stated by Bulic, the indictees participated, began “in the afternoon hours” and lasted for an hour and a half.

“After having shot at the first part of the hangar, they took a break, and then started shooting at the second part. The witness said they heard screams and cries coming from the hangar. (…) Despite the fact that witnesses D1 and D2 do not directly accuse the indictees, because they do not know them, they described, in detail, the suffering they experienced in the hangar. D1 said he heard screams, which bothered him more than the shooting,” Bulic said.

Witnesses D1 and D2 were the only survivors of the shooting in Kravica.

The Defence of Radomir Vukovic is due to present its closing statement on February 24, 2010.