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At the trial of Ratko Mladic, prosecutors present a recording of the murder of six Srebrenica residents committed by the “Skorpioni” Serbian paramilitary formation members in the vicinity of Trnovo in mid July 1995.
Members of the “Skorpioni” (“Scorpios”), who were commanded by Slobodan Medic, known as Boca, shot six Muslims from Srebrenica in the vicinity of Trnovo approximately on July 16, 1995 and recorded the crime themselves.
According to the charges, the “Skorpioni” unit, which was under the control of the State Security Service of Serbia, was subjoined to the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, in the summer of 1995 in order to help the VRS at Trnovo battlefield.
Mladic is charged, among other things, with the shooting of about 7,000 Muslim men from Srebrenica in the days that followed the occupation of the United Nations, UN, protected enclave by VRS forces under his command on July 11, 1995.
The recording, which played during the testimony by Prosecution investigator Erin Gallagher, depicts a group of “Skorpioni” members, some of whom had red berets on their heads, taking six tied and scared civilians out of a truck, while saying derogatory and insulting words to them, taking them to the woods and killing four of them from their back by individual bullets and burst fire.
While the victims were lying on the ground, the “Skorpioni” members shot them in their heads from close distance. The two remaining captives were forced to carry the bodies to another location, before being killed themselves.
The victims were identified later on: Safet Fejzic (17), Azmir Alispahic (17), Sidik Salkic (36), Smail Ibrahimovic (35), Dino Salihovic (18) and Juso Delic (25).
The recording of the murder was first presented before The Hague Tribunal during the trial of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in June 1995. Milosevic, who too was charged with genocide in Srebrenica, died before the end of his trial.
The perpetrators of the crime near Trnovo were soon arrested in Serbia and sentenced to long imprisonment sentences. Slobodan and Aleksandar Medic were sentenced to 20 years each, while Petar Petrasevic, who admitted guilt, was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
The prosecutors then also played a recording of indictee Mladic entering Srebrenica on July 11, 1995. The recording depicts Mladic say in the centre of empty Srebrenica town:
“Here we are in Serbian Srebrenica on July 11, 1995. We are giving this town as a present to the Serbian people on the eve of a big Serbian holiday. The time has finally come to get even with the Turks in this area for the first time since the rebellion against Dahis.”
In addition, Mladic is charged with the persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorising civilians in Sarajevo through long-lasting shelling and sniping and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.
The trial of Mladic is due to continue on Tuesday, April 23.
