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During a hearing in Radovan Karadzic’s case prosecutors deny findings by Zorica Subotic, Defence’s expert witness in ballistics, who denied the responsibility of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, for several mine-thrower attacks in Sarajevo that caused numerous civilian victims.
During the cross-examination, which was dedicated to technical details, Prosecutors Catrina Gustafsson and Feargal Gaynor tried to prove that Subotic based her findings on an incorrect interpretation of investigations into the explosions in Sarajevo conducted by UNPROFOR and local police.
However, the Defence’s ballistic expert stuck to her allegations that the findings, indicating that the grenades were fired from the direction of VRS-held positions, were incorrect.
The indictment charges Karadzic, the then President of Republika Srpska and supreme Commander of VRS, with terrorising civilians in Sarajevo.
According to the charges, Serb forces under Karadzic’s supreme command were responsible, among other things, for explosions that killed six children and wounded five persons in Alipasino Polje neighbourhood, Sarajevo, on January 22, 1994, as well as firing three grenades, which killed eight and wounded 18 citizens in Dobrinja neighbourhood on February 4, 1994, and murder of 13 citizens queuing for water on July 12, 1993 and ten persons participating in a football match in Dobrinja on June 1, 1993.
Responding to prosecutors’ questions, Subotic said that all the investigations into those cases, which were conducted by Sarajevo police and “blue helmets”, incorrectly determined the direction from which the grenades came and the distance from which they were fired.
The Prosecutors then denied Subotic’s conclusion that modified air-bombs, which were fired on Sarajevo by VRS forces, were precise and that they hit the zones where military targets were located.
In the week ahead the prosecutors will cross-examine Subotic about two explosions at Markale open market in Sarajevo.
During her main testimony Subotic said that the murder of civilians at Markale in February 1994 was not caused by a mine-thrower grenade, but a “statically activated” planted explosive.
Also, she said that a mine-thrower grenade could not have exploded in front of the Markale closed market in August 1995 without it being registered by UNPROFOR radars.
The trial of Karadzic, who is also charged with genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and taking UNPROFOR members hostage, is due to continue on Tuesday, May 21.
