Order to Commit Murders in Kravica

The Hague Prosecution’s military expert Richard Butler says at Ratko Mladic’s trial that the mass murder of captives from Srebrenica, which was committed by members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska in Kravica village, near Bratunac in July 1995, was “ordered”.

During the cross-examination Mladic’s Defence attorney Dragan Ivetic suggested that Butler was biased, because he did not mention in his report on Srebrenica that the murders in Kravica were preceded by an incident in which one of the Bosniak captives stole a rifle and tried to kill a policeman.
 
While confirming that he heard about that version of the events, Butler, however, pointed out that what mattered most was “the outcome”. As said by Butler, even if the murders happened as a consequence of a flight attempt, the fact was that the executions took place “in waves and lasted for hours”. Butler specified that only three out of 1,000 captives survived.
 
“Irrespective of how the massacre in Kravica began, at a certain moment a decision was made to kill the captives. One can not avoid this conclusion,” Butler said.
 
Defence attorney Ivetic suggested that police officers made the decision about the murder of captives after the incident. Butler responded by saying that “one cannot say that”, but it was “possible”. When asked by presiding judge Alphonse Orie who ordered the murder, the witness said that he did not know that.
 
When the Defence said that VRS officers were not present in front of the Kravica warehouse that day, Butler said that he had not come across any documents which would confirm that military chieftains were present at the crime scene when the murder began, i.e. at about 17.45 on July 13.
 
Also, Butler accepted Defence attorney Ivetic’s allegation that a line, consisting of thousands of Bosniaks, who walked through the woods in an attempt to break through the ring around Srebrenica and reach Tuzla from July 11, 1995 onwards, was “a legitimate military target” for VRS members.  
 
Mladic, former Commander of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, is charged with genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which reached the scale of genocide in seven municipalities, terror against civilians in Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage. The indictment alleges that Serb forces killed about 1,000 Bosniaks in the Agricultural Co-operative in Kravica on July 13, 1995.
 
Prior to Butler’s testimony, Hague Prosecution staff member Maria Karall testified at this hearing. Her testimony referred to a sentence, which Mladic said, addressing his attorneys, in the courtroom during a hearing break on February 18 this year. The prosecutors consider the sentence as evidence against him. On that day protected Prosecution witness RM-048 testified at a closed session. During a closed part of the hearing today Karall conveyed to the judges what she heard Mladic say in the courtroom.
 
Karall, a language assistant, explained that she was present in the courtroom on that day as per an invitation by Prosecutor Dermot Groom, who asked her to monitor whether Mladic would say something that would be considered offensive to the witness.
 
She specified that Mladic uttered the sentence, addressing his attorneys in a raised voice, during a break after the judges and witness had already left the courtroom. Prosecutor Maxine Marcuss said that, following the break on that day, the judges decided to remove Mladic from the courtroom.
 
Defence attorney Miodrag Stojanovic objected to Karall’s testimony, claiming that Mladic’s words were part of a privileged communication with his Defence attorneys and that they could not be used against him. The Trial Chamber rejected the objection.

Mladic’s Defence attorney is due to continue cross-examining Butler on Friday, September 13.