Fire Did not Come from VRS Positions
Testifying at Ratko Mladics trial at the Hague, Defence witness Milorad Dzida denied the responsibility of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, for crimes committed at Markale market place in Sarajevo in the winter of 1994.
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Testifying at Ratko Mladic’s trial at the Hague, Defence witness Milorad Dzida denied the responsibility of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, for crimes committed at Markale market place in Sarajevo in the winter of 1994.
Dzida, former Security and Intelligence Officer with a VRS battalion situated in the Sarajevo surroundings, said that a commission consisting of UNPROFOR and Serb Army representatives visited his unit’s mine-thrower positions located in the vicinity of Mrkovici village one day after the explosion at Markale on February 6.
“As far as I could understand the interpreter, they said that they were a hundred percent sure that our mine-throwers had not been used and that the fire had not been opened from those positions,” the witness said.
He said that those mine-throwers’ barrels were closed, as a ceasefire agreement was in effect, and “it could be seen by the naked eye that they had not been used” and that no traces of crew could be seen around them.
“Two or three days later” a French UNPROFOR Major visited those positions. According to the witness’ testimony, the Major “said that we had nothing to do with that incident”.
Mladic, former VRS Commander, is charged with having terrorized the local population in Sarajevo by conducting an artillery and sniper campaign in the period from 1992 to 1995. The indictment alleges that, on February 5, 1994 the VRS fired a mine-thrower grenade at Markale, killing 66 and wounding 140 persons.
During the cross-examination Prosecutor Adam Weber said that no UNPROFOR and VRS commission existed and that it did not visit the positions held by the witness’ Battalion.
“It is not true. The Commission came and conducted an inspection,” Dzida said.
However, the witness was not able to name the international and most of the Serb members of the Commission, when asked by the Prosecutor to do that.
Judge Alphons Orie asked the witness in what language they spoke. The witness first said that he “is not knowledgeable about it” and that he “only speaks Serbian”, but then he said that he thought that they spoke in English.
When asked if he considered that it was possible to hit Markale from that position, Dzida answered negatively, because “a six-storey building” was located in front of the market place.
“A single grenade could not have done that…I suspect that something was planted…I am a hundred percent sure…I am claiming that the grenade was not fired from the positions held by our Battalion. I doubt that it was fired from any of the VRS positions,” the witness said.
Judge Orie asked the witness why the blue helmets failed to provide the VRS with a report on the inspection of the mine-thrower position. Dzida responded by saying that they “promised to send the report to a higher command”, but he did not know if they did it or not.
Mladic’s Defence examined witness Zdravko Cvoro, who said that Muslims were not expelled from Pale, where he was President of the municipal Government, in 1992. When asked how Muslims left Pale, he said: “In general, I can say that they left as per their own request, voluntarily, without any problems. They took all their belongings with them”.
The witness said that he was proud due to the fact that the municipal authorities “saved Muslim property in most cases”, although their apartments and houses were offered to Serb refugees to use.
Mladic is also charged with the persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout BiH, which reached the scale of genocide in seven municipalities, genocide in Srebrenica and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.
The trial is due to continue on June 2.
