Mladic Requested Respecting of Conventions

Former Vice-President of the municipal board of the Serbian Democratic Party, SDS, in Zenica, says, testifying at Ratko Mladic’s trial, that Muslim authorities did not let Serbs leave the town in 1992.

Defence witness Radovan Glogovac said that the inter-ethnic relations in Zenica were bad at the beginning of 1992 and that Muslim forces unlawfully arrested and detained between 400 and 500 Serbs in the Penal and Correctional Facility in Zenica. He said that the authorities banned all Serbs from leaving Zenica.

“According to my estimates, the primary reason was the fact that they wanted to falsely demonstrate that Zenica was a multi-ethnic town, although most Serbs tried to leave it. Muslims made barricades on the road leading to Doboj, so buses could not pass. Another reason for keeping us was to use us as some sort of human shields, because propaganda said that an attack would be conducted,” Glogovac said.

Glogovac told the Court that he managed to leave Zenica in May 1992 and that he then worked with one of the exchange commissions of the Republika Srpska Government.

According to Glogovac’s testimony, indictee Mladic personally requested that the Geneva Conventions be respected during the exchange of Croat soldiers from Central Bosnia in 1993.  

“I saw an order from general Mladic regarding admission of those persons from Central Bosnia. I noticed that measures were undertaken in order to make sure that everything would be in accordance with the Geneva Convention. Therefore, they ensured a place for individual officers and provided chairs and everything according to that Convention,” Glogovac said.

Ratko Mladic, former Commander of the Main Headquarters of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, is charged with genocide in Srebrenica and seven other municipalities in 1992, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout BiH, terror against citizens in Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.

During the cross-examination Hague prosecutors questioned Glogovac on whether SDS armed Serbs in Zenica, but the witness denied the allegations.

“It is certainly not true that they received weapons from SDS. I got some pieces of information, indicating that individuals and criminals distributed weapons and that they even gave and sold the weapons to Muslims,” Glogovac said.

Witness Glogovac said that the VRS did not interfere in the exchange of civilians.  

The trial of Mladic is due to continue on Monday, September 8.