Aid Convoys Helped Bosniak Forces

A defence witness told Ratko Mladic’s trial that humanitarian convoys transported munitions and food for the Bosnian Army during wartime and some international military observers scouted Serb positions.

Slavko Kralj, a former Bosnian Serb Army liaison officer working with the UN’s protection force in Bosnia, UNPROFOR, told Mladic’s war crimes trial at the Hague Tribunal on Tuesday that during the war he received reports about smuggling and reconnaissance activities, which caused Serb forces to establish tighter controls on humanitarian convoys.

“The procedure was to conduct an examination and if it was determined that there was something wrong, that something was smuggled or not on the list, then an assessment was done. If there were munitions or more serious stuff, then the whole convoy would be stopped,” Kralj said.

He told the UN-backed court that he also received information about convoys that delivered guns and munitions to Bosnian Army troops.

“On one occasion, when a convoy came from Zagreb, we organised a little more detailed control, which they didn’t allow, and after consultation between the convoy leader and his superior, we agreed that the convoy go back to Zagreb. We latter found out that the same convoy passed towards Bihac and transferred a certain amount of weaponry and munitions hidden in the vehicle,” he said.

According to Kralj, the Bosnian Serb Army also had information that the Dutch UNPROFOR battalion gave some of its food supplies and fuel to units of the 28th Bosnian Army Division, which was located in Srebrenica.

Mladic is on trial for genocide in Srebrenica in 1995 and several other municipalities in 1992, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats from areas under the control of Serb forces, and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

He is also charged with terrorising the population of Sarajevo and restricting humanitarian aid in order to create tougher conditions.

Under cross-examination, Kralj said that despite the aid that UN forces gave to Bosniak troops, the main headquarters of the Bosnian Serb Army never considered them enemies.

The trial continues on Wednesday.