Hunger Deaths Were Propaganda

A defence witness told former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic’s trial that Bosniaks lied about deaths from hunger during wartime in a bid to win international support.

Slavko Kralj, a former Bosnian Serb Army liaison officer working with the UN’s protection force in Bosnia, UNPROFOR, told the Hague Tribunal on Wednesday that Mladic had the authority to stop any humanitarian convoy entering Bosnian Serb territory during the war, but only did so with good reason.

Kralj testified that the Bosnian Serb army never stopped humanitarian convoys for no reason, but only after receiving information there were banned items inside. On Tuesday he claimed that aid convoys transported munitions and food for the Bosnian Army.

Asked by prosecutor Peter McCloskey whether Mladic would have been the one to make the decision whether or not a convoy should be allowed through, the witness replied that this was true, but added that the former Bosnian Serb military chief only did this with good reason.

Kralj also testified that Mladic wasn’t always aware of all the information about convoys since he had other tasks as well.

Prosecutor McCloskey showed the witness a photograph from 1995, saying that it shows Bosniaks from Srebrenica digging through trash for food, and quoted Mladic saying that the enclave was only attacked after humanitarian aid was restricted for months.

Kralj said he was seeing the picture and heard Mladic’s statement for the first time.

“I know nothing about the photograph, it could be a fake for all I know,” he said.

“I never saw this statement, nor do I know if Mladic had any general opinion towards convoys,” he added.

Asked whether he believed that anyone starved to death during the war, the witness said that this was just propaganda.

“I am very sceptical that anyone died. I believe this is the standard propaganda of the opposing side, which wanted intervention by the international community. I don’t believe anyone died from hunger during the war,” he said.

According to Kralj, after NATO forces bombed Serb positions in 1995, the Bosnian Serb Army considered them “enemies”.

He said they had operational information that some members of the UNPROFOR peacekeeping force were “equipped to guide NATO airplanes to strike targets”.

Mladic is on trial for genocide in Srebrenica and several other municipalities, terrorising the population of Sarajevo, restricting humanitarian aid and taking UN peacekeepers hostage. He is also accused of the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats from municipalities under Serb control.

The trial continues on Thursday.