Mladic Witness: Serb Forces ‘Helped Loyal Bosniaks’

Defence witness Milovan Lelek, a wartime assistant chief of staff of the Bosnian Serb Army’s Rogatica Brigade, told Mladic’s war crimes trial on Wednesday that Bosniaks were not expelled from the Rogatica area in 1992.

“All of them from the villages volunteered to leave their residences, no one forced them into it,” testified Lelek.

He said that Bosniaks from villages “loyal” to the Serb authorities asked to be relocated because of threats they received from the Bosniak side because “they were living near Serbs”.

Bosniaks from “loyal villages” were taken to temporary accommodation in local nursery and schools from where they were transferred “according to their wishes” to Sarajevo or other territories under the control of the Bosnian Army, he said.

Mladic is charged with having participated in the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats from 15 municipalities under the control of Serb forces, including Rogatica.

The prosecutor suggested that the Serb authorities “abused the exchange of prisoners” to ethnically cleanse Rogatica by removing Bosniak civilians at the same time.

“That is also not true,” Lelek responded.

He also said that he did not know about the abuse of the prisoners in the nursery.

Mladic is also on trial for genocide in Srebrenica and seven other municipalities, terrorising the population of Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

The trial continues.