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Defence witness Dragan Karac told Ratko Mladic’s trial in The Hague that the war in the Krajina region in the spring of 1992 was caused by Muslims who attacked Jugoslav Peoples Army members.
Karac, a former officer of the JNA and later the Bosnian Serb army, said that the actions in which Muslim villages were disarmed came after soldiers and policemen were killed.
In cross-examination, the witness confirmed his brigade took part in what he called “liberation” and cleaning of villages in Prijedor, Kljuc and Sanski Most municipalities.
When asked if members of his unit killed women and children, Karac said that he did not know but that he “cannot rule it out”.
The prosecution listed data about mass destruction of villages and persecution of Muslims, claiming that Serb forces told them to decide whether to “surrender and be loyal, or be destroyed”.
“The Muslim population and part of the paramilitaries kept part of the weapons. The Bosnian Serb army responded to these provocations. The choice was to surrender or fight”, said Karac.
The indictment against Mladic claims that the persecution of nonSerbs in Krajina reached the scale of genocide. Mladic is charged with genocide in Srebrenica, terrorizing Sarajevo citizens and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.
Military cameraman Milorad Zoric testified about his meetings with Mladic at this hearing.
“Mladic said always to protect civilians and the weak. He was especially sensitive on children and elderly”, said Zoric.
Zoric said that he never filmed Mladic threatening UN peacekeepers, which was part of General Rupert Smith’s testimony.
Mladic’s trial resumes on January 28.
