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Mile Dosenovic, a former member of the Bosnian Serb Army, told the Hague Tribunal judges on Thursday that the communications system had several layers of protection from enemies wishing to intercept conversations.
“If someone had listened to the communication, they would have heard unrecognisable sounds and tics… An experienced person could understand he was actually hearing an exchange of protected information, but he could never have heard the subject of the conversation,” said Dosenovic.
Prosecutor Peter McCloskey said, however, that discussions between Bosnian Serb military and political leaders such as the defendant and Radovan Karadzic – which the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina intercepted – were actually done through regular and not protected lines.
Mladic’s defence tried to dispute the authenticity of such conversations, claiming they could be fabricated.
Former Bosnian Serb army commander Mladic is on trial for genocide in Srebrenica and several other municipalities, the persecution of non-Serbs across the country, terrorising the population of Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.
Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb president, is also on trial for the same crimes, in a separate case, and his verdict is expected later this year.
Dosenovic will be cross-examined on Monday.
