Witness Describes Separation of Men From Families in Srebrenica
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Defendants Miodrag Josipovic, Branimir Tesic, Dragomir Vasic, Danilo Zoljic and Radomir Pantic, have been charged with genocide in Srebrenica. They allegedly participated in the forced resettlement of the local Bosniak population of Srebrenica by separating men from their families, as well as capturing and executing men and boys.
Josipovic was the chief of the Bratunac public safety station, while Tesic was the deputy commander of the Bratunac police station. Vasic was the commander of the Zvornik police headquarters. Zoljic was the commander of special units of the Bratunac public safety station and Pantic was the commander of the First Company of the special units.
State prosecution witness Nedjo Jovicic told the trial chamber that he drove Ljubomir Borovcanin to Bratunac and Srebrenica in July 1995, after they’d heard Srebrenica had fallen. He said they drove to Potocari on July 12, 1995. During that trip he said he heard Bosnian Serb Army commander Ratko Mladic order the deployment of police units to Potocari and Zvornik. Jovicic said Borvcanin sent a group of police officers called “deserters” to Potocari and the Sekovici Platoon Squad and First Platoon Squad to the roads around Zvornik.
The Hague Tribunal sentenced Borovcanin to 17 years in prison for his involvement in the Srebrenica genocide. Mladic is on trial for his role in the Srebrenica genocide and other crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Jovicic said after he heard about what had happened in Srebrenica he found out that defendant Radomir Pantic was the commander of the First Platoon.
“I might have seen him without knowing it was him,” Jovicic said.
Jovicic said Bosniak men were separated from women and children by military police officers, instead of ordinary police officers. He said he was told this was done in order to screen for potential war criminals.
During cross-examination, Jovicic was asked whether he could have foreseen that a group of prisoners he saw on July 12, 1995 in Sandici would be killed. Jovicic said he could not.
The trial continues on September 3.
