Mladic Attended Wedding During Srebrenica Genocide, Defense Witness Says

Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, has been charged with orchestrating and ordering the Srebrenica genocide, in which 7000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb forces following the occupation of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995.

The indictment alleges that most of the victims were killed in the vicinity of Zvornik from July 14-17, 1995. The defense claims Mladic was in Belgrade at the time. The prosecution argues that Mladic still had command and control over the Bosnian Serb Army regardless.

Defense witness Radovan Popovic testified at today’s hearing. Popovic, a professional photographer, said Mladic attended a wedding in Belgrade on July 16, 1995. He said he was hired by Biljana Djurdjevic to make a video recording of her wedding. He said he worked with Djurdjevic at the Vojska newspaper at the time.

Popovic said Mladic and his wife Bosiljka Mladic attended the wedding of Zarko Stojanovic and Biljana Djurdjevic from 10am-6pm on July 16, 1995. He said Mladic was the best man at the wedding.

Popovic said Mladic and his wife visited in the Djurdjevic’s apartment, attended church ceremony as well as the party at the Dva Ribara restaurant.

Popovic said he recorded the entire day on his camcorder.

“The best man and his wife were captured by the camcorder the entire time,” Popovic said. He said the newlyweds, Mladic, and his wife were together for the duration of the day.

Popovic said he missed the departure of Mladic and his wife at around 6pm, because he went out to buy a new tape.

At the end of the party that same evening, Popovic said he handed over both tapes to the bride and groom, as a present to them. He said he had never seen the tapes or the recordings again.

In their previous testimony, Biljana and Zarko Stojkovic said the tapes disappeared from Biljana’s mother house while they were on an official trip abroad.

During cross-examination prosecutor Peter McCloskey asked Popovic whether he lost sight of Mladic at any moment during the day.

“No, I’m a professional photographer. When I set up a scene, while the camcorder is recording, I look around, paying particular attention to the newlyweds and the best man and his wife, so I don’t miss an important detail. So I never lost sight of them, even when the camcorder was off,” Popovic said.

He said Mladic didn’t leave the table at the restaurant at any moment, not even to use the bathroom. Popovic said he smoked heavily and drank mineral water, except for when he proposed a toast to the newlyweds with a small glass of brandy.

McCloskey presented Popovic with a transcript of an intercepted conversation between general Mladic and the Bosnian Serb Army Main Headquarters, which was conducted at 4:15pm on July 16, 1995. The conversation would have taken place during the wedding party.

“I didn’t see something like that,” Popovic responded.

The prosecution asked Popovic whether he knew that a massacre of Bosniaks from Srebrenica was taking place on Branjevo farm and other locations in the vicinity of Zvornik during the wedding in Belgrade. He said he didn’t know about it at the time, but found out about the killings later.

“I know many people were killed, but I was not involved in investigating the details, because the editor-in-chief didn’t ask me to do so. I can say it was a taboo at that time…Horrible things happened at that place, many people got killed,” Popovic said.

When asked by the prosecutor whether by saying “horrible things” he meant the mass murders of Bosniaks from Srebrenica, Popovic said, “Yes.”

Biljana and Zarko Stojkovic, Bosiljka Mladic and Mladjen Kenjic, the defendant’s former drive, all said Mladic was attending a wedding on July 16, 1995.

Mladic has also been charged with the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, terrorizing the local population of Sarajevo and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.

The trial will continue on September 17.