Hague Prosecutor Challenges Mladic Ballistics Expert

Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, has been charged with terrorizing civilians in Sarajevo with long-lasting mortar and sniper attacks.

During today’s cross-examination of Subotic, which was mostly dedicated to technical details, prosecutor Adam Weber said Subotic had based her conclusions on an incorrect interpretation of Sarajevo police and UNPROFOR investigations on mortar attacks in Sarajevo.

Weber asked Subotic about the attack on the Sarajevo neighbourhood of Alipasino Polje, which left six children dead and five people injured on January 22, 1994. Weber asked Subotic to point out the location on the nearby Institute for the Blind on a map, where the indictment alleges the Bosnian Serb Army fired missiles.

Subotic pointed out a location on the map, which Weber said was incorrect.

Weber then discussed the Dobrinja shelling, which killed ten people in a courtyard on June 1, 1993. Weber said that the angle of the grenade’s fall and the minimum estimated distance established by UNPROFOR showed that the missile had been launched from Bosnian Serb Army positions.

Subotic said those findings were not mentioned in her report. She also said the angle of the grenade’s fall and the distance from which it was fired were lower than the coordinates established by UNPROFOR. She said the missiles could have been fired by the Bosnian Army.

Subotic had previously stated that a location where a mortar shell killed 13 civilians waiting in line for water on July 12, 1993, was close to Bosnian Army facilities. At today’s hearing, Weber asked whether Subotic claimed that “the Bosnian Army shelled its own command.”

Subotic said she wanted to provide all available information to the trial chamber “in order to have a complete picture of the situation on the ground.”

She rejected Weber’s suggestion that it is “a retreat” if the judges don’t accept her claim that the investigation incorrectly determined that the shell came from Bosnian Serb Army positions.

Weber said that the line of civilians waiting for water was shelled by the Bosnian Serb Army. He presented an order which stated that “as many losses as possible should be inflicted upon the enemy.”

Subotic’s cross-examination will continue on October 6.

Mladic was also indicted for genocide in Srebrenica, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (which reached the scale of genocide in six municipalities), and taking members of UNPROFOR hostage.