Sarajevo Citizens Visible to Snipers, Ballistics Expert Confirms at Mladic Trial

Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, has been charged with terrorizing the local population of Sarajevo. The indictment charges Mladic with 17 sniper attacks on the city, which left civilians dead.
 
Mladic has also been charged with genocide in Srebrenica, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (which reached the scale of genocide in six municipalities), and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.
 
At today’s hearing, ballistics expert Mile Poparic said that in most cases sniper fire in Sarajevo was opened by the Bosnian Army, which was stationed at the Executive Council building in the center of the city.
 
During cross-examination, prosecutor Caroline Edgerton presented Poparic with a series of photos depicting Bosnian Serb sniper nests in the settlement of Grbavica.

Edgerton said Serb snipers could monitor every movement in the city from those positions. She asked Poparic to confirm that “every pedestrian and tram could have been hit from Bosnian Serb sniper fire.”
 
“They were visible to sniper fire,” Poparic said.
 
Edgerton also objected to Poparic’s claim that the angles at which trams were hit suggested they were fired on from the Executive Council building, as the shots were fired from nearby. She told the Poparic that there were Bosnian Serb sniper nests on the 14th and 16th floors of the Grbavica buildings.
 
Poparic said he did not have any data about this.
 
Edgerton will continue her cross-examination on Wednesday.