Defense Witness Describes Mladic’s “Constructive” Role in Croatian War

Strbac, the former Secretary of the Republika Srpska Krajina government during the Croatian war in 1991, testified at the Hague Tribunal on Tuesday.

Strbac said Croatian authorities were responsible for the war between Croatian and Yugoslav forces, because the Croatian state discriminated against Serbs, fired them from their jobs and removed Serbs as a distinct nationality within the constitution.

The first armed conflicts in Plitvice and Borovo Selo, according to Strbac, were caused by Croatian forces.

Strbac also described crimes committed by Croatian forces against Serb civilians in Medzacki Dzep in 1993 and during operations Storm and Thunder in 1995.

When describing Mladic, who was commander of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA Knin Corps) at the time, Strbac said he played a constructive role in the exchange of prisoners and in solving the crisis between Croatian and Yugoslav forces.

Crimes committed during the war in Croatia are not part of the indictment against Mladic. Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, has been charged with genocide in Srebrenica and other municipalities, terrorizing Sarajevo citizens and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Amir Zec said Mladic put the Yugoslav People’s Army in the hands of Serbs in the summer of 1991, after his arrival to Knin.

“That’s not true, until December the JNA was a buffer zone,” Strbac said. He eventually conceded that the Yugoslav People’s Army supported one side of the conflict.

Zec also suggested that Mladic applied the same operational method in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said Sarajevo was shelled, just like Zadar, Sibenik and parts of Knin.

Strbac said Yugoslav People’s Army troops were blocked in those Croatian towns, and that Mladic wanted to get them out.

Mladic’s trial resumes on Wednesday.