Former State Prosecution Investigator Denies Threatening Witnesses in Stanisic and Milosevic Trial

The former investigator, Andreas Zurcher, investigated mass killings that took place on a dam in the village of Petkovci in the municipality of Zvornik. He examined a protected witness known as SM-102, who he has been accused of intimidating.

Zurcher testified at the trial of Ostoja Stanisic and Marko Milosevic, who have been charged with the mass killing of approximately 1000 Srebrenica civilians on a dam near Petkovci in mid-July 1995.

The indictment alleges that the captured Srebrenica civilians had previously been held in a new school building in Petkovci.

According to the charges, Stanisic was the commander of the Sixth Battalion of the Zvronicka Brigade with the Bosnian Serb Army, while Milosevic was his deputy.

Testifying at today’s hearing, Andreas Zurcher confirmed having taken a statement from a protected witness known as SM-102 in November 2010 at the trial.

“It was a relaxed, professional conversation. I think the video recording clearly shows that the witness was not scared, but he freely said whatever he had to say. I would not say he was under any type of pressure,” Zurcher said.

Zurcher specified that the statement was taken on the premises of the Bosnian state prosecution. He said an audio recording and video recordings were made and that three more people were examined on that occasion.

Zurcher said SM-102 was very important for the investigation into the killings in Petkovci, as he “directly associated the event with concrete persons after having been shown photo documentation.”

“He was so concrete that I can say I had never had such a witness before. During my examination it was important to identify the persons whom he drove to the shore of the dam. After having been shown the photographs, he recognized two people,” Zurcher said.

SM-102 testified in this case in April 2014. At that time he changed the statement he gave during the investigation, and said he had felt threatened and intimidated while giving his statement to Zurcher.

During cross-examination, Zurcher said he had never met or contacted SM-102 prior to his examination at the state prosecution.

“I personally do not speak your language, so I can’t get in touch with anyone directly. It’s true that I always brought an interpreter with me, but I hadn’t had any contact with this witness prior to his examination at the prosecution,” Zurcher said.

Milos Peric, Stanisic’s defense attorney, addressed Zurcher and said witnesses testifying at another trial related to Srebrenica claimed he had “tortured” them while taking their statements and insisted on specific answers. Zurcher said there were professional standards he had always respected.

“I don’t know what they meant by ‘tortured,’ but I can say that many of the witnesses I examined did not tell the truth. I don’t remember anything unusual during SM-102’s examination, but I shall always remember him because he gave me very concrete information and names and I think he was telling the truth,” Zurcher said.

At the end of the hearing the defense teams objected to Zurcher’s credibility.

The trial will continue on January 27, when the prosecution will continue presenting additional witnesses.