Bosnian Serb Police Chief ‘Unaware of Subordinates’ Crimes’

Mile Matijevic, who was the chief of the regional police centre in Banja Luka in the spring of 1992, told the UN court on Wednesday that he did not know about crimes committed by the special police squad in Bosanski Novi, Kotor Varos and Prijedor at the time.

“This is not known to me,” the witness said in response to a question from Hague Tribunal prosecutor Arthur Traldi.

Matijevic confirmed that some of the members of the squad were criminals who had been assimilated from a paramilitary group called Serbian Defence Forces.

He said that “people inclined to criminal actions might commit crimes again” but could not confirm whether this happened or not.

The prosecutor also showed him Republika Srpska police documents which indicated that Simo Drljaca, the police chief in Prijedor, was promoted three times between 1993 and 1994. Drljaca was also effectively under Matijevic’s command.

Traldi suggested that Drljaca was promoted after his officers shot about 200 Bosniak captives and dumped their bodies into a pit at Koricanske Stijene on Mount Vlasic on August 21, 1992.

Matijevic responded that his regional police centre found out about some crimes immediately but did not know about others at all, and said he “cannot comment on the decisions” on Drljaca’s promotion.

When asked by the prosecutor if he knew that the Prijedor police killed the Bosniaks at Koricanske Stijene, the witness said: “I was familiar with it, but I did not know the details.”

Mladic is on trial for the persecution of the non-Serb population throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which reached the scale of genocide in six municipalities, including Prijedor and Kotor Varos.

He is also accused of the genocide of Bosniaks from Srebrenica, terrorising the population of Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage.

Witness Matijevic denied having known about crimes against Bosniaks at the Omarska detention camp, near Prijedor, where police officers questioned prisoners, according to the prosecution.

“I heard about some security problems, but I did not go there,” said Matijevic.

However he added later on during the cross-examination that “it was known that crimes were committed” and “there were indications” that detainees were killed.

Matijevic rejected the allegation that he was involved in concealing a mass grave at the Tomasica mine, near Prijedor, from which more than 500 bodies were exhumed in 2013 and 2014.

Prosecutor Traldi quoted Mladic’s wartime diary from May 1993, which suggested that a Bosnian Serb Army officer said that Matijevic was among those involved in concealing the grave.

“I know nothing about it… My conscience is absolutely clean,” the witness responded.

Presiding judge Alphons Orie said at the end of the hearing that no evidence will be heard at the trial until the end of February due to problems related to bringing Mladic’s final defence witnesses to court.