1 Wednesday, 15 October 2003

2 [Open session]

3 [The accused entered court]

4 [The witness entered court]

5 --- Upon commencing at 9.03 a.m.

6 JUDGE MAY: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

7 WITNESS: MILAN MILANOVIC [Resumed]

8 [Witness answered through interpreter]

9 Cross-examined by Mr. Milosevic: [Continued]

10 Q. [Interpretation] Let us first cover a few more documents,

11 Mr. Milanovic. I have here in front of me tab 153, Exhibit 352. It

12 relates again to a letter to the Chief of Staff of the General Staff.

13 Please look at it.

14 Let me draw your attention to the document. The request is for

15 some rockets and ammunition. Look, it says, Republic of Serbian Krajina,

16 Ministry of Defence, Knin, 8th of April, 1993. And in the right-hand

17 corner at the bottom, with the incoming stamp, it says received on the 7th

18 of April, 1993.

19 Don't you think, Mr. Milanovic, that this is a forgery? How can a

20 document be received a day prior to the date when it was sent? Somebody

21 was very careless when drafting this.

22 A. I note that the dates do not agree, but I guarantee that the stamp

23 and the signature are authentic, because I know Mr. Dusko Babic

24 personally.

25 Q. So you have no observation to make regarding this discrepancy in

1 dates?

2 A. I have no observations.

3 Q. Very well. Then there's a letter that I have taken out of a tab,

4 00525574. The Serbian National Council is addressing a letter to the

5 Presidency of the SFRY on the 28th of May, 1991. It was signed by Ilija

6 Petrovic, as it is stated here.

7 MS. UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Your Honour, it's Exhibit 327, tab 2.

8 Mr. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

9 Q. I would like you to comment on this with regard to the contents of

10 this letter. Let me tell you in advance before I quote parts of it that I

11 would like you to say whether what is stated in the letter was your

12 position at the time in the area. Was it correct? Was it based on facts

13 and addressed to the Presidency of the SFRY and received by the Presidency

14 of the SFRY on the 30th of February [sic], as it is stated here, in 1991?

15 A. And then it says: "Confronted with the unwillingness of the

16 Presidency of the SFRY and the Federal Executive Council to assume their

17 constitutional responsibilities to permanently remove inter-ethnic

18 conflicts in the present-day Republic of Croatia, to prevent armed

19 conflict and establish disputed questions due to which inter-ethnic

20 problems arise, and to ensure a democratic dialogue for their resolution."

21 And then it says: "The Serbian National Council in Slavonia,

22 Baranja, and Western Srem warns the SFRY presidency and the Federal

23 Executive Council that inter-ethnic conflicts in Slavonia, Baranja, and

24 Western Srem are getting more intensified regardless of the presence of

25 the federal SUP and the Yugoslav People's Army and of their obligations

1 assumed by sending them to the area."

2 Then it says: "It has already become customary under darkness

3 various explosive devices to be activated at the entry to Serbian villages

4 and to fire at Serb houses and mistreat unarmed Serb inhabitants, for Serb

5 workers to be fired, for economic and other property owned by Serbs to be

6 demolished, for medical facilities to not provide appropriate treatment to

7 ethnic Serbs, for armed citizens, members of Croatia's so-called political

8 parties, intercept adults and children and submit them to terror of the

9 'young Croatian democracy.'"

10 Tell me, are these all events that occurred at the time as is

11 stated in this letter addressed to the Presidency of Yugoslavia and the

12 federal government? Are they correct?

13 A. Among the things listed in this letter, parts are true, and I am

14 aware of them, and some parts I cannot say because I didn't personally see

15 it nor feel the consequences.

16 For example, in the area in which I lived, in the month of

17 February 1991 there was no firing at houses, et cetera, but Serbs were

18 fired in some institutions in which they were employed. I never heard of

19 hospitals refusing to extend medical aid, for instance. And I heard of

20 some other excesses but not of others that are listed here in the month of

21 February 1991.

22 Q. When did you hear about all the excesses referred to in this

23 letter, or were some of them fabricated?

24 A. These excesses, in my judgement, occurred from May up until August

25 1991, when armed conflict started in the area of Slavonia, Baranja, and

1 Western Srem. I never heard of children being terrorised in February

2 1991.

3 Q. When did you hear of children being terrorised?

4 A. Never specifically did I hear children being terrorised unless the

5 implication is to the time of war when everyone was terrorised and the

6 children in particular.

7 Q. And do you know anything about the activities of Tomislav Mercep

8 and his groups for silent liquidations and murdering of women and children

9 in the area at any time at all?

10 A. Before the outbreak of conflicts, I frequently -- or, rather, I

11 never entered the Vukovar and the area in which Mercep moved about, but I

12 did hear from several information media and individuals that this did

13 occur in the city of Vukovar and its environs, and it was perpetrated by

14 Mercep and his groups.

15 Q. Did you hear of children being killed, civilians being killed?

16 Did you have occasion to learn anything about such events?

17 A. With the beginning of the war, I did hear that civilians were

18 killed, civilians in Vukovar, and there was a story about children, but it

19 was never confirmed.

20 Q. The Presidency is criticised in this letter, saying that: "The

21 programme of measures and activities for a lasting settlement of

22 inter-ethnic conflicts adopted by the Presidency on the 9th of May is a

23 trick for the Serbs; public law and order and safety are guaranteed in

24 accordance with the constitutional legal system of the Republic of

25 Croatia. In conditions when the Republic of Croatia does not recognise

1 the legal system of the Federation, the Serbs who live in the area are

2 left defenseless in the face of Croatian state terror."

3 And then it says: "Although the Presidency recommends that only

4 legal local organs of internal affairs should move in the crisis areas, it

5 is indirectly allowing the free movement of armed formations and armed

6 citizens who, in accordance with the Croatian legal system, have been

7 turned into legal local police organs. Since the Serbs are the only ones

8 without arms and do not have their own armed units, it follows that the

9 Presidency has, by its decision, actually given agreement to Croatian

10 state terror to launch an open hunt against Serbs. All police stations in

11 Croatia have classified lists of Serbs who allegedly participated in an

12 armed rebellion and who need to be arrested or deprived of their lives,

13 killed."

14 And then there is reference to an example of the arrest of a judge

15 in Vukovar, et cetera. Are you familiar with these events?

16 A. I am with some, but for instance, I do not remember that there

17 were lists in February 1991 of people charged with armed rebellion,

18 because an armed rebellion had still not occurred in Slavonia, Baranja,

19 and Western Srem. We're talking about February 1991.

20 Q. It's difficult to read when it was received in the Presidency.

21 It's not February. It's in May. I apologise. We're referring to the

22 month of May, not February.

23 A. Well, then that is quite possible. I also note the error now, as

24 this was received by fax. It says the 29th of May, 1991, in the top

25 left-hand corner.

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1 Q. That's right. And it's dated the 28th of May and sent the

2 following day.

3 Now that we have corrected or at least clarified the question of

4 the date, did all these things happen at that time?

5 A. Well, it is possible now that Croats had such lists, as this was

6 after Borovo Selo. So it's quite possible that Croats did have lists of

7 persons who took part in the armed conflict in Borovo Selo - let us call

8 it that - and that they asked that they be taken into custody. However,

9 there was always a problem with regard to whether Croatia was entitled to

10 expand its police forces.

11 Q. Let's not enter into that now. I'm asking you about things that

12 you can testify about. I'm asking you about what is written in this

13 letter.

14 JUDGE MAY: The witness can answer. He can't just answer yes to

15 your questions. You must give him the opportunity to answer. He said

16 there was a problem with regard to whether Croatia was entitled to expand

17 its police forces.

18 Now, if you want to comment, Mr. Milanovic, about this letter,

19 you're free to do so on what the accused is asking you, and don't let him

20 interrupt you.

21 Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

22 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

23 Q. Well, please comment. Continue with your observations if you feel

24 I interrupted you.

25 A. I said what I had in mind.

1 Q. So I didn't interrupt you. Then it goes on to say: "Though the

2 Serbian people have agreed to the formation of a parity group for

3 negotiations and selected the negotiators, it is obvious that the

4 Presidency and the Presidencies of Yugoslavia did not expect an armed

5 force to accept negotiations with unarmed Serbs. The decision of the

6 Presidency of the 9th of May, 1991, is an entry ticket to a kind of new

7 Jasenovac for the Serb people."

8 That is what is written in this letter of the National Council.

9 Did you share that view in those days, that is in May 1991?

10 A. Not quite, but I did think that major problems would occur,

11 because I followed the work of the Presidency of Yugoslavia which appeared

12 to be -- did not function smoothly, and I think that the presidents of the

13 republics had already started to organise those well-known meetings. None

14 of it proved fruitful, and it couldn't be called a peaceful settlement.

15 And already by then, that is the 9th of May, we had the events in Borovo

16 Selo, and both peoples started to arm themselves, and one could feel the

17 war in the offing. And the international community had still not sent its

18 representatives to the area so that the conditions were there for the war

19 to break out.

20 Q. In this letter of the Serbian National Council, there is reference

21 to unarmed Serbs. Were the Serbs at the time armed or not?

22 A. In my assessment, on the 9th of May, 1991, or the 28th of May,

23 1991, both peoples had started to arm themselves, first with sidearms and

24 sports weapons and later on with other weapons.

25 Q. Was that the reason why in the last paragraph it says: "Because

1 of all this and to avoid the threat to the survival of the Serb national

2 being, the Serb people from Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Srem will be

3 forced to self-organise themselves and to prepare for self-defence."

4 And then it goes on to say: "To avoid any possible military

5 conflict, the Serb National Council is the only legitimate organ. Demands

6 from the Federal Executive Council and the Presidency within the deadline

7 they defined themselves of the next ten days to fulfil the obligation that

8 Yugoslavia expects from them," because they had set a deadline for the

9 disarming of those formations and for restoring some sort of order.

10 Do you remember that? Is that right, Mr. Milanovic?

11 A. I would agree with this last paragraph.

12 Q. And with the other statements of the Serbian National Council

13 above, that you don't agree?

14 A. I've already said that I partially agree and partially disagree.

15 Q. Very well. Look, please, at the documents that were tendered here

16 en masse. Tell me, please, what does this one show? For instance,

17 documents have been produced. I assume some sort of financial documents,

18 accounts and bills of Zastava Promet Sombor, 02290394, ERN number.

19 JUDGE MAY: Are these the ones which were produced through the

20 witness? Exhibit 549, is it? Is it one of the tabs, Mr. Milosevic? Just

21 a moment. Is it tab 18?

22 MS. UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Tab 18, Your Honour yes.

23 JUDGE MAY: Tab 18.

24 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I don't have tab indication here,

25 Mr. May, but whatever I have I received from the opposite side.

1 JUDGE MAY: Yes. The witness has got it now.

2 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

3 Q. So 02290394. It's a bill from Zastava Promet in Sombor for

4 T-shirts; belts; handcuffs; belt cases; berets, three. And then under the

5 next number, this one ends with 394, then 395 again a copy of the same

6 bill for 30 T-shirts, et cetera. Again three berets, cases, et cetera.

7 These were purchased by the training centre of the TO. It says the

8 purchaser is the special training centre for the Territorial Defence of

9 the SAO Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Srem Erdut, purchased in Sombor.

10 Then we have this bill as one document, then the same document --

11 same bill as another document.

12 So tell me, please, what -- I don't know how to put it. In

13 producing these documents, what is the point? The fact that they

14 purchased these things?

15 JUDGE MAY: That's not for the witness to say. That's for the

16 Prosecution to say, whether there's any point. All the witness can do is

17 comment on the document if you have any question you want to ask him about

18 it. Whether there is any point to it we'll have to decide. It will be a

19 matter for us to decide whether there is any significance in this at all.

20 Do you want to ask him anything about it?

21 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. May, as you can see, this is

22 produced on two pieces of paper, the same copy of a totally insignificant

23 bill, and I am just drawing your attention that we are being flooded with

24 piles and piles of valueless documents.

25 There's a third, 02290396. Again Zastava Promet Sombor. Against

1 -- again there is reference to "termo dukx", again the training centre in

2 Sombor.

3 And then on the next document bearing the following number, again

4 0397, I assume the witness, since these exhibits are being tendered

5 through him, has some sort of criteria on the basis of which he considers

6 these exhibits significant.

7 JUDGE MAY: No. It's really not for him to say whether the

8 exhibits are significant. He can comment on them, of course, if he knows

9 anything about them, but it's for the Prosecution to say whether there's

10 any significance in them or not.

11 Let's ask. Mr. Milanovic, you see these various invoices. Did

12 you come across invoices like this when you were working as the assistant

13 minister?

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] As far as these invoices are

15 concerned, all I can say is that they are correct. I see the date, that

16 the date is the 27th of November, in fact -- or the 7th of November, 1991,

17 and the authorities have still not started functioning properly. I'm not

18 sure that all the ministries had actually been established at the time. I

19 wasn't working in the Defence Ministry at the time, but I do have some

20 information about it and know that during that period of time, various

21 units in the territory of Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Srem did receive

22 their supplies from any source they could, especially from the work

23 organisations and companies that were close by. So they were given

24 assistance by them, and they were able to procure equipment and various

25 goods through them, and they would send in their bills, their invoices to

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1 the work organisations, such as this centre for special training, for

2 example, at the Territorial Defence of Slavonia, Baranja, and Western

3 Srem. It sent this invoice to the work organisation DP Dalj from Dalj.

4 That's all I can say on the subject.

5 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

6 Q. All right. Now, that means that the training centre went to a

7 shop in Sombor and bought these T-shirts, berets, and whatever. That's

8 how it came by the necessary equipment.

9 A. Yes.

10 Q. All right. Let's just hurry up, because my time is going to run

11 out soon.

12 Would you take a look at the list by the owner of the account in

13 the Sombor branch, for example. And that's on page 0087699. And then the

14 next one or two pages that follow after that, they are the account owners

15 or invoice owners, yes?

16 MS. UERTZ-RETZLAFF: [Previous translation continues]...

17 JUDGE MAY: Yes. We'll have the number of that, please.

18 JUDGE KWON: Tab 20, Exhibit --

19 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

20 Q. They're all the accounts, different ones of private entrepreneurs,

21 the proprietors of various coffee bars, and so on and so forth, shops,

22 retail establishments, agricultural farms, factory farms, and so on.

23 There are a lot of factory farms here. The employment bureau, the health

24 fund, the various local communities, villages, and so on, primary schools,

25 cinema club, bowling club, a butcher's shop, and so on.

1 So these were all people who had opened accounts, companies

2 opening accounts or local communities opening their various accounts for

3 them to do business. And this was registered by the social accounting

4 service, the Sombor branch, and they opened their accounts in the nearest

5 branches, in the Sombor branch for them to be able to undertake business

6 transactions. Isn't that correct, Mr. Milanovic?

7 So what has this to do with anything? Take a look at all those

8 lists. There are several hundred different account holders, both

9 individuals and companies, private individuals and legal entities. And

10 even we see the Red Cross and the youth travel association, right up to

11 the bowling clubs and all the rest.

12 So what's special in all this about them opening these accounts

13 for them to be able to function normally and engage in business? This is

14 elemental.

15 JUDGE MAY: Put the question this way: Do these -- do these

16 documents show, Mr. Milanovic, do you agree with the accused, that they

17 simply show that these businesses were functioning normally, that these

18 organisations were functioning normally?

19 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] This document proves the following:

20 We're dealing with the 23rd of January, 1992. The balance and payments

21 and payments transactions with Croatia was completely cut off and that all

22 work organisations from the area of Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Srem

23 opened their own new accounts at the social accounting service in the

24 Republic of Serbia for the Sombor and Odzak regions. And I'm sure there

25 were some other towns as well, for them to be able to engage in business.

1 They were not able to trade before that because the payments transactions

2 with Croatia had been cut off.

3 Q. So who cut off the payments transactions? Did they do that or did

4 the social accounting service of Croatia quite simply cease to make any

5 payments to them?

6 A. As the war had started, it was physically impossible to have any

7 contacts, and I don't believe that either side ceased to cooperate. It

8 was the war that put a stop to all transactions, including this kind of

9 transaction.

10 Q. All right. Well, there's no purpose in me going on.

11 JUDGE KWON: Mr. Milanovic, I remember that you told us that among

12 the account owners in this list is included the budget of Serbian district

13 of Slavonia, Srem, Baranja, and Western Srem in the name of Goran Hadzic.

14 Am I correct? If you look at the second page in B/C/S probably, under the

15 number of 630-70008.

16 A. 630-70008 you said. What I remember is this: There was a

17 decision to open up this account because the government of the region had

18 some expenditure for its functioning, travelling expenses, its ministers

19 and politicians, those who delved in politics and assumed positions at the

20 time, and that is why this particular account was opened. But the

21 signatory of that account was Goran Hadzic, who was at the same time the

22 prime minister of the Serb district. So he was the signatory of the

23 account, which means he could be the -- have been the beneficiary, but so

24 could the other government members as well. They could have been

25 beneficiaries too.

1 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

2 Q. Now, as far as this name is concerned, Mr. Milanovic, he comes

3 under the column of persons representing firms or company representatives,

4 because it states the account number, the name, the location, and the

5 company representatives. Those are the columns in these lists. And just

6 as the veterinary station of Beli Manastir is represented probably by its

7 director, the budget similarly is represented -- the budget of the Serbian

8 district of Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Srem is represented or the

9 funds can be signed by the president of that district, and he is the

10 individual who is the authorised person to represent it and has a

11 registered signature to represent that organisation. Isn't that right?

12 A. The practice in work organisations, in companies, and in political

13 bodies and organs of a state is usually that people dealing with finance

14 are those individuals, whether they were people who were head of the

15 financial department or some other department, but having to do with

16 monies. And if the decision was taken for the authorised person to be

17 Goran Hadzic, this is not at issue, but it would be more logical had it

18 been the Finance Minister, for example.

19 Q. What does it mean more logical? What does "more logical" mean?

20 Do you consider that this was an extraordinary situation, that it was

21 unusual for Goran Hadzic to represent the budget of the district and to

22 say how the funds were to be used that were on the account? Was that out

23 of the ordinary in any way then?

24 A. When I said "more logical", I consider that the prime minister has

25 enough duties elsewhere which are significant for the state, whereas the

1 Minister of Finance would necessarily deal with financial matters. It

2 comes under his sector, which means that he has to sign invoices and

3 accounts daily, keep records of this kind and so on.

4 Q. All right. There's no -- really no purpose in going on with this

5 any further, because matters seem to be quite clear when we look at these,

6 this mass of financial data and these lists.

7 A moment ago, I received a correction of an intercept, a

8 corrigendum to an intercept. I think there was a printing or typing error

9 somewhere, and it relates to CD 1/28/08-01-212 of the 30th of December,

10 1991.

11 MS. UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Your Honours, that's tab 10 of the intercept

12 binder.

13 THE REGISTRAR: 551.

14 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

15 Q. The first thing that was corrected is this: It says -- I have it

16 in English. "Well, I took this paper so that Vladan and Ratko could have

17 a look at it. [In English] The declaration itself is good. I've read

18 it."

19 [Interpretation] The question asked was who this was about,

20 because the names used are Vladan and Ratko. And we're dealing with some

21 legal documents here, a declaration, in actual fact, constitutional

22 matter, things of that type. Isn't that right?

23 A. If you're asking me, then my answer is yes.

24 Q. Well, Ratko Markovic, I assume that's not at issue. He is

25 Professor of law, Professor Dr. Ratko Markovic is his name and title? And

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1 Vladan was Professor Dr. Vladan Kutlesic, and both those two men were

2 participants in the writing of the constitution of Serbia and Yugoslavia,

3 which means they were prominent legal men who looked at documents; right?

4 A. Right.

5 Q. So what is asked is their professional opinion with respect to

6 some legal documents that had a legal and constitutional nature. Isn't

7 that right, Mr. Milanovic?

8 A. That is right, and I assume correctly, because it says Vladan and

9 Ratko here, and as I said that I did some work with respect to legal

10 issues with Mr. Ratko Markovic, then I assume correctly that that was the

11 people that were referred to, and I recognise this in the conversation

12 mentioned here.

13 Q. So what they're talking about is how relations were being set up

14 and discussion between two legal men with respect to the declaration and

15 the relations asserted therein or treated in any other way. Isn't that

16 right?

17 A. Yes, that's right. And as far as I understand it or as far as I

18 remember it, I haven't read it now, you are recommending them to your --

19 you tell your interlocutors to have a look at the subject matter from a

20 professional viewpoint.

21 Q. All right. Fine. There are very many intercepts here. When did

22 you listen to all these conversations for you to be able to identify them

23 shown to you by the opposite side?

24 A. Well, I can't remember exactly, but it was approximately three

25 weeks ago.

1 Q. And you were able to identify some of them on the basis of the

2 people you knew and the rest on the basis of the media?

3 A. Yes. More on the basis of the people that I knew and a fewer

4 number that I knew through the media.

5 Q. All right. Very well.

6 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Now, I think this is tab 8 that I

7 want to look at next.

8 JUDGE MAY: Yes.

9 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

10 Q. 0206699. As what is being quoted here, I think this is the

11 substance of it. What is stated is the following: "Slobodan Milosevic,

12 SM," and we're talking about this intercepted conversation, Radovan

13 Karadzic and myself.

14 JUDGE MAY: What is the date, Mr. Milosevic, so we can identify

15 it?

16 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] The date is the 25th of December,

17 1991. It is tab 8, Mr. May.

18 JUDGE MAY: Yes.

19 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

20 Q. I say to Karadzic: "... the Presidency, and you are making

21 certain mistakes. You have forgotten to see the most important thing when

22 you question Alija Izetbegovic." Radovan Karadzic and myself. Then I

23 say: "The worst thing isn't that he is doing it without the consensus of

24 all three peoples but ..." And then Karadzic says: "But he is doing a

25 criminal act." And I go back to what I was saying: "The worst thing is

1 the following: That Bosnia-Herzegovina, by a decision of this kind, has

2 violated its own constitution." And Karadzic says: "Yes, we've already

3 said that." And then Milosevic again: "The constitution of

4 Bosnia-Herzegovina defines Bosnia and Herzegovina as a republic within the

5 frameworks of Yugoslavia. So it's different to the constitution of

6 Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia," 'it' meaning the constitution of

7 Bosnia-Herzegovina. "They at least issued their own constitutions

8 defining themselves as independent states." And then Karadzic says:

9 "Yes, yes."

10 Then once again I go on to explain and say that he hasn't only

11 violated the constitution in the sense that you need the consensus of all

12 three peoples, he's also -- he's also changed the status of

13 Bosnia-Herzegovina without changing its constitution, because it is in the

14 constitution of the BH that it is stated that it is a Yugoslav republic, a

15 Republic of Yugoslavia. And then we go on to say that it is necessary to

16 clear matters up in a calm, logical, and legal procedure.

17 Is that then the best proof that efforts were being made legally

18 and lawfully, in a constitutional manner, to set up the relationships here

19 and that nobody spoke of any war here or violence of any kind but quite

20 the contrary, the need to respect the constitution and for those

21 relationships to be set up accordingly, if necessary through changes and

22 amendments, but pursuant to the procedure, the constitution of Yugoslavia

23 and Bosnia-Herzegovina and so on and so forth.

24 And as you yourself looked at these intercepted conversations,

25 that would be the essence of them. Isn't that right, Mr. Milanovic?

1 A. I did listen to this conversation, and it is an authentic one.

2 And among other things in this conversation, you said that too.

3 Q. All right, Mr. Milanovic. I won't pursue this line of

4 questioning, but the endeavours, I suppose, are clear.

5 I have to ask some more questions to clarify certain matters.

6 During your examination-in-chief here, you spoke about the presence of

7 Kosutic, Crncevic, Cvijan, or rather, you were asked about the Assembly

8 and their presence at the Assembly. Isn't that right?

9 A. Yes. These people were mentioned, and they attended the Assembly

10 as guests, in the capacity of guest.

11 Q. That's what I wanted to establish. You call -- invited people

12 from Belgrade to be guests. They had no active role to play. They had

13 merely come having been invited as guests, they took their seats in the

14 front row and listened to your Assembly meeting; isn't that right?

15 A. Yes. They were present as guests attending the district's

16 Assembly session.

17 Q. Did they have any active role to play in the work of the Assembly

18 or were they just there in the capacity of guests being -- having been

19 invited by you to attend?

20 A. As far as I know, they were merely guests. They were not active

21 participants at all.

22 Q. As is customary. When a guest comes in, he sits down, listens to

23 what's going on, and then he goes home and that's all; is that right?

24 Now, tell me this, please: You said during the

25 examination-in-chief, or in response to a question put to you by the

1 opposite side, that the Croats from your village left at the end of June

2 1991, when the war operations began; is that right?

3 A. That's right.

4 Q. And you say that you discussed the safety of the Croats at a

5 meeting with them; is that right?

6 A. That's right.

7 Q. And what did they ask of you at that time?

8 A. They didn't ask for anything in particular. We had a meeting as

9 to what should be done next, and they asked me at the meeting whether we

10 could guarantee their safety.

11 Q. And what was your answer?

12 A. My answer was that we couldn't guarantee their safety and that

13 they should decide themselves at their own risk whether they would stay in

14 the village or leave, and when the situation calms down, they could come

15 back.

16 Q. Tell me, why couldn't you guarantee their safety?

17 A. In the environs, there were active operations ongoing already, and

18 we didn't know who would come, who wouldn't come, what would happen. We

19 sought to save ourselves, and we thought that we wouldn't be able to care

20 for them, and that is when they decided to leave.

21 Q. Are you claiming that they decided to leave out of fear for their

22 own safety?

23 A. Yes, that's what I'm claiming.

24 Q. Very well.

25 JUDGE MAY: Mr. Milosevic, you have one minute more.

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1 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I wasn't watching the time. I

2 wanted to ask the witness something about him.

3 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

4 Q. Before the outbreak of the conflict, you lived in a poor family,

5 you engaged in the production of melons, watermelons, you drove an

6 asphalt-making machine in the company for roads?

7 A. I don't think I ever lived in a poor family, because the rule in

8 the last 50 years or, rather, my family was thought to be the wealthiest

9 in that village in the last 50 years.

10 Q. Do you have a company called Famis, in the name of your wife?

11 A. Yes. About two years ago, we have a company that is called Famis,

12 and it is in my wife's name, and she's working together with the other

13 family members.

14 Q. Is it true that you have two apartments in Belgrade and a villa at

15 Dedinje or Senjak?

16 A. It is not true that I have two apartments. I have one apartment

17 in Dedinje and a small house of 106 square metres in Senjak. If that can

18 be considered a villa, then I accept.

19 Q. Tell me, please, how many cars do you own?

20 JUDGE MAY: What's relevance of this?

21 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] It is relevant to see how someone

22 who was a tradesman in watermelon became a very rich man in Serbia.

23 JUDGE MAY: I can't see any relevance in that at all even if true.

24 He's told you he was not simply a tradesman in watermelons.

25 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Very well. We will have occasion to

1 clear that up.

2 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

3 Q. Tell me, Mr. Milanovic, were you, in connection with your

4 testimony, a suspect at any point in time or were you asked to testify

5 only as a witness, and how did that come about?

6 A. I'm 48 years old and never in my life was I suspected of anything.

7 And this applies to the present as well. And in a conversation with an

8 investigator, Vladimir Dzuro, I agreed to come to this Tribunal.

9 Q. How did you get in touch with Vladimir Dzuro and how did the idea

10 come about for you to testify?

11 A. I can't remember exactly, but if I could think it over closely, I

12 would remember the name. Anyway, someone gave him my telephone number.

13 He called me up and came to see me.

14 Q. Does that mean that there was no mention of any possible grounds

15 for you to be suspected for certain things from the period about which

16 you're testifying now?

17 A. I'm quite sure that I cannot be suspected, because I know what I

18 did, and especially as I wasn't active until the end of 1991, that is the

19 beginning of 1992 when active combat started. So there's absolutely no

20 grounds for suspecting me.

21 JUDGE MAY: You have had well over your time, Mr. Milosevic. I'm

22 going to ask Mr. Kay if he has any questions.

23 Questioned by Mr. Kay:

24 Q. Witness, I'm just looking at paragraph 2 of your statement, and it

25 seems that in 1990, you were president of your local commune and were not

1 involved in politics in any serious way. Is that right?

2 A. I think that I was the president of the local commune for several

3 years, perhaps the youngest one in the former Yugoslavia, and I was

4 involved in politics from my early youth.

5 Q. Had you been active in a -- in a political party, then, before

6 1991?

7 A. I was in the only one; that is, I was a member of the League of

8 Communists.

9 Q. After May 1990 and the elections in Croatia, it was then that you

10 became involved in the political party in Croatia which represented the

11 interest of the Serbs; is that right?

12 A. That is not correct. I was not a member of the party representing

13 the interests of the Serbs, but I joined the authorities as president of

14 the local commune, and until the very end, I didn't join a single party,

15 and I am not a member of any party today, and not of the SDS either.

16 Q. So when you were on the Serbian National Council, would it be

17 right to describe you as an independent?

18 A. One could put it that way.

19 Q. And you were appointed the acting Minister of Defence within the

20 Serbian Krajina as an independent, without representing any political

21 party?

22 A. Correct.

23 Q. And you remained in that position, working with various of the

24 leaders of the time, Goran Hadzic, Milan Babic, Milan Martic? You were

25 working with those people on the Serbian National Council; is that right?

1 A. In the Serbian National Council very little, but in the government

2 of Krajina, yes.

3 Q. In relation to the three men I just mentioned there, Milan Martic,

4 Goran Hadzic, Milan Babic, it's quite clear from your statement, and I'm

5 looking at paragraph 39 here, that there was a -- a power struggle between

6 those three.

7 I'm referring to paragraph 39 to assist the Judges, Witness.

8 There is nothing particular in there for you. But it's right that you

9 give the impression of a power struggle between those three?

10 A. If that is the question, a power struggle did exist.

11 Q. What was the differences between, first of all, Goran Hadzic and

12 Milan Babic?

13 A. The differences were of a political nature. With respect to

14 certain political matters, their views differed, and they were constantly

15 quarrelling. Babic frequently accused Goran of not doing his work

16 properly, that he was supported by Belgrade and that was the only reason

17 he was in power, whereas Goran accused Babic of various things.

18 Q. Was it in the way that they went about their business or political

19 differences between the two?

20 A. I think that there were political differences, and these were only

21 reflected on their work.

22 Q. And so how would you express that political difference in a simple

23 form as the difference between Hadzic and Babic?

24 A. I think that the basic political difference between them, if I can

25 call it that, was that Babic advocated the position that Krajina should

1 pursue an independent policy, whereas Goran Hadzic believed that we should

2 rely more on our motherland, that is Serbia.

3 Q. And in relation to Milan Martic, he also had differences with the

4 other two. What was his different position, if you could describe that?

5 A. The difference between Martic and Babic, in my judgement, was

6 similar to the difference between Hadzic and Babic. Martic also felt that

7 we should rely more on the motherland, and Babic the other way round.

8 Q. And the difference between Martic and Hadzic?

9 A. In my view, there were no political differences between them.

10 Both held the same position, but Martic was more critical of Hadzic in the

11 sense of him being unable to do his work properly, that he wasn't serious

12 enough, whereas Hadzic accused Martic of being a mere policeman who

13 shouldn't get involved in politics.

14 Q. These political differences between the three made it very

15 difficult, did it not, for there to be any settled or unified front within

16 the government?

17 A. It was very difficult to work under those circumstances in

18 Krajina.

19 Q. All three were operating different levers of power and working

20 often against each other.

21 A. You're right.

22 Q. And that was not in the best interests of the region or the people

23 who lived there.

24 A. That's right.

25 Q. When it came to the Erdut agreement in 1995, you signed that

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1 agreement, and it achieved from that moment a peace and end to the

2 conflict.

3 A. Correct.

4 Q. You signed that -- that agreement to avoid further war with

5 Croatia.

6 A. Having the experiences of the lower part of Krajina in mind when

7 Martic wouldn't accept or negotiate, not to mention sign the Z4 plan,

8 which I think was a major error for the people of Krajina, I had no other

9 option but to get the most we could by peaceful means, and that was the

10 agreement. And its greatest positive side was that the solution was a

11 peaceful one, and the people would have the time of one year plus another

12 year to be able to decide themselves.

13 Q. When you signed that agreement and after you assigned that

14 agreement, the local politicians and others were hostile to you. That is

15 right, isn't it?

16 A. Mostly all, that is five presidents of municipalities, as many as

17 there were in Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Srem, and Goran Hadzic were

18 against the agreement. However, after protracted persuasion, they agreed

19 to it. But after the signature was affixed, I was attacked with heavy

20 cannon to leave as soon as possible, and I left after the successful

21 demilitarisation at the end of April 1996.

22 Q. Before you signed that agreement in Erdut, it was Slobodan

23 Milosevic who told you to sign that.

24 A. I received a message from Dayton from Mr. Milosevic, through

25 Mr. Zika Jovanovic, who was then Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, to

1 the effect that President Milosevic said that it would be a good thing and

2 that it should be done. However, from his closest associates - one could

3 call them closest - I received opposite messages, that is that I shouldn't

4 do it, and then I decided to do it nevertheless, because I knew that if I

5 didn't do it on Saturday, that on Sunday the Croatian army would attack

6 Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Srem.

7 Q. And when Slobodan Milosevic returned from Erdut, he told you that

8 you had done the right thing as he instructed, to sign the agreement for

9 peace.

10 A. Yes. He told me that I had done the right thing, and that was the

11 only right thing to do, that the international community was putting great

12 pressure on us, there was no other option. He asked me whether any of his

13 men had criticised me. I said they hadn't.

14 Mr. KAY: Thank you. No further questions.

15 MS. UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Your Honours, a few minutes.

16 Re-examined by Ms. Uertz-Retzlaff:

17 Q. To start with what Mr. Kay ended with, you said that you were --

18 the local politicians and Goran Hadzic acted hostile against you after the

19 signing of the Erdut agreement. At that time after the signing of the

20 Erdut agreement, did Mr. Milosevic support you against Goran Hadzic and

21 the other local politicians that acted hostile against you or did he not?

22 A. Mr. Milosevic knew about these attacks by Goran Hadzic and the

23 other politicians against me after the signing of the agreement, and on

24 several occasions he told me that, that various delegations were coming to

25 see him and that they were complaining about me. And at first, I think he

1 had a neutral position. I know that. That is true. But as time passed,

2 the demilitarisation was completed, the main things had been done in the

3 area; people had been disarmed, various units crossed into Serbia in plain

4 clothes, and I think that most of the job had been done.

5 Then, nevertheless, at a meeting he said that there were too many

6 criticisms levelled against me, and the best thing for me to do would be

7 to withdraw, to retire.

8 Q. Did you -- did he give you any explanation why he could not

9 support you against those critics, or do you know why?

10 A. I don't know, but at the time, Mr. Milosevic was powerful, and I

11 didn't ask him any such thing.

12 Q. In relation to the budget of the RSK, Mr. Milosevic questioned you

13 about the income from the oil fields. Was the crude oil sold for a

14 realistic price or a lower price?

15 A. The oil was not sold as crude oil but in processed form at a low

16 price. I remember roughly that this was around 30 pfennig; whereas, the

17 market price, because there was an embargo and there was a blockade, it

18 was sold at a price of between four and more marks.

19 Q. And who profited from this, selling the oil for such a low price?

20 A. Officially the oil was sold by the oil industry of Krajina. So

21 that means that the company should have profited, but I believe that the

22 people who purchased the oil at 30 or so pfennigs a litre and sold it at a

23 higher price were the ones that profited.

24 Q. And those people were where or who?

25 A. The people who were close to the government.

1 Q. Mr. Milosevic asked you about the attack on Palaca. Was your

2 village attacked by the villagers from Laslovo, or were they attacked by

3 the ZNG forces from elsewhere?

4 A. During the attack by Croatian forces on Palaca, I didn't know

5 exactly who had attacked us, but after some time, I watched a Croatian

6 officer who was bragging that this was in fact the first organised attack

7 by the Croatian army against a locality, in this case Palaca, and it took

8 place after an order by their command that they should move from Osijek

9 via Vinkovci to Borovo Selo, and the operation was halted. They didn't

10 attack Borovo Selo, but on the way back to Osijek, they attacked Palaca.

11 According to what the Croatian officer who participated in the attack

12 recounted himself.

13 Q. Mr. Milosevic put to you that the leadership of Serbia always

14 advocated and supported peace, and your answer to this proposition was

15 that sometimes it was like that and sometimes it was not. Do you recall

16 times or events when the Serbian leadership, in particular Mr. Milosevic,

17 did not support peace?

18 A. I couldn't answer that question in concrete terms, but I'll give

19 you an example. It is not logical for Milan Martic, who was supported by

20 Belgrade all the years, that means for six years, in fact, it supported

21 him for six years, and when it came to accepting the Z-4 plan, he did not

22 accept it; whereas the extreme man, Babic, who had been considered such,

23 strove for having the Z-4 plan accepted and later on signed it in Vienna,

24 although the -- although Croatia had already launched an attack on that

25 part of Krajina.

1 MS. UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Your Honours, this concludes my questions.

2 JUDGE MAY: One matter of housekeeping. I'm asked to note for the

3 record that the original translation for Exhibit 551, tab 10, has been

4 substituted by the new translation which we have all had today.

5 Mr. Milanovic, that concludes your evidence. Thank you for coming

6 to the International Tribunal to give it. You are free to go.

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Thank you.

8 [The witness withdrew]

9 JUDGE MAY: One matter before we adjourn. We will, in fact,

10 adjourn before the next witness and take the break slightly early, and it

11 is this, it involves all parties: We have to deal with the order and make

12 arrangements for the hearing of the evidence of Lord Owen, and that will

13 involve considering how long should be allowed for examination by the

14 parties. I'm not going to ask for that now, but tomorrow I would be

15 grateful to have some idea of how long the parties would wish to have for

16 the -- his examination so we can make up an order. So we will discuss it

17 tomorrow.

18 MR. KAY: Your Honour, just while we're on that subject --

19 JUDGE MAY: Yes.

20 MR. KAY: -- it's really how his evidence is presented. Will the

21 Prosecution be asking him questions in chief, so to speak?

22 JUDGE MAY: No.

23 MR. KAY: I know he's a court witness. How is it going to be

24 done?

25 JUDGE MAY: Well, I don't know if you were here with the last

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1 court witness we had, Dr. Ranta.

2 MR. KAY: I was, but I can't remember it.

3 JUDGE MAY: Yes. In the same way, we'll start off with

4 examination. We may consider inviting the witness, if he wants, to make a

5 short statement, but we have his statement which is in written form. It

6 will then be a question of cross-examination by all parties, and we will

7 probably follow the same form as we did before.

8 MR. KAY: That's helpful to know that.

9 JUDGE MAY: Yes. And the only issue we would welcome submissions

10 on, we'll hear -- or, rather, we'll hear the parties on is how long they

11 all want.

12 MR. KAY: Yes.

13 JUDGE MAY: We will adjourn now, 20 minutes, and then we'll start

14 the next witness.

15 --- Recess taken at 10.24 a.m.

16 --- On resuming at 10.48 a.m.

17 [The witness entered court]

18 JUDGE MAY: Yes. Let the witness take the declaration.

19 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I solemnly declare that I will speak

20 the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

21 JUDGE MAY: Thank you very much. If you would like to take a

22 seat.

23 WITNESS: WITNESS B-1115

24 [Witness answered through interpreter]

25 JUDGE MAY: Yes, Ms. Bibles.

1 MS. BIBLES: Your Honour, I would first inquire regarding the

2 motion, the 92 bis motion.

3 JUDGE MAY: It's been granted and there's a written order which

4 should be out by now.

5 MS. BIBLES: Thank you. If we could first begin by showing the

6 witness the background sheet.

7 Examined by Ms. Bibles:

8 Q. Is that your name on top of the piece of paper that you're looking

9 at?

10 A. Yes.

11 Q. Is the information contained on that page correct?

12 A. Yes.

13 MS. BIBLES: I'd next ask that he be shown the 92 bis packet,

14 please.

15 Q. If you could please look at that packet in front of you and tell

16 us whether that is a packet that contains two statements of yours.

17 A. Yes, it is.

18 Q. Did you meet with a member of the registrar on the 15th of

19 November of 2001 to certificate those statements?

20 A. I did?

21 MS. BIBLES: At this time I'd ask that we have exhibit numbers for

22 both the background sheet and the 92 bis packet and move both under seal

23 into admission.

24 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honour, the pseudonym sheet is 554 under

25 seal, and the Rule 92 bis statement is 554 -- 555 under seal.

1 MS. BIBLES: Your Honours, this is a witness who lived most of his

2 life in the Gornja Grapska, which is predominantly Muslim village in the

3 municipality of Doboj. At the time that the conflict broke out in 1992,

4 he was retired from a career as a professional policeman.

5 His statements will tell you that the population of Doboj prior to

6 the conflict was about 60.000 people, roughly divided equally between

7 Muslims and Serbs. While the town of Doboj had a higher number of

8 Muslims, most of the villages were Serb villages.

9 His evidence, which is contained in the 92 bis statements, are

10 broken down into two primary areas of interest. The first is with respect

11 to the takeover of Doboj and the attack on his village. The second aspect

12 of his statements refers to his time, his considerable amount of time in

13 detention.

14 With respect to the takeover of Doboj in February of 1992, a

15 Muslim policeman from his village was given the task of establishing a

16 reserve police unit in the village. These instructions came from

17 headquarters in Doboj.

18 The witness assisted in setting up this unit as he thought it

19 would help stabilise a situation that was deteriorating and that it might

20 assist in maintaining good relations with the police in Doboj town. The

21 unit was comprised of reserve policemen, Muslim policemen from his

22 village, and Serb reserve policemen from a neighbouring Serb hamlet. The

23 reserve unit basically was to keep peace in the village.

24 Two to three weeks after the unit was established, the Serb

25 members of the unit said that they were prohibited from being part of this

1 unit any more. They asked for and received their weapons, ammunition and

2 equipment, and left the unit.

3 THE INTERPRETER: Could counsel please slow down. Thank you.

4 MS. BIBLES: The Serbs set up barricades in Doboj in mid-April of

5 1992. These were manned by local Serbs who were armed with professional

6 military weapons. Two machine-guns were pointed at Gornja Grapska. From

7 the time the barricades went up, the Muslims from this village were not

8 permitted to pass through the village and were effectively cut off.

9 On the 9th of May, 1992, six days after the town of Doboj was

10 occupied, the witness and others in his village realised that they were

11 about to be attacked as Serb paramilitary formations were gathering around

12 the village. The villagers in his home tried to evacuate women, children,

13 and elderly but were prohibited by armed Serbs from doing so.

14 The Serb attack on Gornja Grapska took place on the 10th of May,

15 1992. The attacking Serbs wore JNA camouflage uniforms and were

16 well-armed with professional JNA automatic rifles and weapons.

17 Aside from some hunting rifles and other small arms, the villagers

18 were unarmed. The witness did not hear a single shot being fired in

19 defence of the village. The Serbs shelled the village throughout the day.

20 During the shelling, 34 villagers were killed. These included men, women,

21 and children. None the villagers were in military uniform. They were

22 civilians.

23 After the shelling of the village, the infantry attack started

24 about 5.00 p.m. in the afternoon. This did not last very long as the

25 Serbs came into the village unopposed. As he was led from his home one

1 image that haunts this witness was seeing the lifeless body of a young

2 5-year-old child, lying with his eyes open. The residents were rounded up

3 and went to a Serb village where the women and children were separated

4 from the men and the men were detained.

5 This leads to the second area of the substance of the witness's

6 evidence. The witness was first detained in the warehouse at Bare. This

7 was for approximately a week in May. He notes that they were treated like

8 cattle, kicked and beaten. The facilities at Bare had been military

9 hangars before the war. The witness was detained there and noted that

10 approximately 1.200 people were kept there during the time he was there,

11 and they were kept in these five hangars, each of which contained up to

12 300 men. The conditions in this facility were cruel.

13 On the 18th of May, 1992, the witness and 27 other Muslim men were

14 taken to the Spreca prison in Doboj. The witness would remain there until

15 the 9th of February, 1993. Upon arrival, the prisoners were told that

16 they were now in a Serbian state and that they could be treated as the

17 Serbs wanted. The prisoners were beaten, humiliated and killed. Each of

18 the eight cells in the facility usually housed approximately a hundred

19 people. During the months that the witness was detained there,

20 approximately 5.000 people passed through that prison. People came and

21 left on a daily basis. During the entire time that he was there prisoners

22 were taken out at night and then they would never be seen again. Whenever

23 people were taken away, the witness and others would wonder if they would

24 be the next ones. As bad as the physical torture at the prison was, the

25 physical or the psychological anxiety was worse. At Spreca, the prisoners

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1 were taken out daily to do forced labour. Among the tasks that the

2 witness performed was burying dead bodies. Another task was going through

3 villages that had been taken over by the Serbs and removing anything of

4 value so that the Serbs could take those items for themselves.

5 In these villages, the witness saw civilian people who had been

6 killed. Most of them were older and people who could not run away during

7 the attack. Most of the witness's forced labour was at the JNA barracks

8 in Doboj. These barracks were the headquarters of all military activities

9 in the territory. The commander of this facility was a regular officer of

10 the JNA. All the regular army units, reserve units, and paramilitary

11 units operating in Doboj were based there. Among the paramilitary units

12 that the witness saw there were the White Eagles, the Martic police, and

13 the Knindza.

14 On one occasion he saw approximately 300 local Serbs being trained

15 by the Montenegrin Red Berets. The witness also noted that when units

16 would come back after an unsuccessful battle, they would frequently abuse

17 the detainees. On cleaning the barracks, the witness found blood and

18 human teeth on the floor where people had been beaten. He noted that the

19 JNA commanders were there throughout the entire time, saw all of this, and

20 allowed it to happen.

21 On the 9th of February, 1993, the witness was transferred with 40

22 others on a bus to a prison in Banja Luka. The detainees were told that

23 they were being taken to be judged. At this prison, the detainees were

24 taken out for interrogation regarding political matters. During the days

25 the detainees were forced to sit without moving, without talking, on

1 chairs from 7:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night. His detention in

2 Banja Luka ended on about the 16th or 17th of May, 1993 when he was

3 transported to Usora prison in Doboj. Again there were beatings and

4 people disappearing at night.

5 During this time, the witness worked at a local factory in Doboj

6 as his forced labour. He was kept there until the 1st of October, 1993,

7 when he was exchanged. During his time in detention, the witness lost

8 approximately 25 kilogrammes. To this day, he still suffers the physical

9 consequences of his detention.

10 Thank you.

11 JUDGE MAY: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

12 Cross-examined by Mr. Milosevic:

13 Q. Mr. B-1115, I only have excepts from the documents. I know

14 nothing about Doboj, so I'm going to ask you to clear some things up that

15 were mentioned.

16 You are testifying, as far as I was able to read from what I've

17 been given and from what the brief summary stated, about the events in

18 Doboj and about the suffering of the unprotected Muslims there; is that

19 right?

20 A. Yes.

21 Q. You speak about paramilitary formations and the Yugoslav People's

22 Army in that respect.

23 A. Yes.

24 Q. Tell me, do you know when the Yugoslav People's Army left the

25 territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina?

1 A. I do not know that.

2 Q. Is it true that things were the reverse and that the defence of

3 Doboj during those war years was very difficult because Doboj was attacked

4 practically from all sides, both by the Muslim and by the Croatian forces?

5 A. No, that is not correct. Doboj was not attacked either by the

6 Muslim or by the Croatian forces, but on Sunday the 3rd of May, 1992, it

7 was attacked by the Serb army, and that's how it was taken over.

8 Q. All right. When you say attacked by the Serb army, didn't Serbs

9 live in Doboj? Weren't they there already?

10 A. Yes, they were there, but they were all wearing uniforms, all the

11 military-able men.

12 Q. Did you know them?

13 A. I knew some of them.

14 Q. Do you happen to know that throughout the time you're testifying

15 about there were continuous attacks launched at Doboj, especially in 1992,

16 from regular units from neighbouring Croatia as well as by paramilitary

17 formations from Bosnia-Herzegovina, both Muslim and Croatian?

18 A. I can't claim that that is not so, but I don't know whether it is

19 or not.

20 Q. All right. Now, do you know that various paramilitary formations

21 were established, Muslim and Croatian ones, precisely in the municipality

22 of Doboj itself?

23 A. No, I don't know that.

24 Q. Well, do you know anything about the attacks at the Serb forces in

25 the Doboj area from the regions of neighbouring municipalities Gracanica,

1 Zavidovici and Maglaj?

2 A. That was not in May 1992. If it did happen, then when they

3 started to take control of the towns and villages, then they were standing

4 up to the BH army, and I assume that these conflicts broke out in that

5 regard.

6 Q. Well, Gracanica, Maglaj and Zavidovici, are they neighbouring

7 municipalities?

8 A. Well, Zavidovici is further away but Maglaj and Doboj, yes, they

9 are.

10 Q. Were the Muslim forces in Gracanica?

11 A. Yes, they were.

12 Q. Well, is it from Gracanica that they attacked Doboj?

13 A. I don't know what they could have attacked with.

14 Q. What do you mean they could have attacked with? With weapons, of

15 course.

16 A. I was exchanged in 1993, on the 1st of October, and when I reached

17 the Gracanica area and when I looked at the members -- saw the members of

18 the BH army there, quite simply - and believe me when I say this - I felt

19 fear, because I had come from an area, as I was travelling to be

20 exchanged, I encountered vast artillery weapons ranging from tanks and

21 other artillery pieces, and I was very much afraid when I crossed over to

22 that region because I thought, "Well, I'll probably be killed here." And

23 when I looked to the other side, there were just a few sporadic rifles.

24 Q. When you say there were just sporadic rifles, do you remember when

25 the so-called Patriotic League was first formed, for example?

1 A. I can't know that, because at that time I was incarcerated.

2 Q. Well, it was established quite a long time before you were taken

3 prisoner.

4 A. I must say that I retired before the war, I was a pensioner, and

5 went about my own business as such, and I was loyal to my household. I

6 wasn't interested in any parties or the Patriotic League or one side or

7 another. All I did was work for myself and my family.

8 Q. All right. Now, as you say that it was only sometime in May that

9 you were exposed to these conflicts, do you happen to know that during

10 that period of time, the one you're testifying about, the Muslim forces

11 and the Croatian forces to all intents and purposes had taken control of

12 all major towns in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Except for the Doboj, which was

13 encircled and a part of Sarajevo and the town of Banja Luka, which was in

14 a relatively secure Serb encirclement, all the other larger towns were

15 practically in the hands of the Patriotic League and the Croatian forces.

16 A. Well, I don't know how to answer that question. All I can say is

17 that I don't know how they could have fallen into the hands of the

18 Patriotic League and other units that you mentioned. I don't know about

19 any of that.

20 Q. All right. You're a man who worked in a state organisation. You

21 were a policeman, you had a certain amount of education and training. So

22 the largest towns that I mentioned, the university centres in Bosnia and

23 Herzegovina, apart from Banja Luka which was mostly populated by the

24 Serbs, and Sarajevo, the greatest part of it, Mostar, Tuzla, and the other

25 three university centres and the largest industrial centres as well, all

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1 of them were in the hands of the army of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the HVO;

2 isn't that right? Is it or not?

3 A. I should like to emphasise once again that I don't know about any

4 of that.

5 Q. Well, do you know anything about the time when the JNA withdrew

6 from Bosnia-Herzegovina?

7 A. All I know is the time it spent in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and those

8 imprints have stayed to the present day on me, on my environment. But

9 when it pulled out, I really don't know.

10 Q. All right. A moment ago, as you yourself said, and it was also

11 mentioned in paragraph 14 of your statement, that in February 1992, a

12 policeman by the name of Refik Buljubasic from your village was given the

13 assignment of establishing a reserve police unit in your village; is that

14 right?

15 A. Yes, it is.

16 Q. Is it also true that that order was received by him from the

17 headquarters in Doboj?

18 A. Yes, that is correct. And later on, when I was able to analyse

19 all this in greater detail, I came to the knowledge that, nonetheless, all

20 the members of the police force who were Muslims were dealt with in the

21 same way at the police station in Doboj.

22 Q. What do you mean by "dealt with"? What do you mean by that?

23 A. Well, they wanted only Serbs to remain in the police station in

24 Doboj and all the Muslims allegedly should set up in their local

25 communities some sort of police stations of mixed composition, and yes it

1 was a mixed composition up to a certain period of time when they received

2 orders that they had to withdraw from the -- withdraw and separate. So

3 they then took their weapons, ammunition, and we never saw them again.

4 Q. All right. So you helped Refik Buljubasic to establish that unit

5 made up of reserve policemen; right?

6 A. Yes.

7 Q. And this reserve unit had as its task to maintain law and order in

8 the village; is that right?

9 A. Yes, law and order in the village.

10 Q. Was there any unrest in the village and did the police have to

11 intervene? Is that what they did, to have a police force concentration in

12 the village? What was the reason for that? What was happening in the

13 village?

14 A. The police unit set up in my own native village had as its

15 assignment and task to keep the peace, to establish law and order and

16 prevent any crimes from being committed within their own ethnic group.

17 However, this was a formality, and there were few incidents, maybe in

18 coffee bars when the youngsters would have a little too much to drink,

19 alcoholic drink, but this was all negligible and more or less normal.

20 Q. So there was no unrest in your village, and yet this unit was set

21 up. Is that it?

22 A. Well, we could say that there was no unrest.

23 Q. How many members did that unit have?

24 A. Approximately 36 men.

25 Q. All right. So a 36-man unit was established in the village in

1 which there was no unrest. Well, wasn't this a question of an obvious

2 paramilitary formation being formed in the village? Wasn't that it?

3 A. You mean the reserve police unit that was established?

4 Q. I mean this 30-odd man unit set up in a village in which you said

5 was mostly inhabited by Muslims, there was no unrest, and yet a unit, as

6 you yourself say, was formed of about 30 people or more. Isn't that a

7 paramilitary formation, a paramilitary unit formed in the village?

8 A. Your Honours, it is true that a police -- a reserve police unit

9 was established, however, what I wish to say is it is easy to draw a

10 conclusion now and say that it was a paramilitary formation, but there

11 were Serb members of the reserve police force. Then it wasn't a

12 paramilitary force. Then once they withdrew, suddenly it was

13 characterised as being a paramilitary formation. How come?

14 Q. I see. That's when they were termed in this way. I understood

15 from what you said that in your -- your village was inhabited by Muslims

16 alone.

17 A. The majority population in my village was Muslim, that is true,

18 but it was divided into two parts. One district was more numerous, and

19 that was the Muslim populated district. And the other district was

20 inhabited by the Serb population.

21 Q. All right. And the unit that was established in your village,

22 that is to say in the Muslim part of your village, these several members

23 who were Serbs were actually from the neighbouring settlement as you said,

24 or district; is that right?

25 A. Well, it's the same area. It's just 20 or 30 metres apart.

1 Q. But they were not actually from your village but from the

2 immediate vicinity, and then they left you?

3 A. No. They were from my village. It was an united village, and we

4 were always registered and classed as a united village, one village in all

5 the documents. But in addition to the Serb members of the reserve police

6 unit, there were active-duty policemen as well. It wasn't only a reserve

7 police force.

8 Q. All right. I assume that there was an active policeman here and

9 there, but before the events unfolded, was there any police unit in the

10 village at all before that?

11 A. Yes, that reserve police force.

12 Q. All right. Reserve police force. That means civilians sitting at

13 home that might be reservists, but there was no police in the village?

14 A. No, no regular police, no.

15 Q. Well, then, overnight suddenly as you yourself said, there was a

16 group of some 30 armed men appearing in your village; right?

17 A. No. It's not a group. It's a registered reserve police station

18 armed by the police station in Doboj. You know that police station was

19 not formed then, it was formed before, some 20 years ago. There were

20 reservists as members who had up to 15 and 20 years of service who had

21 their own weapons on them which were never taken away from them until the

22 war.

23 Q. Since the JNA was pulling out of Bosnia and the Serbs in the

24 meantime did not manage to organise their own defence, is it true that in

25 opposition -- as opposed to them, there was a large number of paramilitary

1 units in those socio-political communities consisting of Muslims and

2 Croats in the TO in Northern Bosnia?

3 A. I can only talk about my own settlement where I lived as a

4 pensioner. I didn't move around much. I took care of my own business.

5 Q. Very well. Though you acted in that way and you were in this unit

6 and you helped Refik Buljubasic to form it, already at the beginning of

7 1992, virtually in all municipalities there wasn't a municipality without

8 a smaller or larger unit of the Patriotic League, the National Guards

9 Corps, the Green Berets, and others.

10 JUDGE MAY: Now, we did go through this. It was not the first

11 witness. There may have been a great many. You've heard his answer. He

12 can only deal with his own area. You choose then to ask him general

13 questions and a great deal of time is wasted. He's told you he can't

14 answer. He can deal with his own area specifically.

15 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

16 Q. Very well. Are you aware in your area, precisely because of the

17 existence of all these formations that came into being at the time, that

18 is in 1992, there were large casualties among the Serbs, the largest being

19 in 1992?

20 A. I'd just like to know where.

21 Q. For instance, in your own municipality of Doboj. Do you have any

22 idea about the environment in Doboj and how many victims there were among

23 the Serbs in Doboj?

24 A. Your Honours, I must address you and say believe me, I have

25 nothing to do with any of that. I never heard of that.

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1 Q. So you heard nothing about fighting around Doboj and the

2 battlefield around Doboj, Ozren, and this whole region and things that

3 were happening there, very intensified combat during the war?

4 A. If you're talking about the beginning of the war, then you must

5 understand that for 520 days or for 17 months, almost 18, I was in the

6 hands of the Serb army.

7 Q. Okay. Now let's see what you do know. You say that the Serbs set

8 up barricades in Kostajnica. Kostajnica is a part of Doboj, isn't it?

9 A. Yes, a suburb of Doboj.

10 Q. And that they set up the barricade in April 1992. You say that

11 there were two machine-gun nests there.

12 A. Yes.

13 Q. And those machine-guns were pointed towards Gornja Grapska, so you

14 were unable to reach Doboj.

15 A. Towards Gornja Grapska and the right bank of the Bosna River and

16 the plains along that route. So it was not possible to leave my native

17 village and go in the direction of Doboj.

18 Q. And the road led through the woods and hills towards Gracanica?

19 A. Yes. Those are dirt roads through the woods that I used to use as

20 a child.

21 Q. And who controlled those roads?

22 A. It was controlled by the army -- rather, the Serbian army.

23 Q. And do you know that it was in 1992, precisely in April, in the

24 town of Doboj itself the Muslims started erecting barricades and prevented

25 communications and supplies reaching the population and prevented safe

1 local and transit traffic?

2 A. I must add in connection with that road that led towards

3 Gracanica, and you could also take it to go to Doboj, that eight of our

4 civilians were captured. They had tried to leave this hell, and they were

5 captured. Out of the eight, all were taken to prison. Four came out, and

6 four of them were killed.

7 Q. You say in paragraph 16 that on the 8th of April, eight persons

8 tried to escape by this route. They were arrested and taken to the Spreca

9 prison in Doboj, and four of them were later killed. The other four were

10 liberated later on. Is that right?

11 A. That's what I just said a moment ago.

12 Q. Yes. How do you know that these four were killed?

13 A. I know. First of all, there is no trace of them to this day.

14 Secondly, one of the four was found in Slavonski Brod after the war when

15 mass graves were exhumed, and through a DNA analysis it was established

16 that he was one of the eight.

17 When they killed those men, the Serbian army, when carrying out

18 exchanges with Croatia across the Sava River at Slavonski Brod, they would

19 give those men in black body bags to be exchanged, and now that the dust

20 has settled, it has become clear that this one was one of the eight.

21 Q. According to the data and information I have in these documents,

22 when the dead were exchanged, it was those who were killed in battle that

23 were exchanged.

24 A. I just pointed out that this was a case in the area of Modrica.

25 Q. Very well. How do you know that those eight who were trying to

1 break through, that four of them were not killed during the attempted

2 breakthrough and the other four captured? But rather, you claim that

3 eight were captured and four of them killed. Couldn't it be the other way

4 round?

5 A. When you say "breakthrough," it's not a breakthrough. People were

6 trying to leave their village because their lives were in danger. Now,

7 whether they were killed in battle, then these other four who were

8 released and who are free and who are all over Europe, they say that it

9 was as I put it.

10 Q. Those eight who were going along that road, are you claiming that

11 they were unarmed?

12 A. Yes, unarmed. I know all eight of those men.

13 Q. You go on to say on page 4, in the first paragraph, which begins

14 on page 4, and you say: "In my first statement, on page 2 I refer to a

15 delegation which went to Busletic. Some days before that, the same

16 delegation went to see Boro Paravac who was staying at his brother's house

17 in Kostajnica."

18 A. Yes.

19 Q. "He had invited us there to tell us not to make any problems for

20 the military convoys coming through our village."

21 So you had an armed unit in the village, and they are making

22 arrangements with you not to cause problems, because if you didn't have an

23 armed unit in the village, you couldn't cause problems to the convoys that

24 were passing through.

25 A. That is true that Mr. Boro Paravac told a delegation not to view

1 the Yugoslav army in the same way. That is, the Serbs and the Muslims did

2 not view the Yugoslav army in the same way. That is true.

3 Q. Now, did you stop convoys, open fire at convoys? Why did he call

4 you to warn you if you hadn't done any of those things?

5 A. I don't know who could have fired with the exception of the

6 reserve police that were armed. No one else had weapons.

7 Q. Well -- very well. Those 30 men in your village who were armed,

8 did they fire?

9 A. They didn't dare appear on the main road along which the Serbian

10 army and paramilitary units were passing. These were enormous APCs, whole

11 convoys of people, large convoys. On the contrary, they opened fire at

12 shops, coffee bars, homes. So they frightened the civilian population.

13 I must say that people no longer stayed in their houses because of

14 these convoys passing by. They moved away from the main road as much as

15 they could.

16 Q. Very well. Tell me, please, do you know of the barricade that you

17 - and when I say "you" I don't mean you personally, I mean your forces -

18 erected in the villages of Jokovac and Seslije, cutting off road traffic

19 towards Derventa and Modrica? Is that right or not?

20 A. I wasn't there, but I would add that Croatian inhabitants live in

21 that area. But Boro Paravac cautioned us regarding our behaviour towards

22 the Serb army, because when they were waging war in Brod and around Brod

23 and in the area of Modrica, all the wounded and all the materiel and the

24 troops had to move towards Doboj and had to secure the road to the

25 hospital, because where you mentioned the barricades I don't know because

1 I wasn't there, but probably they couldn't move in that direction because

2 it's the same road leading to Doboj like the one going along the left bank

3 of the Bosna River.

4 Q. You mentioned Brod. Do you know that in the area of Brod, the

5 village of Sijekovac, a massacre was committed against the Serbs long

6 before these conflicts that you are testifying about started? This is

7 close to you; you must have known about it.

8 A. It is some 50-odd kilometres away from me, you see. And I want to

9 say in that connection that I heard about it after the war, on television

10 when there were certain programmes broadcast, that this event had happened

11 in Sijekovac.

12 Q. What did you hear?

13 A. On the basis of the stories of the parents of those young men

14 killed.

15 Q. And who was killed there?

16 A. I don't know who was killed.

17 Q. Were the victims Serbs or someone else?

18 A. If the Serbs are saying that they lost their children, then they

19 couldn't have been anything but Serbs.

20 Q. Very well. And when was this?

21 A. Well, I couldn't tell you that, really. I don't know.

22 Q. And after that, did tension increase in the broader area including

23 Doboj, after this massacre in a place that you say is 50 kilometres away

24 from yours? That's not so far.

25 A. It's not too far, but I must repeat, this did not interest me at

1 all.

2 Q. That's your affair that it didn't interest you. And do you know

3 that before these events, you said that on the 9th of May there were

4 conflicts in Doboj and that you were attacked on the 10th, that as early

5 as the 4th of April, a month prior to this, the Presidency of Bosnia and

6 Herzegovina, without Serb representatives, took a decision to mobilise the

7 TO, the police, the Civil Defence, even though Bosnia and Herzegovina was

8 still a part of Yugoslavia?

9 A. I do know that it was a part of Yugoslavia, but I don't know that

10 a decision was taken to form such units.

11 Q. And is it true that in 1992, on the 12th of April -- surely you

12 remember that. You were free then and you were still in your village. So

13 this is six days after the recognition of independence of Bosnia and

14 Herzegovina Alija Izetbegovic ordered an all-out attack on the barracks of

15 the Yugoslav People's Army in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

16 A. I'm not aware of that.

17 Q. Since you are talking about the events of the 9th and 10th of May,

18 according to my information, and I would like to ask you kindly just to

19 say whether that is correct or not. On the 3rd of May, that is six days

20 prior to the 9th, units of the army and police removed barricades and

21 other obstacles put up in Doboj and organised by the SDA and HDZ

22 leaderships, and these obstacles, due to which Serb parts of the town were

23 isolated and facilities of significance, for instance, the road leading to

24 the hospital and other important institutions in town.

25 A. At that time, I was not in Doboj, and I also don't know which

1 barricades. I don't know when the town was attacked militarily on the 3rd

2 of May, 1992. It was a Sunday, and the civilians that were left fled in

3 great haste. I don't know what barricades and where those barricades

4 were.

5 Q. Well, on the 3rd of May, the army and the police removed the

6 barricades erected by Muslim forces.

7 A. Your Honours, I have to repeat. There were no barricades there.

8 But I repeat, Serb forces on that day, a Sunday, the 3rd of May, 1992,

9 attacked the town of Doboj with great force from all sides so that all the

10 non-Serb population fled to save their lives. They fled their homes.

11 Q. That is probably taken out of some context. Do you know, please

12 tell me, that on the 6th of May, regular units of Croatia attacked and

13 killed Serb inhabitants in the village of Vitusica?

14 A. I'm not going to claim that they didn't, but I don't know anything

15 about that, because by then, I was already surrounded, and I could have no

16 contact with anyone outside my village.

17 Q. So you know nothing about that. Yet all those are events that

18 took place before this 9th and 10th of May that you're talking about.

19 A. Well, I don't know about them.

20 Q. On the 6th of May, I'm sure you know that that is St. George's

21 Day, an Orthodox holiday, and the patron saint of many Serbs.

22 A. Perhaps. It is not my family feast day, so I don't know.

23 Q. But it was precisely on the 6th of day -- on the 6th of May for

24 St. George's Day that the Croatian forces killed the Serb population in

25 this village, that is to say three days prior to the events that you

1 describe.

2 A. Your Honours, I am saying that that is possible. However, I do

3 not know about it. I know nothing about it.

4 Q. Well, do you know that apart from this attack and the killing of

5 the people and the looting and setting fire to the houses, in addition to

6 Vitusica, the village of Brezik in the Doboj municipality and Majevac, a

7 neighbouring village in the Doboj municipality, suffered that fate? Do

8 you know about that?

9 A. The villages Mr. Milosevic has mentioned to me are familiar but

10 during the war because they took us there on some work assignments. We

11 had to do some farming there.

12 Q. All right. If you were there, then I'm sure you have heard about

13 the other man called Milos Milenko Savetic, the Savetic family, and all

14 their houses were set on fire precisely on the 6th of May, just three days

15 prior to the events you're describing, and this was done by the formations

16 that stormed the Doboj municipality and set fire to the houses and killed

17 the people in Ritesice, Brezik, Majevac and all these places. Do you know

18 anything about that?

19 A. I have to say I don't know about that, and you're talking about it

20 now; I have not mentioned it.

21 Q. Do you know of a single name of somebody who was killed, of the

22 people who were killed there? I am asking you. I'm not saying you said

23 it, I'm just asking you whether you know any of the people who were killed

24 on that attack on the 6th of May, any of their names.

25 A. Well, roughly, I know that the surrounding parts, that there were

1 -- that there was general disagreement in the environs but that somebody

2 killed someone and I know their names and surnames, I really don't.

3 Q. Well, do you remember of another event in which a man named Mirko

4 Dejanovic from Majevac went to Ritesice to take over the body of a

5 neighbour who had been killed, by the name of Popovic, in order to bury

6 his body? But he was also killed in a very brutal manner; his head was

7 cut off with a pickax. So this was an event which everybody knew about

8 who lived in those parts.

9 A. Well, please believe me when I say that I really don't know about

10 that event. I really don't.

11 Q. And Jela Titura, does that name ring a bell, from Vitusica?

12 A. No. Well, it's quite a long way off from where I was. I just

13 passed through those parts on rare occasions, so I really don't know the

14 people who lived there, I really don't.

15 Q. All right. Well, let's move to some more specific points in your

16 statement. From paragraphs 15 and 16, in which you stated that the

17 regular military formations, the reserve and paramilitary units in Doboj

18 were stationed in the barracks in the village of Miljkovac. Is that

19 right?

20 A. Yes.

21 Q. And you say they slept there, ate there, underwent training there,

22 and went into battle from there. That's what you say in paragraph or

23 point 12.

24 A. Yes, that's right.

25 Q. But please explain this to me: If your village was cut off from

1 Doboj, how then were you able to see all this? How were you able to see

2 the paramilitary units, the White Eagles, the Martic's men, the Tigers,

3 the Knindzas, and all the others that you mention? How were you able to

4 see them coming in? And yet when I ask about the massacres of the Serb

5 population in the Serb villages, you say you were under siege and knew

6 nothing. How were you able to see this if you were under a blockade?

7 A. Please allow me to explain. With respect to these assertions and

8 what I stated, I stand by. What I want to say is that during that time,

9 for about five months or 150 days, every day continuously, nonstop, I

10 spent time at the 4th of July barracks. I worked there. I helped move

11 certain officers, I did some gardening, looked after the flowers and the

12 shrubs and painted some fences there where the army underwent training.

13 So I was there the whole time. So everything I wrote down in my statement

14 is what I saw. They're all things that I saw.

15 Q. All right, Mr. 1115. You've just explained that you tended the

16 flowers and painted the fences and things of that kind. A moment ago, you

17 explained to us that you collected up bodies, teeth that had been bashed

18 out. So tell us what you did in fact do. You have to choose. Was -- did

19 that come under the tending of the garden, the shrubs and flowers?

20 A. I did that and so did the other detainees, all those incarcerated

21 with me. We dug graves for the dead. We also tended to the flowers and

22 flowerbeds and even worked on private Serb property. We would dig around

23 the corn fields and collect up the hay and cut up logs for winter.

24 Q. Well, you've enumerated a great deal of tasks that you had;

25 tending to the flowers and the maize and making haystacks, you did

1 farming, you buried bodies. But this doesn't seem to -- the first lot of

2 tasks doesn't seem to go with the next lot of tasks, the gathering and

3 burying of bodies, of corpses. Where did you do that?

4 A. When I went to the barracks, other people went with me. We all

5 went round these places, all the detainees. Sometimes I would go,

6 sometimes we would all go. It depended.

7 Q. All right, Mr. 1115. You're the first man who says he saw in

8 Bosnia-Herzegovina some kind of Montenegrin Red Berets.

9 A. Yes, that's right.

10 Q. They trained some 300 of them. Do you know that this unit, a

11 Montenegrin Red Beret unit never existed?

12 A. It was the Serb Montenegrin berets.

13 Q. All right, Mr. 1115. You're the first man who has talked to us

14 about Montenegrin Red Berets.

15 You also say that your reserve police unit -- although you didn't

16 consider it to be a paramilitary formation, did you, Mr. 1115?

17 A. No, we did not. We had no intention of establishing that kind of

18 unit, and we didn't treat it, therefore, as a paramilitary unit either.

19 Q. Yes, but you say that on the 10th of May, there was an attack on

20 your village and this was led by a man called Stankovic from the Yugoslav

21 People's Army, the attack on your village.

22 A. Yes, Milovan Stankovic personally, a major of the Yugoslav

23 People's Army, in fact.

24 Q. And how were you able to come by that conclusion? Did you learn

25 about that later on, information to that effect once -- or were you able

1 to establish who attacked you when the attack was launched and who was in

2 command and all the rest of it?

3 A. That same evening when we were evacuated from the village, I saw

4 him standing in front of the tank at the entrance to the village. And one

5 year later, when I happened to return from Banja Luka, we went to cut some

6 logs at Mount Ozren, and he was there. And then he told me personally

7 that he was one of the men who was the main responsible person in command

8 of the forces that launched the attack on my village.

9 Q. All right. And do you know that on the 11th of May, for instance,

10 the last JNA units pulled out of the Bosanski Brod municipality, and the

11 withdrawal started long before that. So there couldn't have been a JNA

12 unit there on the 10th of May in your village.

13 And then you also say at 1700 hours, which means towards

14 evening --

15 JUDGE MAY: Wait a moment. Wait a moment. You're trying to put

16 two points to the witness.

17 The allegation, Witness B-1115, the suggestion is the JNA couldn't

18 have been there because they were supposed to have withdrawn earlier or

19 that sort of thing. Were the JNA present in the village that day during

20 the attack?

21 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, they were.

22 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

23 Q. All right. Then explain this to me. Explain what you wrote in

24 paragraph 18, I think it is -- or, rather, the third paragraph on page 4

25 in which you say: "The attack on my village began on the 10th of May,

1 1992, and was carried out by the Serbs from the area of Ozren."

2 A. Yes, that's right.

3 Q. I read out the whole sentence to you. That means that the attack

4 on your village on the 10th of May, 1992, according to your claims, and

5 you are testifying on the basis your statement, not live testimony, was

6 carried out by the Serbs from the Ozren area. And then you go on to say:

7 "Stankovic was their commander."

8 A. Yes, that's right.

9 Q. So on what grounds -- you say that they wore camouflage JNA

10 uniforms, that they were well-armed. All right. But you said that they

11 were Serbs from the Ozren area, not members of the JNA. You say that in

12 the sentence before.

13 A. According to what I know, Stankovic was an active-duty officer of

14 the Yugoslav People's Army.

15 Q. Well, if he was from the Ozren area, this man Stankovic, then he

16 was the commander of the army of Republika Srpska in the Ozren area and

17 not a JNA officer.

18 A. That's what he could have been. That's possible. That's what I

19 can assume he was.

20 Q. So not even in your statement do you say that you were actually

21 attacked by the JNA. You just say that the attack was carried out by

22 Serbs from the area of Ozren, and Ozren is a mountain near Doboj; isn't

23 that right?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. So that means that the Serbs launched that attack from that

1 mountain on your village, and now you claim that that attack was launched

2 by the JNA.

3 A. I have to say, Your Honours, if I may that on the 11th of May,

4 1992, when I arrived at the Vuk Karadzic Primary School by the station, I

5 spent the night there with the other inhabitants from my own native place,

6 and the next day they lined us up in the training grounds, and that's when

7 I saw that there was still some members of the JNA there, because my son

8 used to study. He was a -- he studied at the military academy in the

9 Belgrade, and he was standing right next to 1993 there and he said,

10 "Father, that man over there that came out of that military unit, his

11 name is Ozegovic [phoen], and he was a professor at the academy. He

12 taught defence."

13 Q. All right. As you've been talking about an attack launched by

14 Serbs from the Ozren area, do you still stand by the assertion and claim

15 that that attack was an attack against your village at all and that it was

16 carried out by the JNA? Do you stand by that?

17 A. In combined with the JNA. In combined formation with the JNA.

18 Q. I see. Because some professor from the academy who was probably

19 from the area was present?

20 A. Yes. He was a professor, but he was also an officer of the JNA, a

21 lieutenant colonel, in fact, by rank.

22 Q. That was what he had been before, but is he originally from the

23 area?

24 A. No. I'd never seen or heard of him before that.

25 Q. I see. Never seen or heard of him before that. Right. Now, do

1 you know that it was precisely whole Serb villages in that area that were

2 left empty? There were no more inhabitants because they had taken refuge

3 in the face of the attacks I described a moment ago?

4 A. Well, I don't know how to explain that, but those villages, they

5 weren't evacuated, the population anywhere. On the 9th of May, in fact,

6 one day prior to the attack on my native village, we wanted to leave the

7 village, all of us to leave the village. However, the neighbouring

8 village which was Serb populated did not allow us to leave. They returned

9 us all back to my native village so that they could attack us the next

10 day.

11 Q. What do you mean the Serb village didn't allow you to leave? You

12 mean somebody from some of the units of the army of Republika Srpska

13 blocked the exit and didn't allow you to pass; is that it?

14 A. Yes, precisely so.

15 Q. Well, do you know that the problem of refugees was vast? Their

16 accommodation and food for them in Doboj where people had taken refuge

17 from the empty villages in the face of the slaughter that was carried out

18 against them and that this was an enormous problem for the leadership,

19 both for the civilian leadership and the military leadership, the vast

20 number of refugees from Doboj?

21 A. Perhaps that is so, but I was incarcerated myself at the time, so

22 I wasn't able to see or control the situation.

23 Q. Do you know that because of the withdrawal of the JNA, there was

24 the danger of Doboj finding itself in an encirclement and under siege from

25 the Muslim and Croatian forces, that it be completely blocked?

1 A. No, I don't know about that. I don't know why it would have been

2 under siege. What weapons would they have used to form an encirclement?

3 Q. Well, you mentioned yourself a moment ago that you had heard a

4 long time before the events took place that the events happened in Brod,

5 Sijekovac, where a regular brigade, in fact, killed the Serb population

6 there, and that was the first organised storming by organised formations

7 on the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina and crimes committed against the

8 Serbs en masse.

9 A. Perhaps that is so, but I don't want to enter into that because I

10 don't know about it. What I'm talking about is about my native village

11 and the defence of that.

12 Q. All right. Do you know that there was a defence line set up for

13 Doboj along the River Bosna for the defence? Do you know about that? In

14 May that that was set up?

15 A. No, I don't know about that.

16 Q. Do you know that it was thought that a breakthrough would be a

17 catastrophe for the local population and the Serb refugees and that with

18 great effort the road via Grapska was deblocked, Predrovo, Modrica and

19 Vucak, in fact, that road? All that had been blocked previously?

20 A. I really don't know anything about that. I can't say.

21 Q. Well, they deblocked that axis, that road, precisely through your

22 village.

23 A. Your Honours, I have to say that my village, about a month before

24 the aggression against it, had already been surrounded. We had no

25 communications. We were cut off. We knew nothing that was happening in

1 Doboj and its environments, in fact.

2 Q. All right. Now, is it true that this wasn't an attack, it was the

3 deblocking in order to prevent a complete blockade, because that was the

4 communication road from Doboj via Grapska, Predrovo and Modrica?

5 JUDGE MAY: He's already answered that. He doesn't know. Now,

6 you've got about six minutes left, Mr. Milosevic.

7 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, it's difficult for me to get

8 through everything in six minutes, Mr. May. I do realise that it seems to

9 you that the only priority is time, the time factor, but I do have to ask

10 certain questions. Now, you can, of course, take away that right. It's

11 your right to do so.

12 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

13 Q. Anyway, do you remember that during those days the Muslim units

14 launched an attack on Vijenac, which is one of the most important

15 elevations on Mount Ozren, of greatest significance to the defence of the

16 Serb forces? Otherwise it is a Serb populated area. Isn't that right,

17 Mr. 1115?

18 JUDGE MAY: You complain about -- you complain about not having

19 sufficient time. All you do in these cross-examinations is not to

20 challenge the evidence of the witnesses but to put a contrary complaint

21 about what you allege the Muslims did to the Serbs. Now, that goes on in

22 every cross-examination. We don't know, because you haven't challenged so

23 far, whether you accept or not that 34 civilians were killed in the

24 attack. That's what you should be concentrating on, dealing with what the

25 witness said, not a series of contrary allegations which, as you know, is

1 not a defence.

2 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] An opposite claim denies the claim

3 which is opposite to it, or maybe I don't understand things correctly. I

4 do not have information that there was attack on Grapska. What I do have

5 information is that there was a deblockade of this route towards Predrovo

6 and Vucak because Doboj was threatened by a total blockade, and I'm asking

7 the witness about the attack on Vijenac, which was a very important

8 feature for the defence of Serb positions.

9 JUDGE MAY: Can you help us about that? It's an alleged there was

10 an attack on Vijenac. An attack by Muslim forces on the Serbs. Was there

11 such an attack, as far as you know, or not, or can't you help?

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I don't know about that.

13 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

14 Q. Hazim Dzinic, for instance, a Muslim, in a newspaper Nasi Dani, in

15 Zenica, on the 23rd of September, 1992, on page 7, described the battles

16 waged at the end of April 1992 in the ensettlement of Mahala above Doboj

17 when, as he says, for two days and two nights the Muslims inflicted heavy

18 losses on the Serb side. Does this mean anything to you? Because that is

19 what he described in these words. Are you familiar with this? This is

20 the end of April 1992. The settlement is Mahala, above Doboj. For two

21 nights and two days the Muslims inflicted heavy losses on the Serb side.

22 A. The gentleman you mention, who is a doctor of law, Hazim Dzinic,

23 is somebody I know very well. He passed away recently. And what you are

24 mentioning is something I really have no idea about.

25 Q. Well, if he passed away recently, that doesn't mean that in

1 September 1992, in the paper I have mentioned and the page I have given

2 you, he didn't say what I said. So you don't know anything about it,

3 though you're from the area?

4 A. I'm not familiar with it.

5 Q. And do you remember the name of Zevudin Zonic [phoen], Mensur

6 Brkic, and Kresimir Zubak? This is the TO command which was in control of

7 these operations at the time.

8 A. Among the three, I only know Kresimir Zubak, who worked in the

9 prosecutor's office in Doboj before the war.

10 Q. And do you remember that they planned the evacuation of the

11 population towards Tesanj? And this was done at the beginning of May,

12 that is the 8th of May, when certain separation lines were formed.

13 A. If we're talking about the beginning of May, the only conclusion

14 one can draw is that the remaining inhabitants - the sick, the elderly -

15 could only be evacuated from Doboj.

16 Q. Very well. Your own newspaper, Oslobodjenje, on the 11th of May,

17 1992, which means that it was written on the 10th of May and not later if

18 the date of publication is the 11th of May, and it says on page 3: The

19 Serbs have to be expelled from Doboj, and I quote: "Assessments from the

20 battlefield indicate that by the end of the month, in view of the advances

21 made by defence units, the whole area between Bosanski Brod and Doboj will

22 be cleansed of the Serbs."

23 This was stated in your newspaper on the 11th of May, and as

24 newspaper is printed the day before it comes out, that the whole area from

25 Doboj to Brod, including Doboj and Brod, had to be cleansed of the Serbs.

1 A. If you're referring to the 11th of May, on the 11th of May, 1992,

2 I was fighting for my own survival and that of my family who were with me.

3 There were minor children with me.

4 Q. I'm talking about large-scale battles, and that your side

5 envisaged that you would win all those battles and capture Doboj and Brod

6 and the whole area.

7 A. I understand what you're saying.

8 JUDGE MAY: Yes. This must be your last question, Mr. Milosevic.

9 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. May, I'm asking --

10 JUDGE MAY: No. You have been asking this witness for a great

11 deal of time about matters which he has not been able to answer. Now, it

12 is pointless to waste the time of the Tribunal in this way. You will have

13 the opportunity, as you know, to put forward your own case about events in

14 this municipality, but there is no point going on asking the witness about

15 things and putting reports to him when he says he doesn't know, and his

16 answer to that question was he did not know. He was fighting for his own

17 survival at the time. Now, that's his answer.

18 Now, we have to get on. Now, you've got one more question if you

19 wish.

20 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I do, Mr. May, but I would ask you

21 to give me a little more time for me to put several more questions,

22 please.

23 JUDGE MAY: We'll consider that.

24 [Trial Chamber confers]

25 JUDGE MAY: No. You can ask one more question. You know the

1 rules with these witnesses. You've got one hour, so you must use it to

2 the best advantage.

3 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Very well.

4 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

5 Q. Mr. 1115, you say that the Serbs organised detention places or

6 prisons for the Muslim and Croat inhabitants.

7 A. Yes.

8 Q. Is it true that those prisons had existed before, such as places

9 of temporary detention? Those were no special prisons for Muslims and

10 Croats but for everyone who is in violation of the law, that kill people,

11 set up ambushes and block traffic. They are not prisons for Muslims and

12 Croats but for all who violate the law.

13 A. In my statement, the places indicated where the camps were, one of

14 them is a prison that before the war was a prison for the Doboj region.

15 However, under normal conditions, as I had access to those prisons, I am

16 familiar with the premises, there were beds there, and there was

17 sufficient space for moving around. However, during the war,