1 Tuesday, 11 January 2005

2 [Open session]

3 [The accused entered court]

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

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, begin the new year by calling your

6 witness.

7 Mr. Nice.

8 MR. NICE: May I just say two things, Your Honour. First, the

9 Court will recall that in respect of the next two witnesses, the

10 Prosecution raised as a potential argument that there should not be both

11 called, the one being duplicative of the other, and I know that the

12 Chamber has yet to announce any decision on that.

13 The second point that I'd make is that these witnesses are

14 speaking French, and in those circumstances, it will be the Prosecutor who

15 will be cross-examining them. I give notice to that effect.

16 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Mr. Nice. We'll take up that question

17 later, the argument that you've raised.

18 Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

19 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I call the next witness, Eve Crepin.

20 JUDGE ROBINSON: Is the witness journeying from France for this?

21 Will the Court Registrar seek to find out what has happened to the

22 witness.

23 [The witness entered court]

24 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let the witness make the declaration.

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

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

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Please sit.

3 WITNESS: EVE CREPIN

4 [Witness answered through interpreter]

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: You may proceed, Mr. Milosevic.

6 Examined by Mr. Milosevic:

7 Q. [Interpretation] Good morning, Ms. Crepin. Could you please tell

8 us about your professional qualifications and activities, but briefly,

9 please. Thank you.

10 A. Good morning, Mr. President. I have a diploma in nursing. It's a

11 vocation I chose. I decided to exercise this profession in the army in

12 order to intervene in humanitarian missions. The whole of my career was

13 dedicated to emergency services and reanimation services.

14 I have also other interests; i.e., literature and history. I have

15 a master's degree in modern literature and I am currently studying

16 history. I have written two books on the former Yugoslavia, and I am

17 currently preparing a paper on the Serb Republic of Krajina.

18 Q. How did it come about that you found yourself in the territory of

19 the former Yugoslavia?

20 A. I, first of all, worked with the Blue Helmets in Yugoslavia in

21 1994 in Bosnia and Sarajevo, and a second assignment the same year in

22 Krajina. I then returned on a number of occasions to Croatia and Krajina

23 in Bosnia and Kosovo as a member of a humanitarian association. I

24 committed to work with two humanitarian organisations, one entitled

25 Krajina, founded by Bucan, and the other called Teleobjectif, founded by

1 Marica Mathei. I helped the people as a nurse but I was full aware of the

2 fact that the material aid I was able to provide was totally insufficient

3 and as of 1994 onwards and throughout the year I want to clearly -- I

4 wanted to testify about what I had seen. I therefore took work for two

5 organisations, one which was a K organisation, humanitarian aid

6 organisation, one which was called Krajina, and a number of organisations

7 that were to assess the needs of the people on the ground and -- and write

8 down the statements and testimonies, which is the work I did for

9 Teleobjectif. I also worked for the representative office of the Serb

10 Republic of Krajina. I wrote, as I told you, two books about this, The

11 Serbs in Krajina, and A Testimony on Serbia, and a number of articles

12 also.

13 I also conducted a number of visits with the French television

14 crew FR3, and we prepared a number of reports on Bosnia, a number of

15 information sessions. In France I took part in the Yugoslav central --

16 cultural centre in the 9th Arrondissement in Paris. I also took part in a

17 number of events in protest against the indifference which people were

18 demonstrating vis-a-vis the suffering of the Serb people, the Serbs being

19 at the time demonised. In the former Yugoslavia, I wanted to testify of a

20 number of the key moments of the war in Serbia, in Croatia and Serbia. In

21 1994 and 1995, Kosovo, before the NATO strikes in 1998, and Serbia in

22 1999.

23 Q. Thank you. So you were a member of the UN forces and you joined

24 up in 1994; is that right? And as far as I understand from what you have

25 said, that was not your first involvement within the frameworks of

1 UNPROFOR itself, was it?

2 A. Yes, you're quite right. I first of all conducted an assignment

3 in Bosnia in 1994 in Sarajevo. I arrived in Sarajevo just after the

4 bombing of the market square, Markale, and the commanding force of

5 UNPROFOR was under the command of General Rose. We were working with the

6 French forces, and we had to take care of sanitation questions on the

7 ground and also we were -- I was running the logistic supply of an

8 orphanage and we had to provide basic materials and they were lacking a

9 lot of these, the basic necessities. I also ensured that the patients

10 were being transported into hospitals and a number of centres, medical

11 centres, that had been set up. So I did take care of the people of

12 Sarajevo.

13 Q. Tell me, please, what made the greatest impression on you during

14 your stay in Bosnia-Herzegovina?

15 A. The attacks of Muslims on UNPROFOR. This had made quite an

16 impression on the military, and we knew that a lot of Blue Helmets had

17 been killed by Muslim snipers, and a lot of military in Sarajevo talked

18 about Serge Verdet and Marot that had been killed in 1992 by Muslim

19 snipers. All the military on the ground knew that these were -- this was

20 sniper fire from the Muslims, and this was covered by the media. And

21 their media deemed that the Serbs were responsible for these killings, but

22 the people on the ground, and given the ballistic expertise that had been

23 carried out, knew that these snipers were Muslim. And the same time,

24 Markale 1 marketplace was due to the Muslims calling to all the officers

25 on the ground and all the military spokesmen on the ground.

1 In the same vein, when I arrived in the BH pocket during my second

2 assignment, the Blue Helmets were quite indignated [sic] by the Muslim

3 sniper fires. In 1994, people had been killed and this had made a marked

4 impression on the soldiers.

5 Q. Tell me something about your mission now, please, within the

6 frameworks of the Blue Helmets in Krajina. Generally speaking, what were

7 your impressions during your stay in Krajina?

8 A. In 1994, I worked for the first infantry battalion in the Drina,

9 and I was running the surgical unit or part of the surgical unit. I was

10 working not so much for the French battalion. I did -- I visited a number

11 of people in their villages, and I also took part of the operating -- I

12 worked in the operating theatre in charge of anaesthetics on request of

13 Chinevic [phoen], the doctor. I also took part in all the information

14 meetings organised by UNPROFOR at that time, which meant that I was able

15 to meet a lot of French and other soldiers, and foreign soldiers that had

16 witnessed what had happened in the Medak pocket in 1993.

17 Q. Tell me, please, what do you base your knowledge on about the

18 situation in Krajina at that time?

19 A. During that time, I moved around a lot. In the whole of the Serb

20 Republic of Krajina and the BH pocket of Bosnia, Velika Kladusa with a

21 friend of Fikret Abdic. I also moved around in the whole of Croatia. I

22 met a lot of Serb refugees from Croatia, a lot of people who had run away

23 from what was happening at the hands of the Croats, and I discussed a

24 number of matters with the military, organised a lot of meetings and who

25 knew the situation in Krajina full well, they knew what was happening and

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1 had a lot of information about it.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: May I say that the manner in which the evidence

3 is being given is not very helpful to your case. This is a fact witness.

4 You must attempt to focus her on a specific fact situation and try to get

5 evidence that is relevant to your case. She's speaking fairly generally

6 about attacks by Muslims on Serbs, but there is no focus. There is no

7 specific focus. Could you attempt to focus her on some specific fact

8 situation in which she can provide evidence that is relevant to your case.

9 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, the witness even

10 mentioned the names of some of the French members of the forces there who

11 were killed by the Muslim snipers. Therefore, I assume that that is

12 sufficiently concrete and specific. But yes, I will do my best in keeping

13 with your advice just now to focus my questions.

14 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

15 Q. Tell me, please, what about the population? How did the

16 population of Krajina deal with the difficulties that it was faced with?

17 A. The Serbs in Krajina were terrorised. They were exhausted. They

18 were discouraged. They had been living for a number of years. They had

19 been experiencing this for a number of years. They were extremely worried

20 about the situation which had worsened over time and they really felt they

21 had been dropped by all and everyone, nobody was coming to help them. And

22 they had -- they all remembered the events of the Second World War which

23 had a play -- been extremely important to them. They talked on a daily

24 basis about the Dinac massacre which had taken place in the Dinac church,

25 and they had been massacred by the Ustasha so they were terrorised about

1 this at Glina. They were extremely worried and exhausted and really felt

2 that they had been dropped by the entire international community.

3 MR. NICE: Your Honours, can I perhaps reinforce the import of

4 what Your Honour said earlier. The witness is, I think, narrating

5 post-event rumour in a general way that simply cannot, in our respectful

6 submission, go to found any part of a judgement. She's simply saying what

7 a number of people said at a certain time, speaking historically.

8 Although there's no rule against hearsay, the Chamber really would, I

9 suspect, require something more particular than that before it could act

10 on the basis of what this witness says.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Mr. Nice. I have told Mr. Milosevic

12 that he needs to focus the witness on specific fact situations. It is

13 true that we admit hearsay, but if it is very far removed, then of course

14 the weight to be attached to it will be very, very minimal.

15 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, I should like to draw

16 your attention to the fact that the witness is not testifying secondhand

17 on the basis of hearsay. She is answering my question about how the

18 population experienced the difficulties, what she saw. So she is,

19 therefore, speaking about the situation, the mood that prevailed, the

20 fears that were there because she saw them personally, and they of course

21 go back to the past as well. But let me more specific and concrete in my

22 next question.

23 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

24 Q. Tell me, please, what was it that could have intimated to the

25 population over there that a similar event such as the one that took place

1 in Glina could repeat itself? What might have given them that impression?

2 A. In 1990 Franjo Tudjman came to power and declared that Pavelic's

3 state was not due to the war but the expression of the secular aspirations

4 of the Croat people. He therefore escalated the events with a view to

5 terrorising the Serbs, and they came back to Zagreb, and they were

6 welcomed and honoured. The Ustasha were honoured. They set up militia

7 gangs in the region which were primarily populated by the Serbs, and those

8 events escalated with a view to primarily to terrorising the Serbs.

9 Q. Did you have a chance of seeing some violence towards the Serbs,

10 violent behaviour towards the Serbs yourself? Did you see it?

11 A. The Croat people in Zagreb where I went a number of times were

12 extremely aggressive vis-a-vis the Serbs. Also extremely aggressive

13 vis-a-vis the Blue Helmets who were accused of preventing the invasion of

14 Krajina. So our visits were conducted with extreme caution, and we were

15 deemed to be the enemy of the Croat people and preventing the Croats from

16 invading Krajina. So there was a degree of aggressiveness which I could

17 not understand, given the situation in Krajina where Serbs and Croats were

18 living quite happily together.

19 Q. And what kinds of attacks on the part of the Croats are you

20 talking about? What kind of attacks were they?

21 A. I'm talking about the 1992, 1993 attacks in Krajina when it was a

22 protected zone by the UN. Biljevaca Square, in June 1992, Ravni Kotor,

23 Rima [phoen] and Zenica in January 1993, and the Medak pocket in September

24 of 1993 where Serbs were tortured and executed by the Croat forces at a

25 time when this region was under UN protection. The Serbs in Krajina, of

1 course, remembered all these massacres. The military discussed this a lot

2 at their meetings, and they were hoping that their presence on the ground

3 would prevent new massacres from occurring, which was not the case, which

4 we would discover a little later.

5 Q. You worked in the hospital. Can you give us some examples to

6 illustrate the relationship between the non-Serb population in Krajina?

7 A. First of all, Serbs and Croats were working together as they had

8 been doing for a number of years and as they had been doing before the

9 war. They had changed nothing to their routine. Their mutual friendship

10 had not changed at all since the war. Everybody was working together in

11 the hospital. Everybody was working to help all peoples, whether they be

12 Serb, Croat or Muslims. All patients were taken care of in the same way,

13 in the same professional way, in the same dedication.

14 I remember one day when a pregnant woman, a Muslim woman, used or

15 was given the rest of the blood pockets or stocks that the hospital had

16 left and that was the last we had. I remember that day because the Serbs

17 clearly demonstrated that they were prepared to help all the patients

18 coming into the hospital. A lot of the Muslims from the Bihac pocket came

19 to the hospital, and all were treated in the same way. There was no

20 discrimination in any way vis-a-vis anybody.

21 Q. Which hospital are you referring to?

22 A. The Glina Hospital in Krajina.

23 Q. And how long did you work in that hospital?

24 A. I worked there for three months when I worked for the Blue

25 Helmets, and then I went back every two to three months for two weeks 'til

1 the Krajina fell in August of 1995. So I literally worked for a long time

2 in that hospital. I was living with the people there. I took part in a

3 lot of things that were happening to them on a day-to-day basis, and I was

4 really experiencing the war like they were at the time.

5 Q. Tell me, please, in view of the fact that you're talking about a

6 long experience there, do you know of any case of discrimination against

7 the non-Serb population or any case in which the Serbs from Krajina

8 expelled a Croat, for instance, or a Muslim, for instance, or anybody who

9 was not a Serb? You lived with the people over there. Can you quote any

10 example along those lines, an example of discrimination that you might

11 have encountered?

12 A. Never. Never. All what has been said about the hatred of Serbs

13 vis-a-vis non-Serbs is just a lie. I would like to state again that they

14 took care of Croats and Muslims and -- that came from the Bihac pocket in

15 the same way as the Serb patients. Everybody was treated alike. The

16 president, Milan Martic, had given very clear instructions to all police

17 officers: Any act of violence, even a small act of violence, should be

18 severely punished. So the government, the Serb government of the Republic

19 of Krajina, had stated this very clearly. There was no way this kind of

20 event could happen, and I would like to state this again. I never saw

21 anything of that kind. Even in the speeches made by Serbs, I never, never

22 saw even the slightest sign of violence, and their friendship had not been

23 tainted by the war. There were a number of mixed marriages in that

24 region, and the Serbs in Krajina had a lot of friends in the Bihac pocket

25 among the Muslim population, and nothing of that changed. We continued

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1 visiting the Bihac pocket to help the friends of Serbs in Krajina and to

2 provide aid -- the aid and attention they needed.

3 Q. Tell me, please, when your mission within the Blue Helmets was

4 completed, why did you decide to go back to Krajina? You just mentioned

5 that, I believe. You completed your mission and then you went back. Why?

6 A. Yes, I did. I spent a number of months working for the Blue

7 Helmets in the Krajina region. I felt that the situation was going to

8 worsen, and the Serbs were being demonised and this was getting worse.

9 When I returned to France, the press, the media covered it in a particular

10 way, saying it was all black and white and the Serbs were in the evil

11 camp, and this is not what I had witnessed in Krajina.

12 The aggressiveness was increasing, and the Blue Helmets had

13 analysed the situation in the same way, and they thought that there would

14 be a imminent attack on the part of the Croats in the Krajina.

15 Also in 1993, a number of attacks had been conducted against the

16 Serbs even though that region was under UN protection. So they were quite

17 prepared for a fresh attack on the part of the Croats.

18 So I decided to go back in order to finish the work I'd started,

19 and I contacted -- there was no humanitarian aid organisation there, and

20 given that the events were worsening, as I have just said, I was convinced

21 that no humanitarian organisation would actually go into that region to

22 help the people, so I contacted the Krajina humanitarian organisation and

23 Teleobjectif, and it is with these people that I went back until August

24 1995. That I went back to Krajina, I mean.

25 Q. Tell me, please, what were your activities in that period of time,

1 that is to say from June 1994 until August 1995, and in what conditions

2 did you carry out these activities?

3 A. So from June 1994 to August 1995, I worked on a regular basis in

4 the Glina Hospital, in the operating theatre. I also made several visits

5 as a member of the humanitarian organisation, a hospital in Glina where

6 doctors and staff had been forced to identify the mutilated bodies that

7 had come from the Miljevac plateau. There were a lot of refugees, and I

8 was able to receive the testimony of many refugees and people who had been

9 victims of this abuse. And I made several visits over the whole territory

10 where I was able to discuss with many Serbs about the situation that

11 prevailed and had been prevailing for several years. I really lived with

12 the people there on a daily basis, and I received the testimony of many

13 people, many residents.

14 Q. And what does that testimony speak of? Everything that you saw

15 yourself too.

16 A. Well, the testimony spoke about all the abuse of the Croats in the

17 past years and told everything that people had lived before, as early as

18 1990 or 1991 regarding the refugees coming from Croatia. They had been

19 harassed, they had lost their jobs, they had been thrown out of their

20 flats, they had been forced to leave Croatia. Losing their jobs was not

21 justified in most cases. They received no benefits, no unemployment

22 benefits. They were persecuted and they were really forced to leave

23 Croatia in order never to return.

24 It is true. All the signs of the power, of Tudjman's power, were

25 there. There were all the war criminals. And also in school curriculum,

1 you had new programmes that were introduced, marked by the Ustasha

2 ideology. In Zagreb, street names were changed, like the Square of

3 Fascism became the Square of Great Croats. In the army, Ustasha ranks

4 were taken over, so there were new signs appearing on uniforms of the old

5 chessboard, which was the symbol for the Ustasha regime. All these signs

6 terrorised people because they'd lived through the Second World War, so

7 they were afraid of that reappearing, plus there was all that was done by

8 the Croat forces. Mercep had ruled in a lot of the areas where Serbs

9 lived, so this was really contributing to the terror felt by people. And

10 they were horrified by what they'd seen.

11 The doctors of the Glina Hospital were really horrified by what

12 they saw on the bodies of the people, on the corpses that were brought to

13 the hospital for identification purposes.

14 Q. How many refugees did you see in Krajina, who came from different

15 areas, that is? How many refugees were there that you saw?

16 A. I saw scores of refugees. I didn't really count them precisely,

17 but I saw scores of them. About 120.000 came to Krajina. They were not

18 all refugees, but I saw -- I didn't see them all, but I saw scores of them

19 during my visits.

20 Q. During your stay in Krajina, you were in contact with Muslim

21 refugees, weren't you? What was the attitude of the authorities and

22 citizens of Krajina like vis-a-vis the Muslim refugees? How many of them

23 were there in the first place, and what was the general attitude towards

24 them?

25 A. These Muslim refugees had been thrown out of the Bihac pocket

1 during the fighting between Fikret Abdic and the 5th Bosnian Corps. They

2 were faithful to Abdic and they had been welcomed to Krajina between June

3 1994 and January 1995, and the Krajina Serbs did what they had always done

4 before; they welcomed them, and in spite of the misery they found

5 themselves in. They tried to help these people with medicine, with food,

6 and all the refugees were taken into the Glina Hospital if there was an

7 emergency for surgery or otherwise, there was around-the-clock service.

8 Bread was being served to the refugees around the clock as well, and they

9 were supported for several months without any kind of discrimination. The

10 Serbs did what they had always done before; they supported the Muslims as

11 though these had been Serbs or Croats, without any form of discrimination.

12 Q. What is your knowledge concerning the events that are usually

13 called Operation Flash?

14 A. The Operation Flash took place early May 1995 in Western Slavonia.

15 The Croat forces bombed Pakrac, Okucani and Jasenovac. The people from

16 these towns fled the area to go to Bosnia, and they were bombed as they

17 were going through Stari Gradiska bridge to go to Nova Popola, among other

18 places. They were bombed by the Croats and I met them fleeing as they

19 were fleeing the bombing.

20 These refugees had been terrorised by the bombing and by the high

21 casualties among the civilian population. And I stress this. In May

22 1995, the Western Slavonia was a UNPA, which did not prevent these people

23 from being bombed. And 5.000 Serbs had to flee through Bosnia, and this

24 did not prevent either the fact that these people, whilst they were

25 fleeing, were bombed. So everything was allowed to happen, and these

1 people had to leave their homes forever, and they were civilians.

2 Q. All right. You were among the UN protection force. How come

3 UNPROFOR did not manage to carry through its mission of protection? What

4 did you learn about this from contacts with your own colleagues, members

5 of the French forces or other forces that were within UNPROFOR?

6 A. In Western Slavonia, the Croat forces blocked the Blue Helmets in

7 their barracks, which meant that the Blue Helmets were unable to protect

8 the population. And in doing so, it was easy to carry out the ethnic

9 cleansing they had planned and to force all these people, all the

10 civilians, to leave, because the forces present on the ground were not

11 able to protect the population due to the force exerted. So the Blue

12 Helmets were unable to protect the civilians.

13 Q. What did the Blue Helmets tell you, that is to say, those that you

14 talked to?

15 A. The Blue Helmets were convinced that this was unfair towards the

16 Serbs. They knew perfectly well that all these operations had been

17 planned in higher circles. They had been organised, and all this could

18 not have been done, the bombing and all the violence could not have been

19 carried out if it had not been decided higher up. And it went on for

20 several years. So the Croat forces could not have continued the ethnic

21 cleansing of the population if it had not been decided and agreed higher

22 up. Of course with the tacit agreement of the international community,

23 which never, never reacted, never did anything.

24 Q. Tell me, where were you during Operation Storm, as it was called,

25 and what is your personal knowledge regarding that particular event?

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1 A. The Operation Storm took place in August 1995. It drove the

2 Krajina Serbs. I was in Banja Luka in Bosnia in order to assess

3 humanitarian needs regarding Western Slavonian refugees because there had

4 been an action in May 1995.

5 Therefore, in August 1995, Krajina was bombed for several days by

6 the Croat army, and 200.000 Serbs from Krajina were driven out. MiG 21s

7 bombed the refugees leaving the country and refugees were victims of

8 stones being thrown at them, and a thousand people died, there were

9 200.000 people driven out, and in August 1995, the AFP press agencies was

10 taking about 10.000 people who had been reported missing. It was not

11 confirmed, but that was the figure announced then. Houses were bombed,

12 property was seized, property belonging to Serbs, and the Serbs had to

13 leave towards Bosnia in the hope of finding shelter there.

14 There again, the international community failed to do anything.

15 The media did not see anything of the suffering endured by the Serbs. It

16 was absolute silence. And this did not move at all various human rights

17 associations which suddenly forgot what it meant to be a civilian

18 population being bombarded or bombed. So whilst they were protected

19 areas, this bombing, this ethnic cleansing was very quickly forgotten

20 about in the following weeks.

21 I even saw journalists claiming victory during the bombing,

22 forgetting the women, the children, the old people who had died during the

23 bombing. And the 5th Corps, the 5th Muslim Corps had used this

24 opportunity to get into the Krajina territory. Everybody was very happy

25 about this. The civilians being bombed did not move anybody.

1 Q. You were there at the time, weren't you, and you saw all of this

2 with your very own eyes.

3 A. Yes. I saw this exodus of the Serbian population with my own

4 eyes. They were on tractors, deprived of everything, in utter terror.

5 They were moving towards Bosnia. I saw the wounded coming as a result of

6 the bombing. Yes, I saw everything.

7 Q. And what did you do after the fall of Krajina in 1995?

8 A. After the fall of Krajina in 1995, I continued trying to help the

9 refugees through these humanitarian organisations I mentioned earlier on.

10 I made several visits to Bosnia, to Kosovo, and to the rest of Serbia in

11 refugee camps, in hospitals, there where they might have been evacuated.

12 As of August 1995, I went to some regions in Bosnia. I went to

13 Banja Luka, Prijedor, Derventa, Brcko, Bijeljina. In Eastern Bosnia I

14 went to Pale, Zvornik, Bratunac and Srebrenica because I was on the

15 lookout for refugees. I met church authorities and political authorities

16 who might have been able to help me assess the humanitarian needs of the

17 Serb population, of all these refugees.

18 I met with Mr. Pavle, I met with President Martic, with Karadzic,

19 with Mladic, and later on with Mrs. Plavsic and Mr. Krajisnik.

20 Q. You mentioned many towns that you were in. Tell us briefly, what

21 was the position of the population like, the population that you saw in

22 Bosnia?

23 A. The Serb population in Bosnia was suffering from the war. This

24 embargo had been imposed on the area, and this could be felt in everyday

25 life. Everything was missing. Basic commodities were missing. There

1 were no hygiene products, which was a real problem for hospitals. It was

2 therefore difficult for hospitals to operate properly. They did not have

3 any pain-killers, any anaesthetics, any medicine. There was no work.

4 There was no money, basically. And the most tragic thing is that there

5 was no humanitarian aid. All these people were abandoned and they knew

6 that they were demonised. They knew that too, and they were very worried

7 about their future because they knew this demonisation was responsible for

8 the lack of humanitarian aid and that the situation was not likely to get

9 any better for them.

10 Of course, psychologically speaking, they were very hit by the war

11 as is true of any population, because most families had lost children,

12 relatives, brothers and sisters. They had been separated. Many did not

13 know anything about the fate of their relatives.

14 So it was the Serb population suffering as any population suffers

15 during the war. But that was not said by the media. That was quite

16 obvious. If you worked in the field with the population, you noticed that

17 very clearly.

18 Q. You mentioned the media a few times. Tell me, what is your

19 impression regarding the writing of the media? For example, in France or

20 the Western media in general, those that you followed. I mean their

21 attitude towards the reality that you saw with your own eyes throughout

22 this period of time.

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, the question that you just asked

24 is indicative of the problem with this evidence, this kind of evidence.

25 "What is your impression regarding the writing of the media?" The witness

1 is really giving impressions, and we are not particularly concerned with

2 general impressions. And so I would like you to try to focus the witness,

3 if it is possible, on something which is beyond general impressions,

4 because general impressions are not very helpful.

5 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] The witness mentioned that the media

6 did not attach any -- did not pay any attention whatsoever to the crimes

7 that were committed against the Serbs. And these were mass crimes at

8 that. So I asked her how this was portrayed in the media, I mean the

9 reality that she saw with her very own eyes where she lived and worked.

10 She's a humanitarian aid worker. She was on the spot, she met thousands

11 of people, she worked in hospitals, helped there; she was a participant in

12 all these events. On the other hand, she said a few minutes ago that she

13 saw that the Western media kept quiet about this.

14 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

15 Q. So my question is: What is the balance between the situation on

16 the ground and the writing of the media on the other hand?

17 A. These are not impressions. That was stated by the media, by the

18 press. The media were very simple. It was a black and white presentation

19 with two sides; the evil one, the Serb aggressor that had unleashed the

20 war, according to the media. And the media were very clear the Serbs did

21 not suffer from the war; there were no refugees, there were no detention

22 camps for the Serbs. And then on the other side, on the good side, you

23 had all the victims, therefore all the other ethnic groups, the Croats,

24 the Muslims. That was a very black and white presentation. And all press

25 news was saying that -- denying any suffering by the Serbs, by the

1 civilian population in refugee camps, in detention camps, denying any

2 torture, and you had populations that were the victims of these barbaric

3 Serbs that were throat-cutters and criminals.

4 So starting on this basis, the most enormous lies were propagated

5 by the press, by the media, without any people questioning it, and there

6 was utter silence as to the suffering by the Serbs.

7 Q. Tell me, did you learn anything about the fate of the Serbs who

8 found themselves in Croat prisons? If you have any such knowledge, what

9 is it?

10 A. I met families who had some of their relatives gaoled in Croat

11 prisons. There were scores of detention camps created in Croatia as early

12 as in 1991. In Western Slavonia, for instance, in October 1991 already

13 Serbs were executed. In Marino Selo and Pakracka Poljana next to Marino

14 Selo, detention camps were set up. There was Stara Ciglana in Pakracka

15 Poljana and Rivaska Poljana [phoen] in Marino Selo. In those camps,

16 hundreds of Serbs were detained, mistreated and tortured.

17 Also in the Lora camp in Split already in 1992 and until 1997,

18 thousands of Serbs were detained. Journalists, some journalists wrote a

19 lot about this prison, and some 70 people died, according to them, in the

20 camp. All the UN officials, International Red Cross, other humanitarian

21 organisations knew of those camps but nothing was done, obviously.

22 Toni Manic [phoen], who is now the president of Human Rights in

23 Dalmatia worked a lot with the Veritas organisation from Belgrade but also

24 with Vojin Babic, who did a lot about the camps, and they gave a lot of

25 evidence regarding the victims to the ICTY, with autopsy reports in order

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1 to show that those camps had existed and that there were victims who were

2 mistreated in those camps.

3 I also want to stress that regarding the Lora camp, the ICTY had

4 the files, but the former guards of the camp were not prosecuted by the

5 ICTY. They were prosecuted and tried by the Croat system in Split, and

6 they were all acquitted.

7 Q. Tell me, in Krajina you saw many Serb refugees and many Muslim

8 refugees, isn't that right? Where did all these refugees come from?

9 A. Many of refugees from Croatia had been driven out as early as in

10 1990 or 1991. I told you that Serbs had been harassed, humiliated, and

11 driven out of their homes, and they suffered from the special forces of

12 the MUP, especially the forces under Tomislav Mercep. In Eastern

13 Slavonia, the Serbs had to leave their homes already in April 1991 because

14 in some villages the Croat mayors had put notice on all the Serb homes

15 saying that they had to leave within the next 48 hours without taking

16 anything with them. Those who didn't want to go away, to leave, were put

17 in gaol. And everybody, all of them suffered from such measures because

18 they had to leave their homes without any money, without any property.

19 And a lot of them went towards Krajina where there was already a majority

20 of Serbs.

21 Already during summer 1992, in Zagreb and the surrounding area, in

22 areas where there was a majority of Serbs, the Serbs had to leave and

23 sought refuge in Krajina.

24 MR. NICE: Your Honours.

25 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

1 MR. NICE: I can't help but observe, although the point can be

2 made in cross-examination, that this is -- these are events years before

3 this witness was ever on the territory that she's speaking about, and the

4 value to the Chamber is, in our respectful submission, limited or nil.

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, you heard that.

6 [Trial Chamber confers]

7 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. Mr. Milosevic, much of this evidence I

8 don't think we will be able to attach much weight to it. The case is not

9 about Serb detention or Serb deaths unless Serb deaths or Serb detention

10 is specifically related to one of the charges. Otherwise, you open

11 yourself up to the submission that it is tu quoque evidence, which is not

12 -- which is not relevant.

13 I haven't stopped you because some of the evidence, arguably, is

14 relevant, and I want to be absolutely fair to you, but I must say that

15 much of it is bordering on not being very helpful to the Chamber. And I

16 hope that this is not an example of the way your fact witnesses will

17 testify. And much of it comes across like a conversation over a cup of

18 tea on a veranda, and I don't find it very helpful but I haven't stopped

19 you because it is related in a general way to the case, but I don't think

20 that you will derive much help from evidence of this kind. And we will

21 have to address the question raised by the Prosecutor in relation to the

22 other witness if the evidence will be of this kind.

23 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, Mr. Nice's comment is

24 not in order, because the fact that somebody became a refugee before the

25 witness came to Krajina does not mean that the witness, once she arrived,

1 did not come across and find those refugees and was not able to establish

2 how those refugees came to be there in the first place. So she is

3 testifying not about the events that took place before, but she is

4 mentioning the causes of this phenomenon that she witnessed.

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: I did not support Mr. Nice's comment. My comment

6 was quite independent of that.

7 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I didn't hear that part. Very well.

8 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

9 Q. You were in Kosovo a little before the NATO bombing took place

10 there. What was the situation like during that period of time when you

11 arrived in Kosovo? Could you give us a brief description of what you

12 found when you arrived.

13 A. Yes. I was in Kosovo in 1998, where I spent a lot of time in

14 Pristina and Pec. The atmosphere there was particularly tense. As in

15 Pristina it was quite impossible for Serbs and Westerners who might have

16 been suspected of helping Serbs to move around freely. In Pec it was

17 easier to move around during the day, but at night it was not recommended

18 to move around and leave your house. So the situation was particularly

19 tense vis-a-vis the Serbs.

20 Q. And how long did you spend in Pristina and Pec? During what

21 period? When were you there?

22 A. I went to Pristina in June of 1998 where I met Popovic, the dean,

23 who strongly advised me not to go to Pec because the KLA was blocking the

24 roads and had organised war operations. In 1998 I worked a number of

25 months in the hospital of Pec. I had got to know about the situation in

1 Kosovo at that time and I wanted to help as I was a professional nurse, so

2 I contacted the Orthodox church. Their members were the only people who

3 could move about freely in the region. I met the Patriarch Pavle who gave

4 me a letter so that I could go to Pec. So I went to Pec and, given the

5 fighting at the hands of the KLA, there were a number of injured people

6 that needed to be attended to.

7 Q. Tell me, what was the situation like in the Pec hospital?

8 A. The Glina and the Pec hospital likewise, the communities were

9 working together. There were a lot of Albanian nurses and doctors in the

10 hospital. Everybody was working together, and everybody was working

11 together in the same way with the wounded, whether they be Serb or

12 Albanian. They were -- had close ties and there were no particular

13 tensions, and it was all very friendly.

14 Q. So in Pec, in the hospital there, there were doctors and nurses

15 working there who were Serbs, Albanians, and others, too. That's what you

16 yourself saw, is it; is that right?

17 A. Yes, that's quite right.

18 Q. Now, when it comes to the patients themselves, were there any

19 wounded among the patients; and if so, who were they wounded by? What did

20 you learn about that, in view of the fact that you worked there

21 throughout? What insight did you have into things like that?

22 A. There were a lot of injured people coming in and a number of Serb

23 victims who had been injured by the KLA. Injuries: They had been burnt,

24 they had had bullet wounds, and there were a number of Albanian patients.

25 These were moderate Albanians who had been beaten up by the KLA people and

1 also sometimes because they were just simply friendly with the Serbs. So

2 they had bruises, they had broken limbs, and these people had been beaten

3 up by the KLA militia.

4 Q. Tell me --

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: Ms. Crepin, were there any Muslim patients who

6 were victims of Serb violence?

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Never. I never saw a single Muslim

8 having been injured by a Serb. The Muslims who came into the hospital had

9 been injured by the KLA militia, and the KLA militia also attacked some of

10 the Albanian civilians because they were close to the Serbs. I never saw

11 a single Muslim being attacked by a Serb. There was no hatred of Serbs

12 vis-a-vis Albanians, contrary to what has been said.

13 JUDGE ROBINSON: How were you able to ascertain that the Muslim

14 patients had been attacked by the KLA?

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Because that's what they said.

16 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

17 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

18 Q. Since you were both in Pec and Pristina, tell me, please, what

19 about the presence of the police in those two towns, the ones you were in?

20 They're large towns after all, both Pristina and Pec. So were the police

21 there? What was the police presence like there?

22 A. What was quite striking was that in Pec and in Pristina alike, the

23 presence of the police or the military was no more important than

24 elsewhere. In Paris, for instance. If you remember the Vigie Pirate in

25 Paris, which had been set up in order to forestall terrorist attacks.

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1 Police presence was no greater than in Paris at that time.

2 Q. And what was your experience with regard to international

3 relations in Pec, for example? Because you spent a relatively long time

4 working in the hospital, you worked with the doctors of different ethnic

5 groups and with patients of different nationalities, so what would be your

6 impressions of the attitude and relationship between the different ethnic

7 groups in Pec?

8 A. In the hospital itself, there was no problem whatsoever between

9 the Serbs and the Albanians any more than in Glina where medical care and

10 surgical intervention protected us from that kind of thing. However, in

11 the streets and the shops of Pec, the Albanians were very aggressive

12 towards the Serbs, where the Serbs were not, conversely. And the

13 Albanians were, which was quite surprising because, according to what I

14 saw and after the number of weeks I spent there, the Albanians were living

15 in quite satisfactory conditions without suffering from any kind of

16 discrimination. They were not fired from any administrative jobs. They

17 were running most of the shops. But there was a lot of underlying

18 aggression, and when I spoke in Serb, people picked me up on that one and

19 I was told that in Kosovo one spoke Albanian and not Serb.

20 So the violence was really directed at the Serbs and they were

21 very worried about it because this materialised in a number of ways.

22 Sometimes acts of physical violence. The Serbs were living quite happily

23 with the Albanians, but Albanians were very aggressive and this was very

24 difficult to understand for the Serbs.

25 Q. In either Pec or Pristina, throughout the time you were there, did

1 you ever see any police intervention or the army intervening against the

2 Albanians, for example?

3 A. Never. I never saw any mistreatment, arrest either from the Serb

4 military or the police. I never saw mistreatment at the hand of Serbs

5 vis-a-vis the Albanians, never, during all the time of my -- during the

6 time of my stay there.

7 Q. And did you see any violence on the part of the Albanian militants

8 towards the Serbs, for instance, during your stay in Pec and in Pristina?

9 A. In the streets, one could not see any physical violence per se. I

10 could sense the aggressiveness. I saw physical violence in the hospital

11 itself when the Serbs came in and were brought in and were injured, but in

12 the street I could only sense the aggressiveness. I never actually saw an

13 act of violence in the street.

14 Q. In Kosovo and Metohija, were you able to see some refugees from

15 Krajina, for example? Did you ever see them, ones that you had previously

16 been in contact with while you were in Krajina?

17 A. Pec -- in Pec during the offensive of 1994, a refugee camp for the

18 Serbs in Krajina had been set up. I met these people, and like all the

19 other Serb refugees, they were suffered from shortage of all and

20 everything and had received no aid, had no money, and survived in these

21 refugee camps. They were often attacked by the KLA terrorists. This is

22 what they feared first and foremost. They wanted to leave Kosovo but

23 didn't have enough money and had no visas, and nobody was prepared to

24 welcome them in Europe, so they literally could not leave these refugee

25 camps where they were only struggling to survive.

1 Q. You were in Serbia during the bombing, the NATO bombing. What

2 period of time were you in Serbia actually?

3 A. I was in Serbia in March and April of 1999. During the NATO

4 bombing campaign, there were tens of thousands of bombs that fell on the

5 town. There were a lot of collateral -- there was a lot of collateral

6 damage. That's how it was coined at the time. A lot of residential areas

7 and homes were shelled and they were responsible for the deaths of

8 civilians where, in the building of Serb television, 16 television crew

9 died, and a lot of industrial sites and petrochemical -- Novi Sad,

10 Kragujevac, these industrial sites were completely destroyed and had very

11 adverse effects for the neighbouring population because the whole area as

12 a result of this is polluted. The groundwater tables, the ground,

13 everything was polluted and this has adverse effects on the population.

14 If the region -- I personally believe that this bombing campaign which was

15 decided in the name of human rights, in the name of freedom and the name

16 of democracy are war crimes and crimes against humanity. They first and

17 foremost hit or targeted civilians.

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: Ms. Crepin, we don't need to hear that from you.

19 We'll make our own determination about the nature of the crimes.

20 Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

21 JUDGE KWON: Ms. Crepin, you said you were in Pristina in June

22 1998, and when was it you stayed in Pec? Because you said you were in

23 Serbia in March 1999. So you stayed the whole period in between in Pec,

24 or can you identify the period you stayed in Pec?

25 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I was in Pristina in June of 1998,

1 and in Pec during the summer of 1998.

2 JUDGE KWON: "Summer" meaning? Could you identify the months.

3 How long did you stay there; from when until when, in Pec?

4 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] In July and August of 1998.

5 JUDGE KWON: Please proceed.

6 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Thank you, Mr. Kwon.

7 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

8 Q. Now, you were an eyewitness of the exodus of the Serbs from

9 Krajina, and you were also an eyewitness to the exodus of the Serbs from

10 Kosovo in 1999; right?

11 A. Yes, you're quite right. Let me remind you that at this time the

12 Serbs were victims of this massive exodus in Krajina where 200.000 Serbs

13 were driven out of their homes in a few days. The second exodus in

14 Kosovo. But I'd like to remind you that the NATO bombing campaign caused

15 the exodus of approximately 1 million people. 800.000 Albanian people had

16 to flee their homes, and 200.000 Roma and Gypsies had to run away from the

17 NATO bombing. Most of them returned to Kosovo, but -- so a lot of them

18 have returned, but in total over 400.000 Serbs in Yugoslavia were driven

19 out of their homes.

20 Q. During your activities, you had contacts with non-governmental

21 organisations, I take it. Can you tell us something about your experience

22 about the activities engaged in by the non-governmental organisations.

23 Or, rather, let me be more specific: Did you come into contact with

24 Western non-governmental organisations?

25 A. No, I never met any Western NGO. Most Western NGOs worked for the

1 Croats and the Muslims. In 1992 and 1993, Medecins du Monde launched a

2 campaign against the Serbs and against you, Mr. Milosevic, where you had

3 been compared to Hitler. And Medecins du Monde then helped the Croat

4 population in Dubrovnik. Medecins sans Frontieres went to Vukovar to

5 provide relief there to the population, and I did not meet any NGO on the

6 side of the Serbs.

7 In Bosnia, likewise, the Western NGOs did not even mention the

8 suffering of the Serbs, and for obvious reasons, because they were not

9 helping them. The NGOs were only helping the Muslims and the Croats in

10 Eastern Bosnia where they provided relief to Muslim population in Gorazde

11 and Zepa, and they exaggerated the suffering of the Muslims. Not that I'm

12 saying this wasn't the case, but I'd just like to stress the fact that

13 they exaggerated this, talked about cannibalism, famine in these pockets,

14 that hospitals were overwhelmed by the number of people coming in. And

15 when we went to visit these enclaves, we realised that all and everything

16 had been said. Of course it was -- there was a war, but people were not

17 dying of hunger and the streets were not full of corpses. In the same

18 way, Medecins sans Frontieres exerted a lot of pressure, so -- for a

19 parliamentary commission to take -- to deal with the Srebrenica question.

20 In Kosovo, Medecins du Monde released witness reports or -- on the

21 number of refugees and casualties which were the way of substantiating the

22 bombing campaign, and Medecins du Monde was MSF International -- MSF

23 France was in Greece, worked in Greece but was not entitled to work with

24 MSF International because they had helped the Serbs.

25 So during this entire war, the Serbs were never helped by any

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1 Western NGO of any kind.

2 Q. Very well. So not a single Western NGO, non-governmental

3 organisation, during all that suffering, came to the assistance of the

4 Serbs. Who did help the Serbs, then, from your experience?

5 A. Well, even today the Orthodox dioceses, which is humanitarian aid

6 which was run by Marica Mathei, that always helped the Serb population

7 without actually talking about it and doing as much as she could to help

8 the Serb people. As there was an embargo placed on Serbia, these people

9 did all they could to help the refugees and the injured people but it was

10 very difficult to provide relief to all and everyone because they were

11 lacking a lot of resources. So the dioceses tried to help these people as

12 best they could.

13 The Yugoslav Red Cross also helped the Serbs but did not have the

14 same resources as Medecins du Monde or Medecins sans Frontieres in the

15 Krajina which had been created by Bucan that is no longer in existence did

16 help the Serbs in Krajina for a number of years. There were a number of

17 volunteers working from them. Serbs from France and Friends were

18 providing help to these people. The International Red Cross has been

19 helping the refugees in Serbia and Montenegro since the end of the bombing

20 campaign. But in 2002 --

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: I'm stopping you on that. I think we have heard

22 enough, and I'm not satisfied that the question as to who helped the Serbs

23 is relevant to any of the charges. So please ask another question.

24 JUDGE KWON: Ms. Crepin, you said earlier that NATO bombing caused

25 the exodus of approximately 1 million people. I expected Mr. Milosevic to

1 elaborate on that issue, but he didn't, so I'm asking -- I have to ask

2 this. What is your basis for that assertion, first in terms of number,

3 and second, the cause of the exodus?

4 Did you get the question?

5 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] You are asking me, if I've

6 understood you correctly, what enables me to state these figures and the

7 reason for the exodus; is that right?

8 JUDGE KWON: Yes. How are you able to ascertain the cause of the

9 refugees moving out, the cause of the exodus, and what is your basis for

10 that number, 1 million people?

11 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] As far as the reasons are concerned,

12 I base my assertion on the report which was drafted by the OSCE as of

13 October 1998 onwards. An observation mission, KVM, was set up in Kosovo,

14 and they left Kosovo in March 1999, a few days before the NATO bombing.

15 This is a report in two volumes which quite clearly explains that no

16 ethnic cleansing had taken place before the bombing campaign, and the

17 exodus and mistreatments started at the time of the bombing. So the

18 report is very clear on this particular point. This is the OSCE report

19 which was published at the end of 1999.

20 Now, as far as the figures I quoted, I base my assertion on all

21 the reports provided by the International Red Cross, UNHCR, and these

22 figures have not been challenged by anybody so far.

23 JUDGE KWON: So the cause, as you understand it, is sort of an

24 assumption or guess on your part? What you are saying is that because

25 there is no mention of -- I'm not sure about that, but there's no mention

1 of ethnic cleansing or the discrimination before the NATO bombing began,

2 so the cause should be the NATO bombing? Am I right in so understanding?

3 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, not at all. I quote the OSCE

4 report. So this is not an impression or my understanding of this. I base

5 this on the OSCE report. The exodus started when the bombing started, and

6 the observation mission of the OSCE, there was no ethnic cleansing or

7 violence before. I'm just quoting the OSCE report, and I'm not

8 interpreting this in any way.

9 JUDGE KWON: That will be pursued by the Prosecutor later, I see.

10 Please proceed, Mr. Milosevic.

11 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

12 Q. Ms. Crepin, I know that you went back to Yugoslavia after the

13 bombing, that you returned, and you mentioned members of the non-Albanian

14 minorities in Kosovo, and as a member of various humanitarian

15 organisations, did you have a personal insight into the situation of those

16 members of non-Albanian communities in Kosovo and Metohija?

17 A. Yes. You're quite right. The non-Albanian minorities in Kosovo

18 for a number of years now since the end of the bombing have been the

19 target of attacks and humiliation. Most Albanians have returned to Kosovo

20 after the bombings, but to date only 3 per cent of the minority groups or

21 members of these minority groups have returned to Kosovo. A lot have gone

22 back to see what was happening there.

23 Samir Rifati, Voice of Roma, who is in charge of the Roma refugees

24 around the world was shocked when he saw the gap that existed between what

25 he saw on the ground and what the international community was saying. The

1 international community was proud of setting up an interethnic community,

2 but the Romas were still having to leave their houses and were still being

3 attacked by the Albanians. Their homes have been destroyed, they had to

4 flee their homes, so those people that have stayed, all those who have

5 returned, are living in enclaves, receiving a small stipend from the UN,

6 and nothing has been done, neither by Munich or KFOR to protect this group

7 of people. So much for the fate of the Romas in Kosovo.

8 Q. And finally, tell me just this, please: Are you referring to the

9 Romas or do you include there the Serbs, Montenegrins, and other

10 non-Albanian communities in Kosovo and Metohija?

11 A. I talked about the Romas, but the Serbs are in exactly the same

12 situation. Since June 1999 when KFOR entered that territory, the Serbs

13 are living in fear. Since the end of the bombing and the setting up of

14 KFOR and UNMIK --

15 THE INTERPRETER: I didn't hear the figure, somebody coughed, I'm

16 sorry.

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] -- thousand five hundred people were

18 injured and one million people had been abducted. Tens of thousands of

19 acts of violence vis-a-vis the Serbs, 50.000 homes have been burnt, a

20 hundred or so monasteries have been destroyed, and a lot of Albanians have

21 returned to Kosovo, attracted by the trafficking which is currently taking

22 place. UNMIK and KFOR are currently powerless vis-a-vis the situation.

23 March 1994 was -- clearly testified this absence of protection and

24 violence against in March 2004, JJP, where they say that UNMIK is not

25 responsible for not protecting the Serbs. And they also say that UNMIK is

1 responsible for the lack of protection.

2 For the time being, the Serbs are not being protected, and a few

3 Serbs are coming back to Kosovo. It's important to know that the

4 protection of Kosovo mission comprises a number of Albanians, a lot of KLA

5 members, so one can imagine how biased these people can be when it comes

6 to inter-ethnic violence. The events of March 1994 clearly demonstrated

7 that the Serbs were at the hands of the terrorists without any protection

8 provided to them whatsoever.

9 And in 2004, March 2004, I would like to also specify that in

10 Orahovac, the last of the 12 Serbs still living there - there were 10.000

11 before the war - died of hunger on the 15th of October, 2003 in the

12 hospital of Kiskovgel [phoen]. He hadn't eaten for a month. His

13 neighbours could not help him any more because they feared the violence at

14 the hands of the KLA militia.

15 This is the fate of the Serbs in Kosovo, and I fear that the

16 situation will be the same as the one in Krajina where the international

17 community will let the cleansing of the Serb population to take place

18 without anybody reacting, and nobody will speak out. It will be the same

19 situation in Krajina. In other words, the region will be totally cleansed

20 of all Serbs.

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Ms. Crepin.

22 We are going to take a break now for 20 minutes.

23 Mr. Milosevic?

24 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I just have one more question, one

25 more question, and then I will be over -- I will have finished with

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1 Ms. Crepin.

2 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

3 Q. So what were the reasons that you decided to come here to testify?

4 A. I first of all wanted to testify how the Serb people have been

5 unjustly treated and here their president has been unjustly treated also.

6 I would like to testify and talk about the suffering of a number of

7 people, and I hope I have done this adequately.

8 Q. Thank you, Ms. Crepin.

9 JUDGE ROBINSON: We will now take a break for 20 minutes.

10 --- Recess taken at 10.33 a.m.

11 --- On resuming at 10.57 a.m.

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Madam Prosecutor.

13 Cross-examined by Ms. Del Ponte:

14 Q. [Interpretation] Ms. Crepin, on my own behalf and also for the

15 Judges' sake, I'd like to know precisely when, in which period, you were

16 in Yugoslavia, and first and foremost whether you were in Yugoslavia

17 always as a nurse.

18 Let's start with March 1994. You stayed in Yugoslavia until June

19 1994, didn't you? You were in the military hospital in Glina.

20 A. In the surgical service in Topusko.

21 Q. Yes. But if I understood you rightly, you first were in Sarajevo

22 under -- within UNPROFOR.

23 A. Yes, in February and March.

24 Q. First let me put on my headphones, because otherwise I can't hear

25 you very well.

1 So all in all, how many months did you spend?

2 A. Four months for the two missions.

3 Q. Fine. So this was officially for the United Nations?

4 A. Yes.

5 Q. And then you went again and very often to Yugoslavia, but then on

6 a private basis.

7 A. That's right.

8 Q. Do you remember -- I'm merely interested in the periods because I

9 have October 1994, then you returned to the Glina Hospital for a short

10 stay. What is a short stay?

11 A. I went back for about a fortnight every two or three months. I

12 stayed either two or three weeks except for the Kosovo, where I stayed

13 much longer, but otherwise I spent two or three weeks there each time.

14 Q. So that's always -- that was always in the Glina Hospital. And

15 then you also made a visit to the Topusko hospital; is that right?

16 A. No. That was as a military person. I was based in Topusko, I was

17 working in the Glina Hospital, and when I returned on a private basis and

18 no longer as a helmet to the Krajina area, I worked in the Glina Hospital.

19 Q. For two weeks?

20 A. Two or three weeks each time.

21 Q. And you were working as a?

22 A. Nurse.

23 Q. And what were you doing as a nurse? Because -- were you working

24 in the anesthetics purposes?

25 A. No, the operating theatre.

1 Q. I see. And that lasted until 1995?

2 A. Until the fall of Krajina in 1995.

3 Q. In 1995, so you also became a citizen of the Krajina Republic?

4 A. The Krajina people recognised and acknowledged my help and as

5 thanks they gave me an identity card of the Krajina.

6 Q. Did you not -- you and Dr. Barriot did you not require citizenship

7 as a token of your solidarity?

8 A. No. It was really by way of thanks. People were so surprised

9 that we were coming to help that they thought it was normal to welcome

10 them in their fold as Krajina citizens.

11 Q. And you also spent some time for the French television.

12 A. Several times.

13 Q. I see. Because I saw in the documents that we were given that you

14 had received some authorisation for which channel?

15 A. FR3.

16 Q. Not as a nurse, then.

17 A. But yes, because there were several of us and I was going there to

18 work, and once I was on this pass, I would go and see people, as I said

19 earlier on, representatives who might help us work with the refugees. And

20 by the same token, they allowed journalists to cover the situation. So

21 the main objective was to work as a nurse or to go and see the refugees,

22 and the second purpose was to go and see these people who very often gave

23 interviews to journalists. And that made it possible for journalists to

24 meet with these people.

25 Q. So they were Serb victims.

1 A. Serb victims or leaders, as I said earlier on.

2 Q. So the French television was giving reports on the real situation,

3 because before you said that Serbs were practically ignored, were not

4 considered at all, but here you are telling us the opposite. You are

5 telling us that the French television was accompanying you to film the

6 victims, the refugees.

7 A. Yes. But these recordings were not used, because the authorities,

8 television authorities, would not broadcast them, so they stayed on the

9 shelf.

10 Q. You said four or five times, then, because you said you went

11 several times.

12 A. No, I went several times. The documents were not broadcast. In

13 the same way, I wrote a few articles for the press but there were hundreds

14 of articles that were ignored. Only a few articles were published in the

15 space of ten years whilst hundreds of them were not accepted.

16 Q. Regarding the victims, you mentioned the Serb victims. Did you

17 have an opportunity to meet with victims from other ethnic groups, from

18 Croat, Muslim victims? There were also victims among them.

19 A. I never denied that there were victims in the three ethnic groups,

20 because it was a civil war; therefore, per se, there were victims among

21 all groups. I was very well positioned to see that so because I was in

22 Sarajevo for several weeks and it's very unfortunate that all ethnic

23 groups suffered from the war. I never said the contrary. I merely said

24 that the Serbs, too, suffered. This is something nobody says.

25 Q. But if I heard you well this morning, you mainly mentioned Serb

1 victims. I didn't hear you speak about Albanian victims, for instance, in

2 Kosovo, because there were Albanian victims in Kosovo. There were victims

3 everywhere.

4 A. I mentioned Albanian wounded in the Pec hospital this morning.

5 Q. You were in Yugoslavia in 1994, and this goes until 1998.

6 A. 1999.

7 Q. So 1999 even. And you read the indictment against Mr. Milosevic.

8 Therefore, you know that regarding Croatia, mention is made of facts going

9 back to 1991 and 1992. But at that time you were not in Croatia. You

10 were not in Krajina, were you?

11 A. That's right.

12 Q. So everything you say -- because, you know, you brought us back to

13 the periods of 1991 and 1992, but that's only as a hearsay response.

14 A. Yes. That's what the refugees experienced.

15 Q. But this is not what you yourself saw as a nurse.

16 A. Yes. What I saw is the aggressive Croats, which is very right.

17 Q. That's what you say.

18 A. No, I saw it myself. I spent months in Croatia, and I can tell

19 you that I experienced this type of aggressiveness.

20 Q. You said that Milan Martic, the president, had said or written

21 that any act of violence would be severely punished. In other words,

22 there were acts of violence?

23 A. Well, this is called prevention, pre-empting. He was trying to

24 warn all police forces that if they were to commit any acts of violence,

25 they would be punished. So that was by way of prevention.

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1 Q. But if it is a kind of prevention or pre-empting, that means that

2 that happened, or was it just said like that?

3 A. Just -- just to warn people. It was an interethnic conflict.

4 Therefore, there was an aggressive behaviour by Croats which could have

5 triggered, quite legitimately so, some reaction by the Serbs.

6 Q. You probably remember that in May 1995, President Milan Martic

7 attacked Zagreb, that there were strikes on Zagreb.

8 A. I remember Western Slavonia in 1995. Hundreds of people died.

9 Q. No, I mentioned Zagreb.

10 A. Yes, but you don't understand Zagreb if you don't know what

11 happened in 1995 in Western Slavonia. Croat forces relentlessly bombed

12 civilian populations that were protected by the UN. There were hundreds

13 of casualties, and President Milan Martic asked the international

14 community to help. The community did not react, and therefore, in

15 desperation, there was a reaction and the bombing of Zagreb was ordered,

16 causing four or five casualties.

17 So on the one hand you have unarmed civilians that were attacked

18 in an UNPA, causing hundreds of casualties, and facing that you have a

19 desperate reaction by a president calling the international community to

20 the rescue and this call was left unanswered. Therefore, there is the

21 bombing of Zagreb, causing four or five deaths.

22 Q. Very well. From June 1994 to August 1995, you were, as you said,

23 again in the Glina Hospital. Were you there on a regular basis? Does

24 that mean that you were there all the time or only for the two or three

25 weeks you mentioned?

1 A. It was regular, because I went there regularly every two or there

2 months for two or three weeks.

3 Q. Now that's clear, because otherwise I had failed to understand.

4 The Flash and Storm operations, you were not there as an UNPROFOR

5 member but privately.

6 A. Yes.

7 Q. Where were you?

8 A. In Bosnia, in Banja Luka.

9 Q. You spoke about the Serb population. Do you remember what

10 happened to the other minorities that were still in Banja Luka? There

11 were still Croats and Muslims there. What happened to them?

12 A. I mainly saw the refugees leaving Western Slavonia for the Flash

13 operation and Krajina for the Storm operation. So I looked after the Serb

14 refugees that had to leave in a hurry.

15 Q. But in Banja Luka there were also Croats and Muslims that had to

16 flee.

17 A. In Western Slavonia.

18 Q. You were in Banja Luka.

19 A. I don't know.

20 Q. They had to leave Banja Luka because the Serbs were coming.

21 A. As I said throughout my testimony this morning, the two

22 communities, the Croats and the Muslims, were supported and helped by

23 NGOs. I looked after people who were totally left abandoned, nobody cared

24 about.

25 Q. You said that nobody looked after them.

1 A. Yes. That's unfortunately so. I took care of them, and I did my

2 best to help people that nobody helped. There's no point in having ten

3 NGOs look after one group whilst there is one group left totally alone.

4 It's better to spread the help and support so everybody can be helped and

5 aided fairly.

6 Q. In August 1995, you said that you met with Mladic, Karadzic,

7 Plavsic, Krajisnik.

8 A. Starting from the fall of the Krajina area.

9 Q. Regarding Karadzic, did you maintain contact with him?

10 A. No, I didn't.

11 Q. Especially not now, I suppose.

12 A. No, that's not connected with that. I never had an opportunity to

13 meet with him again.

14 Q. Did you meet Mladic?

15 A. Yes, I did.

16 Q. Because one of the books you wrote together with Dr. Barriot,

17 which is A People is Being Murdered --

18 A. Yes, the people of Krajina.

19 Q. You left some space for Karadzic, who wrote a chapter, for Mladic,

20 who wrote a chapter of the book, for Martic who did the introduction, and

21 we were lucky enough to read it all, but in this book you wrote nothing

22 says anything as to your sources. Where do you get those -- this

23 information from, because it is a book, a comment on history, but there's

24 no footnote stating your sources.

25 A. This is a bibliography towards the end of the book.

1 Q. That's right.

2 A. Mentioning the sources.

3 Q. But there is no real mention, and I'm not going into details here.

4 A. But if you have the bibliography, you can see all the books we

5 quote.

6 Q. Yes. But precisely there are some points where I can't agree with

7 you. But I'm not going to delve into this.

8 In the course of your meetings with Mladic, with Karadzic, and

9 other people, this is now August 1995, did you mention Srebrenica? Did

10 you mention what happened in Srebrenica?

11 A. We talked a lot about the refugees, and together with Patrick

12 Barriot, they talked indeed about Srebrenica.

13 Q. Because I was somewhat amazed to note that there is no mention

14 whatsoever of Srebrenica whilst that, Srebrenica, is one of the most

15 serious, most egregious acts. Did you mention this with Mladic?

16 A. Yes, we talked a little about it.

17 Q. A little? 8.000 Muslims?

18 A. There is no evidence of that and so far investigators, in ten

19 years' time, in their reports mention 2.500 bodies that were exhumed. So

20 there's no evidence so far so I can't tell you anything about something

21 that has not been tried yet.

22 Q. I didn't want to really discuss Srebrenica with you. I just

23 wanted to know from you whether you spoke about Srebrenica with the people

24 you met, with Karadzic and Mladic. Do you think that they are heroes?

25 A. You mean heroes?

1 Q. Yes.

2 A. I think that they're people who looked after their people and made

3 sure that that population could stay alive in the face of an aggressor who

4 was doing everything to eradicate them and in the face of an international

5 community that was trying its level best to worsen the conflict prevailing

6 in the former Yugoslavia. I think that these people looked after their

7 population. They did their best to protect their people.

8 Q. And do you know that we hold them as criminals and that they're

9 being indicted?

10 A. Yes, I do.

11 Q. Do you also know that in the Flash and Storm operations other

12 people were indicted who were non-Serbs?

13 A. Well, Tudjman died without being indicted.

14 Q. I don't want to give names here.

15 A. I know that all the people who are responsible were not indicted.

16 Tomislav Mercep was even elected in Eastern Slavonia, I believe.

17 Q. I prefer not to mention names. I'm just telling you right now

18 that people who are responsible for the Flash and Storm operations were

19 indicted.

20 Now, let's talk about Kosovo. How long you were in Kosovo?

21 A. I spent June 1998.

22 Q. In Pristina.

23 A. Yes.

24 Q. As a nurse?

25 A. Yes.

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1 Q. Where did you work as a nurse?

2 A. I'm a nurse and I was a member of the steering group for the

3 Krajina Serbs. I paid a first visit in the hope that I will be able to go

4 to Pec as a nurse, and as I explained this morning, I -- it was not

5 possible because the dean, Popovic, said I shouldn't go because the KLA

6 fighting and the blocking of roads. So I couldn't go to Pec as a nurse.

7 And then I was in Pec in July and August 1998, where I worked as a nurse.

8 Q. So if you worked as a nurse, you were working in a hospital?

9 A. Yes.

10 Q. In which hospital?

11 A. In the Pec hospital.

12 Q. There's only one?

13 A. I don't know. Well, I was in Pec, but I don't know how many

14 hospitals there are.

15 Q. Yes, in the Pec hospital. You speak about the exodus of Serbs.

16 Were you able to see that there was an exodus of other ethnic groups or

17 communities from Kosovo?

18 A. I was in Serbia during the bombing campaign, but during the

19 bombing campaign, the Albanians fled from Kosovo, as did the Roma, the

20 Gypsies, the Serbs. The NATO bombing caused the exodus of all groups in

21 the population, sparing nobody. And among the casualties you can find

22 Albanians, Serbs. There are convoys or columns of Albanians who were

23 bombed because they sought refuge. There were a hundred thousand

24 Albanians who were taken in by Serbia. And Serbia is the only

25 multi-ethnic country to have welcomed Albanians. Unfortunately, Albanian

1 convoys were targeted as were Serb convoys.

2 Q. So there was no discrimination?

3 A. Yes, there was no discrimination by the NATO bombing. There is no

4 difference when you bomb from 5.000 metres high up in the sky.

5 Q. I'd like to ask you this: Did you also go to camps, to refugee

6 camps where there were not only Serbs, because there were refugee camps of

7 other ethnic groups? What I'm trying to hear from you is whether you were

8 truly independent or whether you were only concerned about the situation

9 where Serbs were regarded as victims.

10 A. Forty thousand Muslims were taken in the Krajina.

11 Q. You went to visit them?

12 A. Yes. Well, I risked my life, madam, for the Muslims in Sarajevo.

13 I helped an armoured convoy of the population. There were Serbs and

14 Muslims all together. So I risked my life for those people.

15 Q. Did you go to camps where there were Croats?

16 A. No, I didn't, but I risked my life during those missions for Serbs

17 and Muslims alike. I was in the field.

18 Q. Nobody doubts that.

19 A. Yes, but I wanted to say it. I experienced it, and I took risks,

20 and I did not mind my own life in order to save other people or to help

21 them, whether they be Muslims or Croats.

22 Q. Well, that's what I wanted to know from you. I wanted to know

23 whether you were only focused on the Serb victims. There are or there

24 were victims in all camps.

25 A. I'm a humanitarian person before all, and there's no politics in

1 that.

2 MS. DEL PONTE: [Interpretation] Mr. President, Your Honours , this

3 is an exhibit in the file of this case. I just want to mention in page 6

4 -- it is Exhibit 145. I just want to quote one single sentence. I could

5 quote several --

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Madam Prosecutor, what is the document?

7 MS. DEL PONTE: It's the report, OSCE. The report OSCE, Exhibit

8 145.

9 JUDGE ROBINSON: Under Orders. Yes, proceed.

10 MS. DEL PONTE: Page 6. Page 6.

11 Q. I quote: "Deliberate and unlawful killings of civilians,

12 extrajudicial executions were a key part of the cleansing campaign.

13 Throughout the province civilians who were clearly non-combatants,

14 including women and some children, were murdered by Serbian police,

15 Yugoslav army soldiers, and associated paramilitary forces in

16 execution-style killings."

17 [Interpretation] I just quoted this one sentence to challenge what

18 you just said regarding the OSCE report. Of course, you said something,

19 and I quote the report, so this is the reason why I'm telling you that the

20 OSCE report is very different from the conclusion you draw from the

21 report.

22 A. This sentence doesn't specify when the acts were committed.

23 Q. Quite --

24 JUDGE KWON: Madam Prosecutor, is that an OSCE report or the Human

25 Rights Watch "Under Orders"? Is it not written by Human Rights Watch?

1 MS. DEL PONTE: I hope it is the -- no, it's Human Rights Watch.

2 I'm sorry. OSCE. I have in my hands the OSCE report, but it was the

3 Human Rights Watch report, I'm sorry. It had been passed on to me as

4 though it was the OSCE report. I'm sorry.

5 I have another report, and this time I hope it is the OSCE

6 report. It is, yes. [In English] October 1999. [Interpretation] But of

7 course I did not have time to look into it.

8 Q. I have another question for you, Ms. Crepin. You were in touch

9 with authorities. Who did you have contact with? Which were the national

10 authorities you were in contact with?

11 A. Milan Martic, the president of Krajina; Mr. Karadzic; General

12 Ratko Mladic.

13 Q. Yes, you said so. But under which -- what circumstances?

14 A. When we made trips trying to find refugees to see how they were

15 looked after, whether they were looked after or not, what they needed.

16 And we were also during Vidovdan Day in 1995 together with Karadzic and

17 Mladic because we happened to be there and we were invited. You know,

18 there were so few people helping the Serbs, and the former Yugoslavia

19 being a very small country, it was a matter of fact that we were invited

20 to certain events.

21 Q. Well, you spoke about -- you spoke about politics, of course.

22 A. Yes, about politics, about the situation of refugees, about the

23 fact that France has abandoned the Serbs. We mentioned all that. There

24 was also the regret that French would no longer help the suffering Serbs.

25 Q. Yes, we mentioned all that. So your experience is one, as you

1 stated earlier on, that prompted you to ask to be a witness in the

2 Milosevic case?

3 A. Yes. My testimony was very important to me, because I wanted at

4 long last to voice the suffering by the Serbs. And I promised all these

5 people to testify to their suffering, and this was an opportunity for me

6 to say what happened really on the ground.

7 Q. Very well. So you want to testify to the suffering by the Serbs.

8 A. Yes, absolutely.

9 Q. But you are not in a position to testify as to the guilt or

10 innocence of Mr. Milosevic.

11 A. I'm testifying to say what I really saw on the ground in Krajina,

12 in Kosovo, about the NATO bombing campaign, about what I was able to see.

13 Q. I have another OSCE report, Exhibit 106.

14 MS. DEL PONTE: And it is again page 6, Mr. President. There is

15 one paragraph of page 6 dealing with, but I didn't have time to read it,

16 [In English] "special security forces in January 1998." [Interpretation]

17 They reacted to the KLA attacks, and they arrested people. I'm not going

18 to read this out. I just wanted to quote this paragraph to be found in

19 page 6 - it is the second paragraph of this OSCE report - just to mention

20 the fact that this is different from the conclusions drawn by the witness.

21 I have no further questions. Thank you very much.

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Madam Prosecutor.

23 Any re-examination, Mr. Milosevic?

24 JUDGE BONOMY: Ms. Crepin, just one simple question. Prior to

25 1993, had you been to Serbia?

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1 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Never.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Ms. Crepin, that concludes your evidence, and you

3 may leave.

4 [The witness withdrew]

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Nice, we have considered your submission

6 about the next witness. We're of the view that we'll have to hear the

7 evidence. If during the course of the witness's testimony anything arises

8 that you wish to comment on, then of course you may do so.

9 Mr. Milosevic, your next witness.

10 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Patrick Barriot.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: I understand the next witness was scheduled to be

12 here at 11.45, so we're running ahead of time. So we'll take the break

13 now for 20 minutes and then return.

14 --- Recess taken at 11.29 a.m.

15 --- On resuming at 12.01 p.m.

16 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let the witness make the declaration.

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

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

19 JUDGE ROBINSON: Please sit.

20 WITNESS: PATRICK BARRIOT

21 [Witness answered through interpreter]

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

23 Examined by Mr. Milosevic:

24 Q. [Interpretation] Good morning, Mr. Barriot.

25 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please.

1 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

2 Q. Thank you. Just briefly, could you tell us something about your

3 professional career, your CV.

4 A. Good day to you, Mr. President. My name is Patrick Barriot, I'm a

5 colonel in the French army. That's my rank. I'm a doctor, and I'm a

6 specialist in emergency services and emergency toxicological diseases.

7 I've been working for 25 years in the French army and I'm also an

8 anaesthetist. I have been working for the French Fire Brigade, the 11th

9 Paratrooper Division, civil intervention unit, and a surgical mobile unit

10 in the former Yugoslavia.

11 When I left the army, I was the head doctor of the civil security

12 unit and in charge of intervention operations and advisor to the prefect

13 and in charge of Civil Defence, and I was working for the minister of

14 defence and I held the rank of colonel. When I left the army in 1998, I

15 was appointed expert on hospital matters, and I'm also a lecturer in a

16 number of medical facilities, institutes and a number of schools in France

17 or universities. I'm part of a number of association of scientists. I've

18 written ten or so books on emergency medical care, and I have written a

19 hundred or so articles that have been published in international reviews

20 and the international journal of medicine. I'm also an expert on any

21 matters relating to non-conventional armament systems and terrorism.

22 I therefore have speciality in civil security and civil protection

23 area. As I told you, I was the head doctor of the civil security in the

24 French armed forces. I also attended the training course of the UNHCR to

25 become an expert on emergency situation in Lausanne, and I was also in

1 charge at that time of the coordination of Aid Relief, a non-governmental

2 organisation.

3 In the emergency units I'm also an expert on unconventional arms.

4 I have been involved in a number of military conflicts in the Middle East,

5 in Africa, in a number of countries in the world. I've just written a

6 book on massive destruction arms with a preface by Pierre-Marie Gallois,

7 who is the leader in the nuclear deterrence programme.

8 In 1986 I took part in the RER protection, the terrorist attack,

9 in 1995 in particular, the attack on the B Line of the Paris underground,

10 the Saint Michel underground station. I was part of an expert group of

11 civil security group in France that went to Tokyo at the time of the

12 attack on -- the gas attack in the underground in Tokyo, and I'm also a

13 member of a number of research groups working on risk assessment and

14 terrorist risk assessment. More specifically, bioterrorist programme and

15 response provided, which is funded by a strategic research group Centre

16 Biotops.

17 I would like to finish off by saying that I've never been indicted

18 nor suspected of anything. I am -- have the title of Order of the Merit,

19 and I have received four medals from the prefect of the French police and

20 three letters from the Ministry of Defence of the armed forces and

21 Ministry of Cooperation for operations undertaken abroad with a view to

22 protecting the civilian population.

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: For what did you receive the title of Order of

24 Merit, and from whom?

25 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I received the national Order of

1 Merit, assigned by President Francois Mitterand for those actions

2 undertaken abroad in Albania, in Kurdistan, the Iraqi part of Kurdistan

3 and other regions in the world.

4 I'm 49, Your Honour.

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: And you had your medical degree before you went

6 into the army?

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes -- no. I became a doctor when I

8 joined the army. I joined the army when I was 18, so I conducted my

9 medical studies whilst I was in the army.

10 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you. Mr. Milosevic, yes.

11 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

12 Q. Dr. Barriot, tell us briefly what experience you have with respect

13 to the conflicts on the territory of the former Yugoslavia or, rather,

14 where were you in the former Yugoslavia?

15 A. Yes. I shall briefly underline this in three parts. So as far as

16 Croatia is concerned, I was a Blue Helmet in the former Yugoslavia, in

17 Krajina more specifically, in Topusko, close to Glina, in the southern

18 sector of UNPROFOR for a number of months. I moved around to -- I went to

19 Banja Luka, Northern Dalmatia, and also I moved around the rest of

20 Croatia. I went to Zagreb, and I went to the Bihac pocket, Velika

21 Kladusa, more specifically, because that was very close to Glina and

22 Topusko.

23 I then, in the years 1994, 1995, went back to Krajina, working

24 there for two humanitarian aid organisations, more specifically

25 Humanitaire Krajina, which was created by Bucan, and Teleobjectif, the

1 humanitarian aid organisation which was created by Marica Mathei. And I

2 was present in the region at the time of the Storm and Flash operations

3 launched by the Croat forces.

4 I was, in 1995, appointed by Milan Martic official representative

5 of the Serb Republic of Krajina in Paris. I wrote a book entitled The

6 Murder of a People, the Serbs in Krajina. This book was prefaced by the

7 President Milan Martic, who also wrote an entire chapter on the history of

8 Krajina.

9 In addition, I went on assignments with the French television crew

10 FR3, Christian de Garnet [phoen], Mourad Tabouche, who wanted to conduct

11 interviews of Milan Martic. So I enabled them to organise these

12 interviews. In addition, I wrote ten or so articles on the history of

13 Krajina.

14 So much for Croatia. As far as Bosnia is concerned, I went many

15 times to Bosnia in 1994 and 1995. On the one hand as a representative of

16 the Serb Republic of Krajina, I was in charge of assessing the needs of

17 the refugees there. I met Radovan Karadzic several times. I also met

18 other key personalities like Ratko Mladic whom I met on several occasions

19 in 1995.

20 I wrote a number of testimonies during those years at the -- The

21 Devils Are Let Loose, which is published at L'Age d'Homme and another

22 testimony on Serbia which was also published by the publishing house L'Age

23 d'Homme, A Murder of a Nation, a Murder of a People, the Serbs in Krajina.

24 I published a paper by Radovan Karadzic and a paper by General Ratko

25 Mladic.

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1 So I enabled a television crew, FR3, a French television channel,

2 to conduct interviews of Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic,

3 particularly an interview which took place in September of 1995 and which

4 was broadcast in France at the beginning of October 1995.

5 Now, as far as the third part is concerned, Kosovo and Serbia, I

6 was in Kosovo in 1998, in the summer of 1998, where I visited Kosovo and I

7 moved around from the north to the south of the Kosovo. I also went to

8 Serbia. I went to Belgrade, in the Belgrade area, and during the NATO

9 strikes, March and April of 1999.

10 So I was in the former Yugoslavia, in Croatia, in Bosnia, in

11 Kosovo, and in Serbia at crucial times, at moments -- at a moment when

12 these very important events were unfolding and -- between that time until

13 1999.

14 Q. What were your motives for coming here to testify today?

15 A. Well, my motivation is largely due to this large gap I noticed

16 between what was happening on the ground. I was a member of the military,

17 I was a member of humanitarian aid organisation, I was a representative of

18 the Serb government in Krajina. And I realised that there was this huge

19 gap between what was happening on the ground and what the media was

20 broadcasting or talking about, and the press, the print press. So I would

21 like to testify about this. I felt that greater injustice had been done

22 to the Serb people, and I wanted to testify about what the Serb

23 experienced during this war. This suffering has been overlooked entirely

24 and I have come to testify in the name of the Serb people because I feel

25 that it is the Serb people, and I say it with a great deal of emotion, I

1 would like to talk about what I have seen, what I have heard throughout

2 this period of time.

3 I would like to say that I do not belong to any political party,

4 whether it be in France or abroad. I would like to make this clear,

5 because very often members of the military who have sided with the Serbs

6 have been accused of belonging to extremist groups. Rene Bachelet, in

7 December 1995, took pity on the Serbs in Sarajevo, in the Tivica areas,

8 Kravica and Vogosca, and he said that he had to choose between luggage and

9 a coffin, and he was accused of having sided with Serb extremists.

10 I'd like to say that overall the French extreme right is much

11 closer to the Croats than it is to the Serbs. And Ante Gotovina has many

12 more friends --

13 JUDGE ROBINSON: You've answered the question about your

14 motivation. Next question.

15 JUDGE KWON: Mr. Barriot, while you were in the Balkans, were you

16 always accompanied by Ms. Crepin?

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] In most cases, yes, we were

18 together. I can't say that we were always together, but we were more

19 often than not together.

20 JUDGE KWON: And if you could tell me what a representative of the

21 Serbian Krajina is. I heard the same thing from Ms. Crepin as well. So

22 both of you are representatives of that entity, and what were you doing in

23 that capacity in France?

24 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, in my capacity as

25 representative of the Serbian Krajina, I undertook a number of things. I

1 tried to get the attention of the media. This was one of our primary

2 objectives. This is the objective outlined by President Milan Martic. It

3 was important that the media understand what the situation actually was on

4 the ground and the Serbs in Krajina and Croatia were suffering. And this

5 had been -- as this had been totally overlooked by the media. So to begin

6 with it was a matter of clearly explaining the situation on the ground and

7 to make sure that a clear picture was provided because it was not in the

8 press at the time.

9 The second objective was of a humanitarian nature. We had to

10 coordinate aid relief, because nobody was interested in the Serbs of

11 Krajina. Nobody came to help them. They were -- had been provided with

12 no outside help. It was for us to assess their needs and, if possible,

13 provide some aid relief, some basic commodities and some medication and

14 medical supplies.

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: Who appointed you a representative of the

16 Krajina?

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] President Milan Martic. And I think

18 I indicated in the documents the official letter signed by President Milan

19 Martic. These are part of the documents I provided to the Tribunal which

20 I can give you if you so wish.

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: Where is that in the documents, Mr. Milosevic,

22 the letter of appointment?

23 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I'm trying to find it. Yes, here it

24 is. It's tab 4. Tab 4. Decision signed by President Milan Martic, "[In

25 English] Opening of representative office of the Republic of Serbian

1 Krajina in Paris."

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: At that time you were still a member of the --

3 you had a post in the army at that time?

4 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, I did. I was a senior officer

5 in the French army, and I was nevertheless appointed by President Martic

6 to represent the Serbian Republic of Krajina. This was indicated in an

7 Agence France Presse dispatch. Mate Granic, as a result of it, was

8 extremely angry. He was the Croat minister of foreign affairs, and he --

9 he filed a complaint officially. I was insulted in the Vjesnik newspaper

10 that called me a fascist for having been appointed a representative. They

11 stated in any case that the Serbian Republic of Krajina did not exist.

12 But as far as I'm concerned, it did exist and does still exist.

13 JUDGE ROBINSON: No question arose of a possible conflict between

14 your being in the French army and being a representative of the Krajina?

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, a conflict arose at that time.

16 The -- my commanders asked me to refuse this. They said that I had been

17 manipulated by the Serb authorities, but this was not the case at all. So

18 I refused to take that back, and I refused to sign that document, because

19 I was doing it knowing full well what I was doing. And that is why I left

20 the army shortly afterwards. But if I had accepted to take that back, I

21 would have still held my rank, but I did not want to do this because I

22 wanted to be honoured by this nomination.

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

24 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

25 Q. Did you describe all the difficulties that you encountered when

1 stating your views about the situation in Yugoslavia? Did you have any

2 other complications or difficulties?

3 A. Yes. I would like to emphasise that -- the fact that all other

4 people who wanted to interpret this conflict different ways or express

5 what they had seen on the ground was in contradiction with what the media

6 was saying and stating at the time. Admittedly, the military were in the

7 forefront and have applied these repressive measures over other issues

8 that came up, of course. Our telephones were tapped and I received a

9 number of death threats. But I was not the only person to be in that

10 situation, because all the military who tried to understand what was

11 actually happening on the ground, and whenever they tried to establish a

12 closer contacts with the Serbs -- Sir Michael Rose, for instance, his

13 telephone conversations were also tapped because there was -- all the

14 contacts he tried to establish with the Serbs had been obstructed. I also

15 mentioned the case of Jean-Rene Bachelet, who was insulted for having

16 defended the Serbs in certain areas of Sarajevo in 1995.

17 So in general terms, all the French military or military of other

18 countries who tried to explain what they actually saw on the ground were

19 asked to hold their tongues, and sometimes in a rather violent manner.

20 But this applied not only to the military but also applied to diplomats.

21 When the Storm operation was launched and Mr. Carl Bildt said the

22 Knin massacre was extremely -- extremely serious offence that could lead

23 to the indictment of Tudjman, Zagreb and Washington told him to hold his

24 tongue. When criticism was levelled at UNMIK, Mr. Kouchner, what he was

25 doing with Kosovo, he was told to be quiet. Mr. Bisbier [phoen] told him

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1 to shut up, which was a rather language used by rogues. Nevertheless,

2 every time somebody tried to provide a different view of the situation, a

3 view which was objective and which was in line with what was happening on

4 the ground, were told to hold their tongues.

5 The case of Mr. Regis Debre, for instance, a French intellectual

6 who was called a revisionist, or a journalist like Jacques Merlinot who

7 lost his job, just about, for having talked about what he saw.

8 So I'd like to stress this, and I'm very happy to be able to

9 express myself freely on this count because this is something quite

10 unusual, and we have always been asked to hold our tongues when we wanted

11 to speak out the truth and describe what was actually happening on the

12 ground.

13 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, you can express yourself freely, but

14 relevantly.

15 Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

16 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, I hope, Mr. Robinson, that

17 what the witness said a moment ago is quite relevant, I would say.

18 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

19 Q. Mr. Barriot, in view of the fact that we see that you were a

20 high-ranking officer of the French army, frequently abroad on missions, I

21 would like to ask you the following question: Did you have any links with

22 the French intelligence services?

23 A. Yes. I was in close contact with the French intelligence services

24 largely due to the fact that the job I had in 1994, I was the head doctor

25 of civil security and moving about all the time abroad in very sensitive

1 areas. I was in touch with the DGSE agents, the external security units

2 which are the equivalent of the Military Intelligence Services in France.

3 As of 1995 onwards, I was also in touch with DST agents, Direction

4 de la Surete du Territoire, which is the equivalent of civil intelligence

5 services in France. And I would like to specify how this happened.

6 At the end of 1995, as I was in Pale, in the presence of

7 Mr. Mourad Ay Tabouche, who was the TV French reporter, I was accosted by

8 Mr. Jugoslav Petrusic, also known under the nickname of Dominik.

9 Mr. Jugoslav Petrusic came up to me and quite clearly knew me well, or at

10 least knew a lot about my personal life and my professional life, and he

11 told me he was working with the French DST, the Direction de la Surete du

12 Territoire, and gave me the names -- gave me the name and number of his

13 employer, in other words, his boss at the DST.

14 He also stated that there had been plans to do away with me and

15 that a contract had been signed to that effect, and to liquidate me. So

16 at that time, the French reporter was present, and he can confirm this --

17 this is important, because it's the first time that Mr. Rene Tabouche met

18 with Jugoslav Petrusic. I mention this because it is important for the

19 following events. Mr. Tabouche conducted reports in Bosnia thanks to

20 Mr. Jugoslav Petrusic, with the help of this gentleman.

21 Q. Tell me, please, do you know anything about the freeing of the

22 French pilots in 1995?

23 A. Yes. This is a sensitive issue and an important one. And

24 Mr. Jugoslav Petrusic played an important part in this release. I'd like

25 to say that Tabouche made a report on the liberation of the French pilots

1 in 1995, and it so happens that this report was censored by the French

2 authorities because in this report you see that an important sum of money

3 which was to be used as a ransom - I would like to state that the Serb

4 authorities had not ransomed anybody - but they stated in this report that

5 the large sum of money had been embezzled by French politicians on this

6 occasion.

7 Let me explain. Pilots were held by the Serbs in Bosnia. They

8 were held prisoner. The French DST, in November of 1995, sent two

9 negotiating teams to ensure the release of these two pilots. What I am

10 about to say is very important. The first negotiating group was headed by

11 Raymond Martre [phoen] and Pierre-Marie Gallois was to head this

12 negotiating team. Pierre-Marie Gallois went to Bosnia where he met

13 General Ratko Mladic on the 17th of November, 1995. When he came back to

14 Paris, General Pierre-Marie Gallois described his mission and said that

15 General Mladic had not asked for any ransom. All he wanted was a

16 handshake with the Chief of Staff, General Dwynne [phoen] of the French

17 armed forces in exchange of the release of the prisoners.

18 Strangely enough, a second negotiating team was sent there a few

19 days later. Jean-Charles Marchiani was academie de marquois [phoen] in

20 charge of this. They -- these two people met General Mladic on the 25th

21 of November, 1995; i.e., eight days after the first meeting with

22 Pierre-Marie Gallois, and back in France they said that General Mladic

23 doesn't mind freeing the pilots but in excha