1 Wednesday, 13 April 2005

2 [Open session]

3 [The accused entered court]

4 [The witness entered court]

5 --- Upon commencing at 9.08 a.m.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Saxon.

7 MR. SAXON: Thank you, Your Honour. I'd simply like to inform the

8 Court that Dr. Helena Ranta is still here and in the public gallery and

9 should I work on the assumption that the Court wishes her to remain here

10 during the morning? She has rescheduled her flight to return to Finland

11 this evening so she can be here if the Trial Chamber wishes her to be

12 here.

13 [Trial Chamber confers]

14 JUDGE ROBINSON: If Dr. Ranta wishes to leave, she may leave.

15 MR. SAXON: Thank you very much, Your Honour.

16 WITNESS: SLAVISA DOBRICANIN [Resumed]

17 [Witness answered through interpreter]

18 Cross-examined by Mr. Saxon: [Continued]

19 Q. Professor Dobricanin, good morning. Yesterday --

20 A. Good morning, sir.

21 Q. Yesterday, we were reviewing some of the forensic work that was

22 done regarding the bodies of victims who were found at Racak, and I'd

23 like to move to another part of the Racak area, the area that is known

24 usually either as the gully or the ravine.

25 And I apologise if I didn't warn Mr. Prendergast earlier that we

1 needed the poster brought in, but it's almost here.

2 And Professor Dobricanin, if you look at the aerial photograph

3 the gully or ravine in this courtroom or at least on that courtroom is

4 often referred to as crime scene -- or crime location number 5, and you

5 see the 5 there with some arrows pointing along what looks to be a path

6 over the mountain there. Do you see that, just to get oriented?

7 A. I see that, yes.

8 Q. I'd like to show you a photograph taken of the bodies in the

9 gully.

10 MR. SAXON: And, Your Honour, again this morning I'm going to be

11 referring to a lot to Exhibit 156, tab 12, which is the full report of

12 the European Union Forensic Expert Team.

13 The first photograph is sort of a long overview shot of the

14 bodies, some of the bodies lying in the gully.

15 Mr. Prendergast, perhaps you could take three at one time just to

16 save you from having to walk back and forth.

17 Photo number 24, I believe, from the expert report. If that

18 could go on the ELMO.

19 And again, this is simply to get everyone oriented. This is from

20 an area higher up on the gully obviously towards what appear to be a

21 group of bodies lying in the gully. We see along the edge of the gully

22 just bushes.

23 Q. Do you see all that, Dr. Dobricanin?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. And I'd like to draw your attention to a particular body that's

1 -- right now that's lying in that group of bodies.

2 MR. SAXON: If we could see the next photograph, please. I

3 believe it's number 25.

4 Q. If you take a look at it photograph. This is more of a close-up

5 of this group of bodies. Professor Dobricanin, you see that they are

6 marked with the kinds of numbers that were used during your autopsies:

7 RA3 in the top right; RA35 going counter clockwise; RA15, et cetera. Do

8 you see the body lower down in what sort of looks to be a maroon-coloured

9 jacket? It's marked Racak 24. Do you see that body?

10 A. I see that body, yes.

11 Q. Also, if you could just note as we're going through these

12 photographs, above body number 24 we see body 21, and body 21 appears to

13 be wearing a very light-coloured jacket. Do you see that?

14 A. Yes.

15 Q. And if we move a bit up and to the right we see body 3, who also

16 is apparently wearing a very light-coloured jacket. Do you see that?

17 A. I see that too.

18 Q. All right.

19 MR. SAXON: If we could take a look at the next photograph,

20 please, Mr. Prendergast, just to get a slightly different view. And if

21 -- thank you very much, Mr. Technician. If we could move the photograph

22 down just a little bit. No, down, please. I apologise.

23 Q. Again, Professor Dobricanin, you see the body. It's now at the

24 top of this photograph which is photograph number 27 of the expert

25 report, and again we see Racak 24 above that same body. Do you see that?

1 A. Yes, I see that.

2 Q. This is a man named Fatmir Limani, who died on the 15th of

3 January.

4 MR. SAXON: And Exhibit C1, Your Honours, page 11, which is the

5 statement that Dr. Helena Ranta provided to this Chamber upon this

6 Chamber's request, Dr. Ranta explains that there were two molars found in

7 the soil in the vicinity of this body in that position at the gully in a

8 depth of about three to five centimetres, "in a position of victim Racak

9 24."

10 And if I could also direct the Court's attention to appendix --

11 appendix 3, I believe of the European Union's full report. This contains

12 results of DNA analysis. And we can find there reports explaining that a

13 particular molar can be associated with the DNA of body Racak 24.

14 Q. And there is another photo that I need to show you, Professor

15 Dobricanin, if I can find it quickly. Yes.

16 MR. SAXON: I'm sorry, Mr. Prendergast. This is page number 20

17 of the -- of appendix 1 of the expert report. It's ERN K0202330. If we

18 could place that on the ELMO, please.

19 Q. According to the report of the forensic expert team, Professor,

20 this document or this page portrays the bodies that were found in this

21 position in the gully, and it also portrays in little blue squares -

22 they're hard to see, the colours seem to be hard to see on the monitor

23 that I'm looking at - little blue squares indicate where bullets or

24 bullet fragments were found when the gully was examined in November of

25 1999. And the red squares, small little red squares which we see

1 primarily outside the gully where we saw bushes on the previous

2 photograph, indicate where cartridge cases were found in November 1999 by

3 the Finnish Expert Team.

4 Now, I'm just wondering if you could comment, Professor

5 Dobricanin, given the information that I've just shown to you, we have

6 the body of RA24, Fatmir Limani, there in the gully. A bullet or part of

7 a bullet as well as a tooth with the same DNA as Mr. Limani are found in

8 the soil beneath the spot where Mr. Limani's body was found. Can we then

9 conclude, Professor, that Mr. Limani was most likely shot where he lay?

10 A. Sir, I'm going to give you the same answer that I gave yesterday.

11 Had we entered Racak on the 15th of January and had we found the bodies

12 where they had been -- maybe it was in this spot, too, I'm not

13 pre-judging anything. We found heaps of casings along the trenches. Had

14 we carried out a normal investigation like in any other country in the

15 world where the entire scene is sealed off, and there were possibilities

16 for that because there were many verifiers and monitors there, today I

17 could give you a concrete answer to a concrete question.

18 Everything that you're saying now ask not be accepted or, rather,

19 I cannot accept as absolutely certain, because only on the basis of the

20 bodies that were photographed here, on the basis of markings of the

21 bodies, these numbers, I mean, we cannot compare the bodies we autopsied

22 to the bodies that are marked and numbered here. That is a very

23 thankless and very uncertain job.

24 These piles of casings could perhaps indicate that this was

25 indeed the scene and that all the injuries came from the same direction,

1 which absolutely was not the case. The distribution of casings shows

2 something completely different in relation to what the true picture was.

3 And then these teeth that are found, if the pulp is not there there can

4 be no proper DNA analysis. Everything can be doctored.

5 I'm a person who accepts only facts. My facts are absolutely on

6 the side of the fact that it is a big-time mistake that we did not carry

7 out the investigation on the spot on the very day. And again I put the

8 question why we were not allowed access.

9 JUDGE BONOMY: I would like, if possible, to be assisted with the

10 answer to this question. I think Mr. Saxon posed the question on the

11 basis that these facts are correct. Now, they may not be correct. As

12 you say, there may have been things tampered with. But one of the

13 allegations you've -- one of the qualifications you've included in that

14 answer is that there was not a complete-enough quantity of material for

15 DNA. Now, that seems to suggest fabrication on the part of the Finnish

16 Expert Team. Is that what you're suggesting?

17 I was hoping that you would answer the question on the basis that

18 let's accept that this is an accurate finding. What can we conclude from

19 it?

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Your Honour Judge Bonomy, I cannot

21 conclude anything on the basis of things I had not seen myself. I'm a

22 forensic doctor who knows how to reconstruct the scene on the basis of

23 what he sees on the scene, not only on the basis of photographs that are

24 blurred.

25 Please do not misunderstand me. I am not devaluating anybody

1 here. I have high regard for my colleagues from Finland, but this is a

2 photograph that did not allow a professor of forensic medicine to give

3 unequivocal answers to questions put in this way. It's as simple as

4 that.

5 As for the teeth and the DNA, the method applied was absolutely

6 correct.

7 JUDGE BONOMY: Well, why was it you said if there was -- if there

8 was no pulp there there could not be a proper analysis? Why did you say

9 that?

10 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I said that because pulp has to be

11 there. If a tooth is broken or smashed with a projectile, it is

12 virtually impossible to extract enough material from it to carry out a

13 DNA analysis. However, I accept that if they had a complete tooth they

14 could absolutely carry out this kind of analysis. However, again, on the

15 basis of everything that I've been telling you, this doesn't mean

16 anything to me. The only thing that is meaningful to me is what I see

17 myself on the scene had I entered the place on the 15th of January.

18 Whenever bodies are moved there are other elements involved. I

19 do not recall the white jackets that are depicted here. I really do not

20 recall any white jackets on the bodies of the persons from Racak who were

21 autopsied.

22 JUDGE KWON: Dr. Dobricanin, before you mentioned the pulp, you

23 also said that "The distribution of casings shows something completely

24 different in relation to what the true picture was." I couldn't follow

25 that. What did you mean by that?

1 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] If you see no casings in the

2 background of this picture, if this is the true picture - again, I'm

3 speaking very conditionally. I'm only speaking on the basis of a

4 hypothesis, something that I did not see - had the direction of the

5 shooting been there towards the bodies that were there. In order to have

6 bullet paths from here to here, then the paths would go either from the

7 back or from the front. We would not have bullet paths coming from the

8 bottom upwards or from the top downwards, and we would not have anything

9 that was slanted. That is the picture that is here.

10 Casings are not a trace of anything else unless they were just

11 put there on purpose. I'm not saying that, but if they were fired from

12 automatic or semi-automatic weapons, I'm saying what the situation would

13 have been.

14 JUDGE KWON: Thank you.

15 Mr. Saxon, let me be clear. The Finnish team must have drawn

16 this picture based upon the pictures taken on the 15th and 16th. Am I

17 right?

18 MR. SAXON: Correct, Your Honour.

19 JUDGE KWON: Yes. Thank you.

20 MR. SAXON:

21 Q. Just to clarify one or two points.

22 MR. SAXON: Mr. Prendergast, I need to ask for your assistance

23 again. This is a diagram. If that could be placed on the ELMO, please.

24 Again produced by the Finish Expert Team. It's page 83 of appendix 2 to

25 their report.

1 Q. If you take a look at this, please, Professor Dobricanin, this is

2 a computer simulation of the terrain along that gully. Do you see that?

3 A. Yes, I do.

4 Q. You don't see any trenches there along that gully, do you?

5 A. This gully resembles a kind of a trench. That's what it looks

6 like to me.

7 Q. All right.

8 A. As a shallow kind of a trench.

9 Q. All right. I may have misspoken earlier, so just so that the

10 record is clear, I want to show you a photograph of a little bit of

11 clothing. It is the first item of clothing taken from the body of victim

12 3 who we saw in a photograph earlier in the gully. I have may have

13 misspoke be by referring to a white jacket. It may simply be a white or

14 light-coloured pullover, but there it is. This was the first item taken

15 off the body when this victim was autopsied according to the Finnish

16 report.

17 I don't know if you have any comment to make about this,

18 Professor Dobricanin?

19 A. I don't have a comment. This is grey-coloured. Perhaps the

20 picture is too light, but in the upper photograph it's a bit darker than

21 on the lower photograph, and it's not the same colour as shown on the

22 previous photograph.

23 And allow me to add this as well: I said that in our report,

24 collective report, we stated that most of the bodies wore dark clothes.

25 However, we did not say that all of the persons had dark clothes on them.

1 Q. I realise that, Professor Dobricanin. I'm going to discuss that

2 with you a little later on.

3 I'd like to move on to a discussion about a different person who

4 died at Racak.

5 MR. SAXON: May I see those photographs, Mr. Prendergast, just

6 for one moment. The other photographs of the bodies in the gully. Okay.

7 If this photograph which is number 25 from the Finnish expert

8 report could be placed on the ELMO, please.

9 Q. You see this photograph, Professor?

10 A. I do.

11 Q. Do you see that there is a body on the left-hand side marked

12 Racak 33? Do you see that? You can only see a portion of the body. Is

13 that a yes, Professor? Can you see that body?

14 A. Yes, yes. I can see it, yes, in the upper-left corner.

15 Q. Yes. This is a man named Raif Salihu, who was unfortunately

16 listed both by Judge Marinkovic and the Prosecution as Raif Jashari as

17 well. And in Exhibit C1, page 11, again Dr. Ranta explains to the Trial

18 Chamber that an examination of a bullet recovered from this body during

19 the autopsy and bullet samples recovered in the gully in November of 1999

20 were fired from the same weapon.

21 Again, those were bullets as I showed you on the previous

22 photograph that were found in the ground beneath the position where these

23 bodies were.

24 Again, are you able to comment whether the information I've just

25 given you might indicate that Mr. Raif Salihu was shot where he lay

1 assuming that everything I've told you is true and correct?

2 A. First of all, let me tell you that based on this photograph,

3 especially where this body is concerned, nobody had a right to mark this

4 body with RA33, because this is very unclear, and it is impossible to

5 conduct a reconstruction based on the table -- on the bodies we had on

6 the tables and the picture here on the site.

7 Second, the Finnish team, Mrs. Ranta namely, complained that she

8 was unable to get a single projectile or any other piece of material to

9 take it with them to Finland because that was material subject to

10 criminal technical investigation on our side, the organs in Pristina.

11 Therefore, I don't know how come somebody came to take this projectile

12 with them, how they managed to do that.

13 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... sorry to cut you off. I

14 said at the end of my question assuming everything I told you was

15 correct: The position of the body, the position of the bullet or bullet

16 fragments, the location of a bullet inside the body during an autopsy.

17 Assuming all of that is correct, can we conclude that that person was

18 shot where he lay, Mr. Salihu?

19 A. Sir, I challenge this photograph itself. It is very difficult

20 for me to give approximate answers when I don't have the exact facts in

21 front of me. Is it really this projectile? I don't know. For example,

22 if we had two projectiles and had -- if we were able to compare them --

23 please allow me to conclude my answer.

24 Q. Please. Please continue.

25 A. I wanted to answer. If these two projectiles were fired from the

1 same weapon or if the projectile was taken out of the body and then fired

2 from another identical weapon, and if you placed this under the

3 microscope then we can establish with full certainty that these are

4 projectiles fired from the same weapon.

5 However, in this case, this is all not conclusive because we

6 don't have any practical evidence showing that these bodies had not been

7 moved, had not been manipulated with. And as you know, we did not have

8 access to these bodies. Had we seen those bodies, we would have been

9 able to tell you something different, perhaps something that would

10 support what you're saying or support what I'm saying. You can tell me

11 about what I saw there myself.

12 Q. Professor, you say we have -- first of all, you're asking for

13 practical evidence that the bodies have not been moved, which of course

14 is asking to prove a negative. But secondly, we're showing you

15 photographs of bodies at least where they were -- where they were seen on

16 the 16th of January. We've discussed autopsy findings. We've discussed

17 DNA analysis. We've discussed the findings of bullets in the soil

18 beneath the position where the bodies were found on the 16th. How can

19 you say that you have no practical information now to give an opinion?

20 A. Sir, how can you claim that the bodies were not moved? You know

21 that we did not -- we were not present when the site was investigated.

22 And who is it that conducted the investigation and videotaped the bodies

23 without our presence? This is a sort of a violation of the established

24 procedure. This means that they wanted to conceal something that we

25 needed to see.

1 Q. And just for the record, when you say "they" wanted to conceal

2 something, who is "they"? Just so the record is clear.

3 A. These are the people who were present in Racak on the 15th, 16th,

4 and the 17th of January, 1999. These are the people who banned us from

5 accessing the area. And this ban entailed threats of Mr. John

6 Drewienkiewicz and also the shooting that we encountered three times.

7 Q. All right.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Professor, if you were to assume that the bodies

9 had not been moved, if you were asked to make an assumption, would you be

10 able to answer Mr. Saxon's question?

11 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Your Honours, based on that

12 assumption, I would not be able to give an answer. I'm a person who

13 deals with facts. I am a factographer and nothing more than that.

14 MR. SAXON:

15 Q. Speaking of facts, Professor Dobricanin, do you see that body in

16 the photograph, RA21? Do you see that body?

17 A. Yes, I do.

18 Q. And he -- in the photograph, the body is wearing what appears to

19 be some kind of a white jacket. Do you see that?

20 A. Yes.

21 MR. SAXON: Mr. Prendergast, I'd like to ask for your assistance

22 again. First, if we could show -- this is photographs taken when the

23 autopsy was commenced of RA21 and the first piece of clothing that was

24 removed. The ERN is 01089663. If that could be placed on the ELMO,

25 followed by another photograph which is number 28 from the European Union

1 report.

2 Q. Professor Dobricanin, you see this photograph in front of you.

3 Can we agree that this is a white jacket?

4 A. No, this is not a white jacket.

5 Q. Well, then, how would you describe this item in this photograph?

6 How would you characterise it?

7 A. This is a grey colour. Let me just tell you this: Digital

8 photography can change the appearance. It was white in the previous

9 photograph and now it's grey.

10 Q. I see.

11 MR. SAXON: Can we take a look at the next photograph, Mr.

12 Prendergast.

13 Q. Now, we see the same bodies in this next photograph, the bodies

14 lying in the gully. We can see body Racak 21 up in the top of the

15 photograph, but lower down I want to show you something else. Do you see

16 body Racak 32? He appears to be lying on his back or on his side. Do

17 you see that photograph? Can you see that?

18 A. I do, yes, yes.

19 Q. Take a look at the footwear that Racak 32 appears to be wearing.

20 Do you see something red, appear to be either red boots or shoes or red

21 socks? Do you see those?

22 A. These are most likely red boots with thick soles. Sir, please

23 take a look at the next body to the left wearing military boots, number

24 70 -- 27F, on the same photograph.

25 Q. I wanted to show you another photograph, if I can. This is a

1 photograph taken during the autopsy of body Racak 32, and these are his

2 boots or whatever you want to -- however you choose to refer to his

3 footwear.

4 Can we agree, Dr. Dobricanin, that these appear to be

5 red-coloured boots?

6 A. Yes, roughly so. Dark red, at least based on this photograph.

7 Q. Now, you mentioned earlier in your testimony that the fact that

8 some of the persons who died at Racak were dressed in dark clothing is an

9 indicator that these persons were members of an armed group. Do you

10 remember that testimony? Just do you remember that testimony?

11 A. Yes, I do remember it.

12 Q. Now, I've just shown you photographs which indicate that at least

13 some of the people who died at Racak that day were wearing either

14 light-coloured clothing or, as in the case of body number 32 found in the

15 gully, rather bright-coloured clothing. Following your logic, Professor

16 Dobricanin, can we assume that these persons who were wearing

17 light-coloured clothing or bright-coloured clothing were civilians?

18 A. No. Perhaps you didn't follow closely what I said. I said that

19 the vast majority. And this is something that could be seen on these

20 photographs. However, you chose not to comment on that.

21 We said that most of them wore dark clothing, that most of them

22 had identical footwear on their feet which were boots with a zipper and

23 mark or text Ozel. Most of the clothing on the victims in Racak were

24 civilian clothes; however, of dark colour both for the top clothing and

25 bottom clothing. Naturally, there were some people who did not have

1 these shoes and who did not dark-coloured clothing, so they put on what

2 they had. However, the vast majority had the dark-colour clothes. You

3 are pulling out just one example out of a total number of example where

4 the boots differ.

5 These are warm winter boots, and I wore similar boots when it was

6 very cold and when the snow was very deep, whenever I worked outside in

7 the field in Kosovo.

8 Q. Professor Dobricanin, I'm pulling out individual examples because

9 time prohibits me from reviewing every single body from Racak, but if as

10 you testified last week dark clothing would be worn by a person in an

11 armed unit who would have to spend a lot of time in the mountains, can't

12 we conclude that a person who is wearing light-coloured clothing or

13 bright-coloured clothing would not be a member of such a group, because

14 it would be quite dangerous for that person would be wearing the clothing

15 that they're wearing, wouldn't it?

16 A. No. They wore what they had. The tendency was to wear black or

17 dark blue. There were also persons who in the summer months wore sports

18 clothing, and they were members of the KLA. If they did not have such

19 clothes, they wore what they had. And among themselves, knew each other.

20 They recognised each other, and there was no need for them to wear

21 clothes of special colour. Those who had such clothes wore them. Those

22 who didn't wore what they had.

23 However, in previous photographs we saw that people -- some

24 people wore dark-coloured jeans or black jackets. However, the colour

25 can be distorted and is distorted in some of the photographs. That is

1 problem that you have with photography.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Professor, can I ask you? You said that some of

3 them had boots with a zipper marked Ozel. Is there any significance to

4 that marking?

5 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No. No, sir, no. No, Your Honour

6 Judge Robinson. It just means that they received from somebody a number

7 of pairs of that footwear because they were unable to obtain military

8 boots or something.

9 As you were able to see, one in the persons in the photograph has

10 military-style boots. Ozel I believe comes from Turkey. They received

11 humanitarian aid, different kinds of goods from various sources probably

12 including these boots. I did not claim that these were military boots.

13 However, they did come from the same source. There were some people

14 among them who wore military boots.

15 What is important, though, is that those people wore the best

16 kind of clothes they had for that season. They wore several layers of

17 warm clothing, and they -- most of them attempted to have dark clothes in

18 order to show their affiliation. This is what showed that they were

19 affiliated with the village guards or Territorial Defence or whatever you

20 want to call that.

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: Roughly how many bodies had dark clothing?

22 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I cannot remember that, Your

23 Honour, not exactly.

24 JUDGE ROBINSON: Would you say the majority?

25 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes, the majority.

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1 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Saxon, yes.

2 MR. SAXON: I'm going to move on, Your Honour.

3 Q. I'm going to ask you a few more questions related to gunpowder

4 analysis, Professor Dobricanin. Yesterday, you explained in your

5 testimony that when the bodies were brought to the morgue in Pristina and

6 placed there, at some point after that first gunpowder analysis was

7 performed on the hands of the bodies, and then subsequent to that

8 fingerprint analysis was performed. Do you recall that?

9 A. Yes, I remember that.

10 Q. And the scientific reason for doing the gunpowder analysis first

11 is because if the fingerprint analysis were done first that could

12 contaminate the samples; is that right?

13 A. Yes.

14 Q. Now, there are some things that could be done to protect hands

15 that need to be subjected to gunpowder analysis test, I believe, and --

16 for example, one option might be to try to protect the hands, placing

17 paper bags over them; is that correct? I realise it was not done in this

18 case, but I just need to confirm this with you.

19 A. Yes. We did not do it.

20 Q. Another way of protecting the reliability or the validity of

21 these scientific tests would be to do the test as soon as possible. For

22 example, within several hours after the alleged use of a weapon. Would

23 that be correct?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. And as you explained, obviously in this case, given the

1 circumstances, the gunpowder analysis was not done until several days

2 after the incident in Racak; correct?

3 A. Yes, but not through any fault of ours, rather it was due to

4 those people banned us from entering Racak.

5 Q. All right. I want to show you a couple of orders, Professor

6 Dobricanin. These are two orders issued by Judge Marinkovic on the 19th

7 of January, 1999.

8 MR. SAXON: There should be two. I gave you one this morning.

9 Well, let's use the English. Is it possible, Ms. Dicklich, to get the

10 other one?

11 Now, if this could be placed on the ELMO.

12 Q. This is an order dated the 19th of January, Professor, and the

13 Serbian version is there as well. I hope you can see it. First we have

14 the English, then we have the Serbian version. It's from --

15 A. Yes, I have my version in front of me. The English one is on the

16 screen.

17 Q. All right. It's from Danica Marinkovic in relation to the

18 autopsy of 40 corpses found in the mosque at the village of Racak, and

19 it's an order to the -- it doesn't specifically say who it is to. It

20 does at the bottom. It says, "Submitted to the forensic technician

21 section in Pristina." And among other things, it orders the forensic

22 technician section to perform the foil glove test on each body and to

23 perform the fingerprint test.

24 Do you see that, Professor?

25 A. Yes, I do.

1 Q. The foil glove test, that would be a reference to a testing for

2 gunpowder analysis, wouldn't it?

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, yes.

4 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Just in order to be completely fair

5 to the witness, Mr. Saxon says here, "Submitted to the forensic

6 technician section in Pristina," which is true, but then below that it

7 says also Institute for Forensic Medicine in Pristina. So I think he

8 ought to quote it in its entirety, not just half of the sentence in order

9 for the witness to be fully aware of the implications of the question.

10 JUDGE ROBINSON: Okay. That's the three letters ISM Pristina.

11 Yes. Thank you, Mr. Milosevic.

12 MR. SAXON:

13 Q. Can we -- can we conclude that this reference to the foil glove

14 test is a reference to a gunpowder analysis test using some foil? Can we

15 conclude that?

16 A. Yes, these are foil gloves which replace the test that was used

17 previously using the paraffin and the gauze. So these are the glove

18 foils which have five fingers from both sides, the upper and the bottom

19 side, in order to detect all the particles and the location. This is the

20 test that is used nowadays. They use the diphenylamine foils and the

21 paraffin is out of use nowadays.

22 Q. And so this would have been the test pursuant to this -- pursuant

23 to this order, then this kind of test would have been performed on the

24 bodies from Racak; correct? Please just say yes or no.

25 A. Yes.

1 MR. SAXON: I'd like to show a bit of video, please. Before we

2 start the video, we need to explain it. I've been in the evenings the

3 last few nights going through video materials in the possession of the

4 Office of the Prosecutor trying to see if the Office of the Prosecution

5 is in possession of video material that might show gunpowder analysis

6 tests or other kinds of tests on the hands of these victims. And last

7 night at about 6.00, I found some video that I'd like to show to the

8 witness now.

9 Q. The quality of the photography is quite dark. The quality of the

10 sound is less than perfect. But I'd like to show this to you, Professor

11 Dobricanin, because you may be able to explain to us what is going on

12 there. You may not be, but I'd like to show you a few minutes of this

13 video and see if you can tell us what is going on.

14 [Videotape played]

15 MR. SAXON: Can we have sound if there is sound?

16 Q. You see bodies on the floor in the morgue. Body 17 on the left

17 there. It looks like body 16 on the right.

18 Here is some sound. This is body 17 again. Body 20.

19 MR. SAXON: Can we stop the tape there, please.

20 Q. Professor Dobricanin, are you able to tell from what you've seen

21 and heard what procedure was being performed in this video?

22 A. I can't tell you anything, it's such poor quality. There are

23 English words. I think there was some Albanian spoken. All I heard

24 clearly at one point was that somebody said "Take some other gloves not

25 to infect one body with the material from another." That's all I heard.

1 Otherwise I really don't know what this was all about. But what I did

2 notice is what I keep claiming: That all the bodies were in black

3 clothing or dark clothing, all the ones you've shown now.

4 Q. We also see that the bodies were lying on the floor -- well, let

5 me take one step backward. I heard in the sound the sound of what I can

6 only describe as -- I don't know if it was paper crinkling or if it was

7 tape being removed. Did you hear any such sound and could you comment on

8 what that might have been?

9 A. I couldn't hear. There was such a lot of sound and noise that

10 you couldn't differentiate.

11 JUDGE KWON: Doctor, you were there on the 20th? I might have

12 heard your voice but I'm not sure.

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No. I wasn't at the autopsy in the

14 morgue. I was in the hall where the autopsies take place. You couldn't

15 have heard my voice. I would have recognised it myself.

16 MR. SAXON:

17 Q. Professor Dobricanin, the bodies were lying there on the floor.

18 We could see blood spots on the floor. Is it possible that hands of

19 victims could have been contaminated by contact with the floor?

20 A. No. They weren't close together, and you -- hands wouldn't have

21 been able to have been contaminated with gunpowder particles or nitrates

22 from the blood spots on the floor.

23 Q. Could hands have been contaminated by other material on the

24 floor?

25 A. No.

1 Q. And why not?

2 A. Because on that particular floor there was nothing else, and the

3 floor was wiped every evening. It is washed with a hose every evening

4 and then the bodies are brought into a clean area.

5 Q. Are you aware, Professor Dobricanin, that the bodies of at least

6 24 persons who were killed in Racak were tested for fingerprints while

7 they still lay in the mosque on the 18th of January? Are you aware of

8 that?

9 A. I'm not aware of that. I didn't see it in the mosque.

10 Q. I need to show you a document.

11 MR. SAXON: And if this could be exhibited, please.

12 Q. This is in English and B/C/S, Serbian, so you can read the

13 Serbian, Professor Dobricanin. It's a document again that I found last

14 evening. I should say I found it last evening with the help of some of

15 my colleagues.

16 The first page has the case file of what I believe is the Serbian

17 judicial system on it, case A/VI-025, and then it says "Enclosure, 2.13."

18 And then it says fingerprint identification of 24 persons killed in Racak

19 village... dated 29 January 1999."

20 MR. SAXON: And while we're waiting, Ms. Dicklich, if we could

21 distribute the aide-memoire.

22 JUDGE KWON: I don't think the ELMO is working.

23 MR. SAXON: The ELMO, please.

24 JUDGE KWON: Yes, it is.

25 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I apologise, but may I correct you.

1 It's the 29th of January, 1999, not the 21st. The 29th of January, 1999

2 is the date.

3 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please, Mr. Saxon.

4 MR. SAXON:

5 Q. If we could turn to the first page, please. The first page says

6 the first page at the top it says 269/99. It's from the Crime

7 Investigation Department, Republic of Serbia, Secretariat in Pristina.

8 Then it's titled "Dactyloscopic Identification of Dermal Ridge Print" and

9 it explains how on 18 January 1999 forensic technician Sasa Bozanic

10 conducted a forensic examination --

11 JUDGE KWON: Sorry, Mr. Saxon, do you have the English version?

12 MR. SAXON: And you should too, Your Honour.

13 JUDGE KWON: No. All we have is the one page.

14 MR. SAXON: I'm sorry, Your Honour. This is the document I was

15 referring to. I apologise for my confusion.

16 And if that could be placed on the ELMO, please, Mr. Prendergast.

17 Q. Again, the cover page shows the case file and the title, "Finger

18 print [sic] identification of 24 persons." And then on the first page we

19 see that it's from the Crime Investigation Department, Pristina. It's

20 dated the 29th of January, 1999. "Dactyloscopic Identification of Dermal

21 Ridge Print," and it describes how "On the 18th of January, 1999,

22 Forensic Technician Sasa Bozanic... fixed impressions of dermal ridges

23 for comparison with a right index finger print" to compare with the

24 "personal identity card in the name of Mufailj Hajrizi," as one of the

25 victims who died at Racak, victim Racak 03. Do you see this, Professor

1 Dobricanin?

2 A. Yes.

3 MR. SAXON: And Your Honours, just for the Trial Chamber's

4 information, I have with me here the other 23 files. They are -- they

5 are exactly the same with perhaps the differences of a comma here or a

6 space here. They all say the same thing. And I'd rather use my time

7 more efficiently at this point by simply showing one of them to the Trial

8 Chamber.

9 And the aide-memoire that I've also just given you gives --

10 provides the list of the names whose fingerprints were taken on the 18th

11 in the mosque, their autopsy number, as well as the handwritten number

12 which you can see on this page in the upper right-hand corner,

13 A/VI-25/20.

14 Q. Now, Professor Dobricanin, this report would seem to indicate

15 that fingerprint test were is done on 24 of the victims two or three days

16 before any gunpowder analysis tests were done, doesn't it?

17 A. I wasn't following you. Could you repeat your question, please?

18 I was looking at these findings, and I'm not sure I followed you.

19 Q. You have a file. It has the fingerprint identification reports

20 of 24 persons killed in Racak, 24 of the persons who are listed in this

21 indictment, and according to these reports, each report says that the

22 fingerprint test was conducted in the mosque in Racak on the 18th of

23 January, 1999.

24 So my question is: That would indicate, wouldn't it, that

25 fingerprint tests were conducted on 24 of the victims before any

1 gunpowder analysis testing was done; correct?

2 A. No. You did not understand it properly or perhaps it wasn't

3 translated correctly.

4 This first paragraph when it says on the 1th of January, 1999,

5 the forensic technician, et cetera, et cetera, gives his findings and

6 says, "On the basis of established principles and dactyloscopic

7 identification -- dactyloscopic identification on at least 12 -- of at

8 least 12 identical anatomic features/characteristics, it was established

9 that the aforementioned impressions of dermal ridges are identical to the

10 print of the right index finger of Mufailj Hajrizi, born..." et cetera,

11 et cetera, "by dactyloscopy on 20 January 1999 at the Institute for

12 Forensic Medicine in Pristina. Unidentified body labelled number

13 RA03..."

14 So it wasn't on the 18th of January that this was conducted, it

15 was when they were found in the mosque. Whereas the dactyloscopy took

16 place on the 20th of January, 1999 at the Institute for Forensic

17 Medicine.

18 Q. Dr. Dobricanin, if dermal ridges were placed on the hands on the

19 18th of January, that is done as part of a test for fingerprints, isn't

20 it?

21 A. That was not conducted on the 18th of January. That was done on

22 the 20th of January and wasn't done at the mosque but at the Institute

23 for Forensic Medicine in Pristina. Take a look at the last paragraph

24 where it says that under "Findings." Look at "Findings," that last

25 paragraph, and you'll see what it says.

1 Q. Dr. Dobricanin --

2 A. And this refers to -- this is the preamble.

3 Q. Yes. And the preamble says, Professor Dobricanin, that "On 18

4 January... Technician Sasa Bozanic fixed impressions of dermal ridges"

5 for comparisons with the fingers of this man, Mufailj Hajrizi." So that

6 would mean that something was done on the hand of this man on the 18th of

7 January, doesn't it?

8 A. No. I was in the mosque in Racak and nobody conducted any

9 dactyloscopy under the conditions that prevailed when they started firing

10 with mortars. What I tell you is certain: All traces of dermal ridge

11 for dactyloscopy, all gunpowder findings, all samples were taken at the

12 Institute for Forensic Medicine in Pristina. Before that nothing had

13 been done with respect to the crime and technical research except for the

14 photographs. The photographs were taken in the mosque in the village of

15 Racak. That was all.

16 Q. Well, then, why did Sasa Bozanic record having performed this

17 work on the 18th of January? Why did he go to all this trouble?

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: Are there two procedures, two stages, Mr. Saxon?

19 MR. SAXON: I would ask --

20 JUDGE ROBINSON: Or the Professor.

21 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, sir. This is probably an error

22 in the preamble because he refers to the date when we took over the

23 corpses. But it says quite clearly when all the prints were taken, and

24 that took place on the 20th of January whereas -- at the Institute for

25 Forensic Medicine in Pristina. That's what it says. And I state to Your

1 Honour Judge Robinson that nothing was done in Racak. I say that quite

2 clearly and unequivocally because there were no conditions for anything

3 to be done or conducted. It is no place in which you would take samples

4 for dactyloscopy.

5 So the only correct thing is this: It is the findings which

6 clearly state what was done and where and when.

7 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

9 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Might I be of assistance to the

10 Trial Chamber?

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

12 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] What you have here in the Serbian

13 original is a form, a form. It's not that Bozanic said "fixed

14 impressions of dermal ridges." It is a pre-printed form for

15 dactyloscopic identification of dermal ridge print and he was just

16 filling in the form, whereas the findings tell us what the professor has

17 been saying, when the dactyloscopy was performed. So this is -- whereas

18 this is a form, a general form, a printed form and you just fill in the

19 empty spaces. And if you look at the original you'll see this very

20 easily. You'll see what the form contains, the pre-printed form, and

21 what they filled in. So the sections filled in coincide exactly with

22 what the professor was telling us, whereas how -- what the pre-printed

23 form is quite unimportant for this case.

24 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Your Honour, might I tell you

25 something else and to indicate a portion of this document? Might I be

1 allowed to do that?

2 On the last page, which is where you will see the fingerprints

3 themselves, here I have it. You can look at this on my copy. It's the

4 last page showing the fingerprints themselves, it says the following:

5 Family name and first name and other particulars; and then it says date

6 of registration and the date there is the 20th of January, 1999. That

7 clearly indicates that it was on that day that the fingerprints were

8 taken from this individual.

9 JUDGE ROBINSON: Why was the 18th filled in? Why did they fill

10 in the 18th at the top?

11 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That's a printed form, and it says

12 "on the 18th," et cetera, et cetera. It's probably a mistake. When you

13 fill in forms, you don't -- they do it very often mechanically and fill

14 in the blanks that way, mechanically. So maybe that was it.

15 JUDGE BONOMY: The two blanks show different dates. I mean,

16 could you possibly explain why the 18th would be put in there at all?

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It's the date when the bodies were

18 taken over from the mosque. So that was the date recorded, because that

19 was the first time we came into contact with the bodies, and then he

20 couldn't say that they were from the bodies from the 15th in Racak. We

21 never recorded that way when you give a crime -- to the crime technician.

22 This was the date, and he clearly said that the technical part of the

23 business was done on the 20th of January, 1999, at the Institute for

24 Forensic Medicine in Pristina, and you'll see the fingerprints on the

25 last page where the date is the 20th of January, 1999, again, and it's

1 written in in handwriting. It's fairly small but you can see it, where

2 it says date, registration.

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Saxon.

4 MR. SAXON: Your Honour, the next document I would like to show,

5 two documents, actually. One of them is a request for assistance from

6 the Office of the Prosecution to the government of Serbia from 2002, I

7 believe in May, and the second document is a response from the government

8 of Serbia from the summer of 2002. I'll pause for a moment.

9 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Saxon, Judge Kwon reminds me that we are

10 dealing with the exhibits individually. So those that are -- that can be

11 admitted, which are not going to be controversial, we should admit them.

12 MR. SAXON: Well, would I offer for admission the documents that

13 I have just provided to the Trial Chamber regarding the fingerprint

14 analysis, and then we will very briefly discuss these two.

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: I think there were some before that, so maybe we

16 had better deal with it later.

17 MR. SAXON:

18 Q. Very briefly, the letter of -- the request for assistance from

19 May 2002 asked the government of Serbia questions regarding gunpowder

20 analysis testing that were done on the bodies in Racak.

21 MR. SAXON: Can we -- can that be placed on the ELMO, please?

22 And can it be moved up a little bit, please. Can it be moved up a little

23 bit more. And the next page, please. Next page, please.

24 Q. And there's a question there -- there are two questions. It says

25 "If the test was positive, what further tests were applied on that

1 person?" And then it asks: "What tests were carried out to establish

2 the source of contamination?" In other words, the source of an

3 indication of nitrates.

4 Actually, this is the response, which is perfectly fine. It

5 makes life simpler.

6 And the response of the government of Serbia that we're looking

7 at here underneath the question says that: "In the concrete situation

8 (Racak), there were no conditions to check whether there was any

9 contamination in the case of persons for whom the above test was

10 positive, that is, there were no realistic conditions to try to establish

11 contamination sources."

12 Professor Dobricanin, is that a fair statement do you think?

13 A. Yes, I would say it was --

14 Q. All right.

15 A. -- a true statement.

16 MR. SAXON: I would offer these two documents for admission as

17 well, Your Honour, at the appropriate time, thank you.

18 Q. I want to go back just very briefly, Professor Dobricanin, to the

19 subject of colours of clothing, because you made a comment that I wanted

20 to discuss with you. You said "they wore whatever they had." That was

21 earlier this morning, I think in response to a question from Judge

22 Robinson.

23 What would people who were not members of a KLA or a village

24 defence force wear?

25 A. Not all the people in the village were uniformed. You know that

1 there are different types of clothing. But these tried to have the black

2 colour prevail which showed their affiliation to a village guard or a

3 terrorist organisation or the special police, and their colour was

4 exclusively black.

5 Q. Professor, I'm not sure if you understood my question. It was

6 very different. My question was: What would people who were not members

7 of a KLA unit or a village defence force wear?

8 A. I don't know what they wore.

9 Q. You don't know. Well, if you don't know, then how could we ever

10 know -- if -- if there's no correlation between clothing worn by a person

11 and the possibility that that person could be a civilian or not, then why

12 is there a correlation between colour of clothing worn by a person and

13 the possibility that that person is a member of an armed unit? I don't

14 understand how you can say one thing and not the other.

15 A. I don't think that you understood what I was saying. I said that

16 the members of those military organisations wore predominantly black

17 clothing or almost every time black clothing, especially their special

18 police, whereas the other farmers and peasants that didn't belong to

19 them - not everybody was a member of the KLA - it would be something

20 else, then. They wore the clothing they had.

21 The members of the KLA wore exclusively black, black-coloured

22 clothing or dark clothing if they didn't have parts of a black uniform.

23 They didn't actually have uniforms. They did what they could.

24 Q. Professor Dobricanin, so I think, then, by that logic if a

25 policeman entered Racak on the 15th of January and saw a person wearing

1 light clothing, that person would -- that policeman would not know

2 whether the person wearing the light clothing was a civilian or a member

3 of an armed unit, would he?

4 A. I have no answer to that question. It's hypothetical, an

5 assumption. I can't think along those lines.

6 Q. You see, the problem that we have here is that we have a number

7 of bodies in the gully and in other areas around Racak, people shot from

8 all different directions, bullets found in different parts of their

9 bodies. We have people wearing dark-coloured clothing but also people

10 wearing light-coloured clothing. We have people wearing several layers

11 of clothing, but it was wintertime. We have -- apparently gunpowder

12 analysis was done but we have no formal results of that analysis. We

13 certainly have indications that the analysis was not carried out under

14 optimal conditions. We have forensic examinations done by the European

15 Union team that places bullets underneath bodies where they were found,

16 as well as parts of bodies, and we have no information that weapons were

17 found next to anyone that was killed in Racak.

18 So can't we simply conclude that all of these persons were killed

19 where they were found and that they were unarmed? Isn't that a possible

20 conclusion for the events in Racak?

21 A. If you listened to me carefully over the past few days, I made

22 four assumptions. I focused on four points, and I gave very precise

23 answers to those questions both to the Trial Chamber and to you yourself.

24 You have now made a compilation of all this, and I just can't answer

25 that. I can only take them one by one.

1 Your conclusion is your own conclusion. It is not my conclusion.

2 Q. No. And your conclusions are based on your four assumptions.

3 Isn't that right, Professor Dobricanin?

4 A. Yes. And my conclusions are based on these assumptions, and they

5 do not speak of unarmed civilians.

6 MR. SAXON: Your Honour, I have no further questions at this

7 time.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Mr. Saxon.

9 Mr. Milosevic.

10 [Trial Chamber confers]

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: It's time for the break. We will adjourn for 20

12 minutes.

13 Mr. Saxon, when we return, we will deal with those exhibits that

14 can be admitted.

15 --- Recess taken at 10.32 a.m.

16 --- On resuming at 10.55 a.m.

17 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Saxon.

18 MR. SAXON: With your leave, I would ask permission to ask one or

19 two more questions. It's because I realised during the break at the last

20 session I made a comment that was not completely fair to the witness and

21 I should have asked him a question about a topic before making my

22 comment. So with your leave, I'd like to ask one more question.

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Saxon.

24 MR. SAXON: Thank you.

25 Q. Professor Dobricanin, going back to the analysis of the hands of

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the French and

13 English transcripts.

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

1 the bodies for gunpowder residue, the -- and you have testified that 37

2 out of 40 bodies tested tested positive for nitrates. Do you recall

3 that?

4 A. Yes, I recall that.

5 Q. Why weren't these results recorded in your autopsy reports?

6 A. For one single reason. We expected all the results of the ridge

7 prints and the identification and everything. I didn't even have a list

8 of the killed persons. We expected all the results of the gunpowder

9 analysis to come as return information, that one copy should go to the

10 investigating judge and that we should get yet another copy for our own

11 documentation. The only reason why this did not happen is, I think, the

12 fact that all the people working on this were very busy, extremely busy.

13 We had a very difficult situation over those several months, and because

14 this was prepared together with the video footage and the photographs

15 that was all supposed to be handed over to us. All of this was

16 destroyed, however, during the bombing of the SUP. So there is no other

17 reason but that for the fact that we haven't got all of that.

18 Q. Are you suggesting that you were -- you were too busy to record

19 these results on the autopsy results, that time did not allow it?

20 A. No. No. In our notes, in the records that we had that remained

21 at the Institute, we certainly recorded that there was a positive

22 reaction as far as nitrates are concerned. We just gave the figure of 37

23 positive for nitrates. We thought that there was no reason to publish

24 this in detail.

25 You saw the Finnish reports too. They did not describe all of

1 these findings in detail. This wasn't enough material in all cases too.

2 Q. You say "there wasn't enough material in all cases too." Can you

3 explain what you mean by that?

4 A. I thought that since the so-called paraffin glove was already

5 taken, that is to say this foil glove that the technicians used, that

6 there was a little bit of that material on the hands and that that is

7 probably why my colleagues from Finland did not pursue this any further.

8 Q. All right. Very briefly --

9 THE INTERPRETER: Interpreters note: More than a little bit, not

10 enough.

11 MR. SAXON: I see.

12 Q. Do you recall telling investigator Barney Kelly that you did not

13 record your findings regarding gunpowder residue because there wasn't

14 sufficient time to do that?

15 A. I've already answered that question a few moments ago.

16 JUDGE ROBINSON: No. This is a different question. He's now

17 asking whether you remember telling the investigator Barney Kelly that

18 you didn't record your findings relating to gunpowder residue because

19 there wasn't enough time to do that. This is a different question,

20 Professor.

21 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Your Honour Judge Robinson, this

22 was recorded in the collective findings of the group of forensic

23 pathologists from Serbia and the forensic pathologists in Belorussia --

24 in Belarus. I haven't got the findings here.

25 It was stated that in 37 cases traces were found of nitrate on

1 the hands. That was our collective finding.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Did you have an interview with Barney Kelly, the

3 investigator Barney Kelly?

4 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes. Yes, for two days in

5 Krusevac.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: What Mr. Saxon is calling -- is asking is if you

7 remember telling him at that you didn't record the findings relating to

8 gunpowder residue because there wasn't enough time.

9 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That's not what I said. I told him

10 what I am saying here today, that we did not get these findings. We did

11 not receive them because there wasn't time for that. But we did record

12 the findings in our general conclusions.

13 The results regarding gunpowder particles and nitrates have been

14 recorded in one sentence, as I said a few moments ago.

15 MR. SAXON: With your leave, Your Honour, I'd like to exhibit the

16 prior statement of Professor Dobricanin. I will do this as quickly as I

17 can.

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, please do.

19 MR. SAXON: And I would invite the parties to turn to page 9.

20 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] In Serbian, please.

21 MR. SAXON:

22 Q. Dr. Dobricanin, I don't have a Serbian translation, but I will

23 read you the appropriate passages so that you can -- you can hear the

24 translation in your language.

25 First of all, take a look at the top page. Do you see your name

1 written there, Slavisa Dobricanin?

2 A. Yes. This is my statement.

3 Q. And do you see how on every page your signature is at the bottom?

4 Do you see that?

5 A. Yes. Yes.

6 Q. If you take a look at page 12, please, the English version. At

7 the very top of the page it says: "This statement has been read over to

8 me in the Serbian language, and I have been invited to make any

9 alterations or additions that I deem necessary, but I do not wish to do

10 so. This statement is correct."

11 Do you see that?

12 A. Yes.

13 Q. Can you look at page 9, please. And in the fourth paragraph on

14 page 9, you describe the gunpowder analysis tests that were done, and in

15 the second to the last sentence you say: "These important findings were

16 not added to our written conclusions because we did not have time."

17 Do you recall saying that to Investigator Kelly now?

18 A. You've said that, but I've explained to you just now why it was

19 put that way.

20 Q. Well --

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let him give the explanation again.

22 MR. SAXON: Yes.

23 Q. Perhaps you could explain again, because I'm not -- at least I'm

24 not following your explanation.

25 A. Your Honour, when an autopsy is done, the forensic pathologist

1 does the autopsy. Crime technicians take samples of whatever is

2 necessary from the hands and finally on the spot. These are biological

3 traces, traces of explosion, et cetera, and we did that on all the bodies

4 from Racak.

5 They took these samples of theirs to the crime technical

6 laboratory of the provincial SUP in Pristina. We received information

7 about all the cases with numbers and with positive analyses. We recorded

8 these analyses in our working notebooks which we took when we went to

9 autopsy the 40 bodies.

10 In the collective report that was written on the 30th of January,

11 1999, on the basis of this information we wrote that on 37 bodies, on the

12 hands of 37 bodies, traces were found of nitrates, which may indicate

13 that there were particles of gunpowder too.

14 In view of the format of the general report, we believed that

15 that was quite sufficient. We expected in the following months that when

16 all of this was processed, we would get photographs, video footage, and

17 analyses of the crime technical services related to gunpowder particles

18 and the names of persons who were killed in the village of Racak. All of

19 that was being prepared, and I said that on Thursday or Friday that there

20 were about 18.000 photographs, a couple of hundred video recordings,

21 video cassettes, and other documentation, which after everything that

22 happened, was supposed to be handed over to the Institute and the

23 investigating judge Mrs. Danica Marinkovic.

24 Since all of this was on the premises of the crime technical

25 service of the provincial SUP all of this was destroyed during the

1 bombing of the SUP. So would did not get a single shred of information

2 about all these documents. Actually we did not receive a single

3 document. The only written trace that remained is our general

4 conclusion.

5 MR. SAXON: Your Honour, I have nothing further.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you.

7 Mr. Milosevic.

8 I'm sorry. Mr. Saxon, those exhibits that can be admitted should

9 be.

10 MR. SAXON: I would start with the statement of Professor

11 Dobricanin, Your Honour.

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: This one, yes.

13 MR. SAXON: And then starting chronologically --

14 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let it be given a number.

15 THE REGISTRAR: The statement of Dobricanin would be 848.

16 MR. SAXON: The ICTY witness statement of Rizah Salihu.

17 JUDGE KWON: We'd like to hear whether there's any objection from

18 the accused. I don't expect him to oppose to this but --

19 JUDGE ROBINSON: Any objection, Mr. Milosevic?

20 JUDGE KWON: The statement that deals with the name of the dead

21 person. Did you say no?

22 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I have no objections, but I'm going

23 to put a question. The name of Raif Salihu was mentioned here. Raif

24 Salihu or Jashari. The question is whether it's Salihu or Jashari. Is

25 not on the list contained in Schedule A, neither as Salihu or as Jashari.

1 So from that point of view, this statement does not match the information

2 contained in here.

3 Since Mr. Saxon explained that it was possible that Salihu is the

4 same as Jashari. However, Raif is not in Schedule A either as Salihu or

5 Jashari. So that is what I wanted to ask about.

6 JUDGE KWON: Yes, he is in Schedule A.

7 MR. SAXON: He very clearly is.

8 JUDGE KWON: "Jashari Raif, 20 years of age." Okay. There's no

9 objection from the accused on this statement.

10 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let it be admitted.

11 THE REGISTRAR: 849.

12 MR. SAXON: Then there were 3 photographs, the photo of the grave

13 of Jashar Salihu, Raif Salihu, and Shukri Salihu.

14 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

15 THE REGISTRAR: 850.

16 MR. SAXON: There was the ICTY statement of Milazim Syla or Syla,

17 depending on your language, dealing with victim Sabri Syla on Judge

18 Marinkovic's list.

19 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

20 THE REGISTRAR: 851.

21 MR. SAXON: There were three photographs from the Racak cemetery,

22 the grave of Arif Metushi, Sabri Metushi and Haki Metushi.

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

24 THE REGISTRAR: 852.

25 MR. SAXON: There was a chart or an aide-memoire dealing with the

1 names of the persons killed at Racak on the 15th of January and a

2 compilation of information available about those names.

3 JUDGE KWON: Any observation from assigned counsel or the

4 accused?

5 JUDGE ROBINSON: Is this an exhibit? Was this meant to be

6 exhibited or just --

7 MR. SAXON: It was, Your Honour, for your assistance. For the

8 assistance of everyone, quite frankly, because the issue of names is

9 confusing.

10 MR. KAY: I have no objection.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

12 JUDGE KWON: Thank you.

13 MR. SAXON: Then we have --

14 THE REGISTRAR: 853.

15 MR. SAXON: Then we have an order signed by Danica Marinkovic

16 dated the 19th of January, 1999, regarding autopsies and other processes

17 concerning the 40 bodies taken from Racak.

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

19 THE REGISTRAR: 854.

20 MR. SAXON: And I suppose I should go in a more logical order.

21 The sample from what's called the enclosure 2.13 --

22 JUDGE KWON: Fingerprints.

23 MR. SAXON: "Finger print identification of 24 persons killed in

24 the Racak village."

25 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

1 THE REGISTRAR: 855.

2 MR. SAXON: And I --

3 JUDGE KWON: Are you tendering all of them or one of them?

4 MR. SAXON: Unless the Trial Chamber feels it's necessary, again

5 to cut down on paper to be more efficient, we would simply tender one,

6 Your Honour.

7 JUDGE KWON: We have to hear from the Defence, I guess.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Anything on this, Mr. Kay or Mr. Milosevic?

9 MR. KAY: I have no objection.

10 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic.

11 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] No.

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. Admitted.

13 MR. SAXON: And then the final item would simply be another

14 aide-memoire simply listing for you the persons who are named in that

15 file as having had the fingerprint work done starting on the 18th of

16 January. There are 24 of them, so it does not -- it does not refer to

17 every victim. Twenty-four of the victims.

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

19 THE REGISTRAR: 856.

20 MR. SAXON: And that is all, Your Honour.

21 JUDGE KWON: No. There are correspondences between ICTY and Mr.

22 Marinkovic.

23 MR. SAXON: I am grateful to Your Honour for being sharper than I

24 am this morning. We had a request for assistance from May 2002 from the

25 ICTY to the government of Serbia. Sorry, it would be one document.

1 MR. KAY: No objection.

2 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

3 THE REGISTRAR: 857.

4 MR. SAXON: And then we had a respond from the government of

5 Serbia in the summer of 2002.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

7 THE REGISTRAR: 858.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you.

9 MR. SAXON: Thank you, Your Honour.

10 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, re-examination.

11 THE ACCUSED: Thank you, Mr. Robinson.

12 Re-examined by Mr. Milosevic:

13 Q. [Interpretation] Professor Dobricanin, please take a look at this

14 document that was exhibited a few moments ago by Mr. Saxon. This is the

15 respond of the Federal Ministry of Justice to the questions put in

16 relation to the paraffin test.

17 JUDGE ROBINSON: What exhibit was that?

18 JUDGE KWON: 858.

19 JUDGE ROBINSON: 858. Will the Registrar see that the witness

20 has the correct document.

21 Yes. Do you have the document, Professor? Yes.

22 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please.

23 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

24 Q. Professor Dobricanin, Mr. Saxon only pointed to one of the answer

25 that I will deal with, but before that I would like to check a few other

1 things.

2 On page 1 of this of this response, in response to the third

3 question, "What level of training was required from persons conducting

4 the test," the answer is "the collection of gunpowder particles may only

5 be done by forensic technicians who finished a course for forensic

6 technicians, where they were specially trained.

7 "Only adequately qualified experts (physico-chemists, chemists,

8 technologists...) who completed internal specialist training may check

9 for gunpowder particles by applying the diphenylamine test."

10 Are you aware of this, and was a standing practice?

11 A. Yes. This was done by experts in chemistry.

12 Q. All right. The last question was what kind of quality control

13 was performed, and the answer is --

14 THE INTERPRETER: The interpreters are sorry but they cannot find

15 the reference that is being made.

16 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, the terms -- that's on page 2,

17 the one, two, three, fourth question on page 2 of the exhibit.

18 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

19 Q. Was that customary procedure, and is this correct what it says

20 here, Professor?

21 A. Absolutely. This is the customary procedure of testing

22 solutions. This is what our technicians do. And we have that which we

23 got precisely for these purposes, and we used to conduct this on our own

24 too. And this is done before every procedure for testing nitrates.

25 Q. All right, Professor. Please look at the next two questions and

1 answers. Could you just comment on that? The question here is: "What

2 is the total number of tests conducted in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999?" With

3 this paraffin glove, if I can call it that. And it says here -- let me

4 just read the answer. And I assume that it is also correct, but I want

5 you to compare it. "It is not possible to give a precise answer because

6 the whole documentation was burned in the bombing of the Secretariat of

7 the Interior building in Pristina. It is estimated that diphenylamine

8 tests were carried out in over 2.000 cases."

9 So in your opinion, is this estimate also correct?

10 A. I think it's a correct estimate.

11 Q. All right, Professor. That will do. Thank you.

12 The next question --

13 JUDGE BONOMY: It was -- just before this continues, have I

14 wrongly understood that in fact the paraffin test was not the one used

15 here, that the test used was a different one?

16 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Your Honour Judge Bonomy, I think

17 that perhaps you misunderstood it. It is called the paraffin test. It

18 is called the paraffin test because earlier, previously, the particles

19 were taken off, were lifted with a melted paraffin. At that time it was

20 called the paraffin test. Nowadays we call it both paraffin test and

21 adhesive foil test. But nowadays we use diphenylamine with a certain

22 acid. So these are two identical tests with two different names. It

23 used to be known as the paraffin test but nowadays paraffin is not used

24 any more because paraffin does not participate at all in the reaction

25 needed in order to carry out this test.

1 JUDGE BONOMY: So this is actually describing the test which was

2 carried out in this case.

3 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

4 JUDGE BONOMY: Thank you.

5 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

6 Q. Therefore, Professor, based on your -- what you know, this

7 statement in this letter of the Ministry of Justice to the effect that

8 this was carried out in over 2.000 cases coincides with your

9 understanding of the situation?

10 A. Yes.

11 Q. The next question is how many of these tests were positive, and

12 the replay states: "It is not able to give an answer for the

13 above-mentioned reasons. It is estimated that the result was positive in

14 about 50 per cent of the cases."

15 Professor, does that mean that in those cases where it was

16 suspected that weapons were used and where paraffin test was conducted,

17 in 50 per cent of those cases roughly it turned out that the result was

18 positive; is that right?

19 A. No, that's not right.

20 In 50 per cent of the cases or perhaps a bit less, it is probable

21 that people did not use weapons, and this is why we obtained 50 per cent

22 negative reactions to nitrates. And in cases where there were nitrate

23 traces on the hands, the results were 50 per cent. However, this is a

24 rough estimate. I don't think that this is entirely accurate.

25 Q. Professor, all right. I understand you. If I understood you

1 well, when it is believed that a person fired from a weapon, from a

2 firearm, then the paraffin test is applied. And based on what is stated

3 in the answer, in 50 per cent of the cases the suspicion proved to be

4 right, that in 50 per cent of the cases the person did fire from a

5 firearm whereas in 50 per cent of the cases the person did not, and the

6 test was not positive; is that right?

7 A. Yes.

8 Q. All right. Now, in this particular case in Racak we have this

9 figure 50 per cent. In view of the fact that you tested or, rather, that

10 this test was used in all 40 cases, meaning hundred per cent of the

11 persons that you examined, and the positive result was obtained in 37 of

12 the cases, this means that in this particular case the positive result

13 was obtained in 92.5 per cent of the samples, tested bodies; is that

14 right?

15 A. Yes, that's right.

16 Q. Professor, last week, based on your experience in the use of this

17 test, you said -- I'm not going to quote verbatim what you said, but you

18 said something along the lines that based on your experience, in almost

19 all of the cases where the test was positive, later on in the

20 investigation it was confirmed via other tests used or via other

21 analyses; is that right?

22 A. Yes.

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Saxon.

24 MR. SAXON: I just -- my objection is simply that the -- I think

25 it's important that the -- if the accused is going to cite from the

1 record that he needs to do it accurately. And my recollection of the

2 testimony of this witness is that he was not aware of cases that tested

3 positive which then turned out to be wrong or incorrect. However, at no

4 time did he say what he based his -- his findings on, whether additional

5 tests had been made or anything.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: I don't have the record in front of me, but do I

7 have a recollection of testimony in that direction.

8 Mr. Milosevic, what is the question?

9 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I asked Professor to confirm the

10 following: We had this general situation concerning the application of

11 the paraffin test based on the answers given by the Ministry of Justice

12 where it says that in 50 per cent of the cases it was confirmed that

13 nitrates were present. And here in Racak the percentage was 92.5 per

14 cent. So that was the percentage of cases where the test was positive.

15 I asked Professor to confirm or deny that, and he confirmed it.

16 The next question says as follows: "Were the tests carried out

17 in accordance with international standards, and if yes, what standards

18 were these?" And then it says that the test was applied in accord and

19 with the criteria described in all forensic textbooks in the world.

20 Q. Therefore, Professor, based on your experience, not only in

21 Yugoslavia but also based on your professional contacts with experts from

22 other countries, do you claim that this test is always conducted in the

23 same way in accordance with the standards found in forensic textbooks?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. The following question: "Were the tests on the dead people from

1 Racak consistent with other tests which were carried out at the time?"

2 The answer was yes. "Were the dead persons tested in the same way as

3 live ones?" "Yes."

4 So therefore there is no difference here?

5 A. Yes.

6 Q. And then they go on to say precisely how many persons were

7 qualified to carry out the paraffin test in the SFRY in 1998 and 1999 and

8 how many of such persons lived in Kosovo and in the area. The answer was

9 35, 35 forensic technicians and one permanent expert who was in the

10 Secretariat of the Interior in Pristina.

11 Therefore, was this number of staff sufficient in order to carry

12 out reliable tests which would be in accordance with forensic textbooks

13 and which would be needed in order to apply the test properly?

14 A. Yes. That's quite a sufficient number.

15 Q. Very well. Professor, I would like to go back to another

16 question now highlighted by Mr. Saxon, which can be found on page 1, and

17 that is what kind of tests was conducted in order to establish the source

18 of contamination? And then this says that in Racak, in the concrete

19 situation in Racak there were no conditions to check, whether there was

20 any contamination in the case of persons for whom the above test was

21 positive. That is, there were no realistic conditions to try to

22 establish contamination sources. And you said that this was stated

23 correctly. And you basically confirmed everything else in this document.

24 So this claim, does it challenge at all the conclusions reached

25 by the paraffin tests?

1 A. No.

2 Q. Thank you, Professor. That's quite enough for this document.

3 Now I would like you to take a look at the document that you already

4 commented upon, also the document offered into evidence by Mr. Saxon,

5 which is an example out of this binder for Racak, which is the

6 dactyloscopic identification of ridge lines. I hope that you have that

7 before you, Professor.

8 A. Not -- not yet.

9 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic. You may proceed.

10 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

11 Q. Professor, please tell us, is this a form, a pre-printed form

12 that has been printed in advance and contains certain blanks?

13 A. Yes, and it has been copied.

14 Q. All right. So the criminal technician filling in the blanks will

15 basically take this form, pre-printed form, and simply fill in data

16 pertaining to the particular case that he's investigating.

17 A. Yes.

18 Q. What created confusion here is that in the beginning, it states

19 the 18th of January, and I would like to ask you the following: Since it

20 says here "On the," and then blank and he typed in the 18th of January,

21 and then it says, "Forensic Technician," and then blank and he inserted

22 his name, Sasa Bozanic. And it says, "Conducted a forensic examination

23 of an incident scene following the discovery of 40 unidentified bodies in

24 Racak."

25 Is it clear, based on this document, that the 18th of January

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 Blank page inserted to ensure pagination corresponds between the French and

13 English transcripts.

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

1 pertains to the date when the bodies were found in Racak in the mosque?

2 MR. SAXON: Objection. Is it clear, Your Honour? It sounds a

3 bit leading to me.

4 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. Mr. Milosevic, we've been through this

5 several times. Questions beginning is it clear, et cetera, are usually

6 leading questions. But I wonder why you're bothering with this, because

7 I thought an explanation was given which was quite satisfactory.

8 JUDGE BONOMY: Can I ask one question about this.

9 Do you know the technician Sasa Bozanic?

10 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I think I remember the name but not

11 the face. I knew some of the technicians.

12 JUDGE BONOMY: Was he at the mosque in Racak?

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No.

14 JUDGE BONOMY: Thank you.

15 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No. No, he wasn't.

16 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please.

17 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

18 Q. What is stated in this document, let us make it as brief as

19 possible. We also have the enclosure with fingerprints and the dates and

20 so on.

21 Is it unequivocal as to the date when the fingerprinting was

22 carried out?

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, again, "Is it unequivocal,"

24 that's suggesting the answer.

25 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Very well.

1 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

2 Q. Professor, based on this document, can one establish for a fact

3 exactly when the fingerprinting was carried out?

4 A. Yes.

5 Q. On what date?

6 A. The 20th of January, 1999.

7 Q. Is that stated in the form, and is it also stated on the fiche

8 with fingerprints?

9 A. In both documents, in both places.

10 JUDGE BONOMY: What is it then, Professor, you claim that Mr.

11 Bozanic says he was doing on the 18th of January?

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] This is just a major

13 misunderstanding. When he was filling out the text, he probably wasn't

14 reading the form. He simply inserted his name and the date when the

15 bodies were found in Racak. I'm tell the truth. Mr. Sasa Bozanic was

16 not present in Racak, and no fingerprints were taken in Racak.

17 JUDGE KWON: Dr. Dobricanin, are you able to answer the question

18 who wrote this document? Is it Mr. Bozanic or Perunovic and Cirkovic who

19 appear at the bottom of the document? According to the document, it

20 seems to me that it was Bozanic that fixed an impression of dermal

21 ridges, and those two people, there is a Perunovic and Cirkovic, made the

22 findings on 20th of January. Could you assist me on this matter?

23 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That's right, Your Honour. Bozanic

24 took the fingerprints, lifted them off the bodies, and the other two,

25 Zoran Perunovic is a chemical expert. The other two performed the

1 analysis. These are people trained to conduct dactyloscopy and they

2 carried out the identification of this person based on the previous

3 information that existed in the SUP, the card that existed there, plus

4 using the results obtained by dactyloscopy.

5 JUDGE KWON: So it is those two chemical experts who wrote this

6 document.

7 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, not chemists. Not chemists.

8 Persons trained to perform dactyloscopy and identification. I made a

9 mistake. The chemical experts did another analysis which is the paraffin

10 test.

11 JUDGE KWON: So this Perunovic and Cirkovic wrote this document.

12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] They filled in and wrote this

13 document.

14 JUDGE KWON: Thank you.

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. Mr. Milosevic.

16 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

17 Q. Are those the persons who are supposed to carry out the

18 identification?

19 A. Yes. They are experienced crime technicians. Zoran Perunovic

20 has a bachelor of science degree, and they were the ones who mostly

21 worked on identification of dermal ridge prints.

22 Q. What is stated here in the findings signed by them, that the

23 dactyloscopy was carried out on the 20th of January, 1999 and that this

24 is based on this card where by hand certain information is filled in,

25 Racak, name, last name, and it says the date of registration the 20th of

1 January, 1999.

2 A. Yes. This was filled in by Sasa Bozanic.

3 Q. All right. So he filled in this form on the date when he took

4 fingerprints, and then he spent it to them in order to carry out the

5 identification. Was that the procedure carried out?

6 A. Yes, that's the entire procedure.

7 MR. SAXON: Your Honour, can some foundation be laid as to how

8 this witness knows that Sasa Bozanic filled in the form showing the

9 fingerprints and dated the 20th of January, 1999?

10 JUDGE BONOMY: This is actually a typewritten form, it would

11 appear.

12 MR. SAXON: It would appear that, Your Honour. But the date --

13 it's a typewritten form although the date appears obviously written in

14 hand.

15 THE INTERPRETER: Could Mr. Saxon please speak into the

16 microphone.

17 MR. SAXON: It's a typewritten form but the date was written by

18 someone in hand but --

19 JUDGE BONOMY: It's typed in on the one I have. Do you have one

20 that shows it handwritten? Everything's typed in, except the signatures

21 of the two examining -- the fingerprint experts.

22 MR. SAXON: I'm looking --

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: He's looking at the back.

24 MR. SAXON: I'm looking at the fingerprints themselves, Your

25 Honour. You see a typewritten form, and the fifth line down we see the

1 date written by someone's hand. That's what I was referring to.

2 JUDGE KWON: The Chamber was referring to this form.

3 MR. SAXON: Well, if you look at the B/C/S.

4 JUDGE KWON: So I have a doubt whether Mr. Bozanic typed this in

5 himself, but let's move on.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

7 THE INTERPRETER: Could Mr. Milosevic please be asked to speak

8 into the microphone. Thank you.

9 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

10 Q. Now, since you haven't got the translation that is written in

11 hand, it's a typewritten one, could replace the form on the overhead

12 projector so we could have a look at what it actually looks like with the

13 ten fingerprints. All the data there has been introduced by hand, all

14 handwritten entries.

15 JUDGE KWON: It is translated.

16 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

17 Q. Just so we can see it. All ten fingers, please. Just to have a

18 look at the original. Is that what you see on the overhead projector,

19 Professor?

20 A. Yes.

21 Q. So as we can see, all these columns have been filled in by hand,

22 the name the surname, the registration number, the date of registration,

23 which is the 20th of January, 1999. The 20th of January, 1999.

24 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. What is the question?

25 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

1 Q. Professor, we have a number under the right index finger. Does

2 that mean that it was the only fingerprint that was on the ID card and on

3 the basis of that they were able to establish, on the basis of that one

4 fingerprint, who the person was, the identification?

5 A. Yes.

6 Q. Yes, Professor.

7 A. That is true. That is correct.

8 Q. Now, with respect to the order issued by Judge Danica Marinkovic,

9 which Mr. Saxon tendered --

10 JUDGE BONOMY: Just one thing before you move on.

11 Mr. Saxon, does the date the 18th appear on all of these 24

12 forms?

13 MR. SAXON: All 24, Your Honour.

14 JUDGE BONOMY: Thank you.

15 MR. SAXON: Every single one.

16 JUDGE BONOMY: Thank you.

17 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Very well. Now, as soon as I don't

18 have all the 24 forms myself, I should like to ask the witness to take a

19 look and see whether the date when the prints were taken in all 24 forms,

20 does it appear as being the 20th of January as well, or does the 18th

21 figure anywhere? Because it's quite clear what we're dealing with. It

22 was the 18th when the bodies were found, and the 20th is the other date

23 if the same dates appear in all 24 forms.

24 JUDGE BONOMY: Can you confirm that, Mr. Saxon?

25 MR. SAXON: One moment, Your Honour. Body number 4, Ljutfi

1 Biljali, the date on the form is 20 January. The date on the fingerprint

2 form in the original is 20 January. 18th of January on the first form

3 regarding the work of Sasa Bozanic.

4 Body Racak number 5 belonging to Murtez Imeri, the -- on the

5 fingerprints themselves it's handwritten 20 January, 1999, 18th of

6 January on the first page dealing with the work of Sasa Bozanic in the

7 mosque.

8 Body Racak number 1, Banush Kameri, who is also Banush Azem. We

9 see the form looks a little bit different, and I am frankly struggling to

10 see a date here on this particular form. I don't know if the witness

11 would like to --

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: They should be passed to the witness. As you

13 look at them, just pass them over to the witness.

14 MR. SAXON: Shall we pass them to the witness?

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, those three you've looked at already.

16 MR. SAXON: I've lost my paper clip but I'll keep this in order.

17 There is one more here. This one here, I am not finding any date on the

18 particular fingerprint form. The work of Mr. Bozanic on the first page

19 18th of January, and then it says below, "examined by dactyloscopy

20 examined on the 20th of January."

21 Do you wish me to continue?

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: Well, it's going to be a laborious exercise, Mr.

23 Milosevic.

24 [Trial Chamber confers]

25 JUDGE ROBINSON: Let's proceed this way: Mr. Saxon, continue

1 looking at them, and then we can return to this later, Mr. Milosevic.

2 MR. SAXON: All right, Your Honour.

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Not now. Not now. Mr. Milosevic will continue

4 with his re-examination, and we'll return to this --

5 MR. SAXON: If I can simply point out for everyone's information,

6 I just happened to see one fingerprint form where there appears to be no

7 date written on it at all.

8 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, but it does have the 20th at the front.

9 MR. SAXON: On the first form it does, Your Honour.

10 JUDGE KWON: Or you could update the aide-memoire during the

11 break.

12 MR. SAXON: As I'm in my aide-memoire period, it seems, I will

13 try to do that, Your Honour.

14 JUDGE ROBINSON: That might be useful. So we'll come back to

15 this, Mr. Milosevic. We haven't forgotten it, but let us proceed.

16 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Very well, Mr. Robinson.

17 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

18 Q. Professor Dobricanin, now, with respect to the order issued by

19 Judge Danica Marinkovic, which states and I hope you have it before you:

20 "I order that in cooperation with the forensic experts you should perform

21 the following: Take the foil from every individual; obtain gunpowder

22 analysis to establish the identity of the bodies; photograph --

23 photograph and to record on VHS tape each body separately and let that be

24 submitted to the Court; to perform the expertise of each missile and

25 foreign bodies found on the body to establish what kind of missile and

1 weapon it's about."

2 THE INTERPRETER: Could the speaker please be asked to slow down.

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, the interpreters are asking you

4 to slow down.

5 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

6 Q. And it says, "As well as to undertake all other necessary works

7 at your discretion, if it deems necessary during the performance of

8 above-mentioned works, tasks."

9 Professor Dobricanin, this order by Judge Marinkovic, does it

10 contain all the elements necessary, everything that is needed to be done

11 in a procedure of this kind, and is it the customary, is it the usual way

12 of issuing orders by a judge as to what should be done?

13 A. Yes.

14 Q. Now, this order, does it imply in that last line, that last point

15 when it says "As well as to undertake all other necessary measures at

16 your discretion if you deem necessary," et cetera, et cetera, for the

17 previous things to be conducted, that covers everything, that nothing

18 must be omitted [Realtime transcript read in error: "admitted"] which

19 could be considered important for an investigation?

20 A. Yes. This is a very well-worded order.

21 Q. Where it says that it should be submitted to Forensic technician

22 section Pristina and ISM Pristina, does that --

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.

24 MR. SAXON: I apologise for interrupting the accused but I think

25 I've just seen an error in the transcript and I think simply the error

1 needs to be clear.

2 THE INTERPRETER: The interpreter said omitted.

3 MR. SAXON: That's what I thought was the error. Thank you.

4 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you. Yes.

5 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

6 Q. This order, then, is addressed to the police crime technical

7 section, and the ISM is the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Pristina;

8 is that right?

9 A. Yes, that is right.

10 Q. Thank you. Mr. Kwon asked you a question -- or, rather, asked

11 Mr. Saxon a question with respect to the photographs that Mr. Saxon

12 showed.

13 Now, were those the photographs taken on the 15th and 16th of

14 January? Mr. Saxon's answer was yes.

15 Since I'm not aware of anybody taking any photographs on the 15th

16 of January or, rather, as far as I know the photographs were made by the

17 team with Walker only on the 16th of January, do you happen to know, are

18 you aware of anybody taking photographs on the 15th of January?

19 A. No, I'm not aware of that at all.

20 Q. So you say you don't know that any photographs were taken on the

21 15th of January; is that right?

22 A. That's right. No, I don't.

23 Q. The photographs that were taken on the 16th of January were shown

24 to you here in court. Now, do you know that the investigating judge,

25 Mrs. Danica Marinkovic, had already on the 15th of January arrived at

1 Racak but was then sent away by gunfire and was not able to carry out an

2 on-site investigation?

3 A. Yes, I am aware of that.

4 Q. Is it incontestable, then, that --

5 MR. SAXON: Objection.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, "Is it clear," "is it

7 unequivocal," is it uncontestable" are leading.

8 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Very well.

9 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

10 Q. As I was saying, do you -- were you aware that Danica Marinkovic

11 was in Racak on the 15th of January but had to leave because of the fire

12 that she was exposed to along with her team?

13 A. Yes, I do know about that.

14 Q. Now, do you also know that on the 16th of January, precisely at

15 the time when Walker was in Racak, she attempted to reach Racak herself

16 and that she was prevented in doing so by gunfire?

17 A. I am aware of that, too, yes.

18 Q. Did you on the 17th of January, when you joined Danica

19 Marinkovic, also attempt to reach Racak, to enter Racak together with the

20 other members of the team but -- and you were very close to Racak, could

21 see the village from a distance, but that you were once again prevented

22 from entering because of firing and had to go back to return? Is that

23 right?

24 A. Yes.

25 Q. On the 18th of January when you finally reached Racak and -- were

1 you shot at?

2 A. Yes.

3 Q. Judge Marinkovic testified here and said that on the 15th, she

4 saw weapons in Racak that had remained. You were shown weapons by the

5 police. You saw trenches in Racak; is that right?

6 A. Yes.

7 Q. You saw bunkers in Racak; is that right?

8 A. Yes.

9 Q. You, therefore, had knowledge and awareness of the fact that

10 there was shooting in Racak on the 15th --

11 MR. SAXON: Objection.

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic -- well, he has already given that

13 evidence.

14 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, Mr. Robinson, as for the most

15 part attempts are made here to explain that this was killing and not a

16 conflict, these are facts which had to be well known to one and all, and

17 now I'm asking the witness this. I'm asking him whether it was,

18 therefore, common knowledge that there was shooting in Racak both on the

19 15th and on the 16th and on the 17th and indeed on the 18th, all four

20 days.

21 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

22 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

23 Q. Can you -- do you assume that some unarmed civilians did all the

24 shooting during those days?

25 A. Well, I think it's quite clear that somebody who was in the

1 village and armed was doing the shooting.

2 Q. You performed the paraffin test which showed that on 37 bodies

3 that they had used arm -- firearms?

4 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Saxon.

5 MR. SAXON: Well, it's simply just to keep the record clear. The

6 question was put with the pronoun "you." And I think it's simply quite

7 clear that Professor Dobricanin has been clear that he personally did not

8 perform these tests.

9 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. Isn't that so, Professor?

10 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] That's not being challenged, Mr.

11 Robinson, at all. When I say you, I don't mean him personally. I mean

12 the experts who performed the task, and the Professor confirmed that.

13 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

14 Q. Now, since it was common knowledge that there were trenches and

15 bunkers and firing in those days at Racak, did any forensic expert --

16 were they able to say -- to write the sentence that I'm going to quote in

17 his report, like the sentence in Mrs. Ranta's report where it says there

18 were no indications of this involving people who would be anything else

19 but unarmed civilians.

20 THE INTERPRETER: The interpreters note that they don't have the

21 actual wording of that sentence before them. Thank you.

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: [Previous translation continues] ... that

23 question, Mr. Milosevic.

24 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I don't understand, Mr. Robinson.

25 JUDGE ROBINSON: That's a matter which we will determine

1 ultimately.

2 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Very well.

3 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

4 Q. So, Professor, in tab 11, which was sent to the journalists on

5 the 17th of March, 1999, it is almost -- not almost but in fact it's two

6 months, 15th of January, 17th of March, and two days after the event,

7 post festum.

8 Did the Finnish team with Mrs. Ranta have any knowledge about the

9 fact that the so-called paraffin test had been performed which she, on

10 page 5, comments and says that it is not reliable?

11 A. We informed them about that when they arrived.

12 Q. And when did they arrive?

13 A. On the 22nd ever January.

14 Q. Right. The 22nd of January is when they arrived and when they

15 were informed; is that right?

16 A. Yes.

17 Q. Now, on the 17th of March it is claimed that there were no

18 indications which would confirm -- her sentence is a little unwieldy.

19 She didn't say that they were unarmed citizens, she said there were no

20 indications that this was a case of people who were anything else but

21 unarmed civilians. That's the way she puts it.

22 A. Yes. And that was the subject we contested.

23 Q. Very well. Now, could you say something -- could that kind of

24 thing be said from a professional aspect?

25 A. No.

1 JUDGE ROBINSON: No. I don't see how the witness can comment on

2 that.

3 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, the witness is a forensic

4 expert. He bears in mind all the indications, because indications are

5 mentioned here. There are no indications. As a forensic expert himself,

6 he can answer the question of whether we can -- one could say there were

7 no indications. If he testifies that there were indeed indications and

8 many indications at that, so that this is completely conflicting with the

9 available facts, an assertion of this kind, saying that there were no

10 indications.

11 JUDGE ROBINSON: You could ask him --

12 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] The witness claims there were.

13 JUDGE ROBINSON: You could ask him what indications there were --

14 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] The witness claims there were.

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: That there were unarmed civilians.

16 MR. SAXON: And before we hear the witnesses answer, I think it

17 also would be helpful to let the witness clarify whether he is answering

18 in his capacity as an expert in forensic medicine or in his capacity as a

19 citizen when he is referring to indications or assumptions, because

20 throughout his testimony since last week he has told us that on certain

21 matters he's testifying as an expert and in other matters he's speaking

22 as a common citizen.

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: And what arises from the answer that he gives?

24 MR. SAXON: One thing that arises would be the amount of weight

25 that the Chamber gives to his response.

1 JUDGE ROBINSON: But isn't that a matter that we'll have to

2 determine?

3 MR. SAXON: Absolutely, Your Honour, but you -- I don't see how

4 the Trial Chamber will be in a position to determine it unless the

5 witness clearly says that he is providing an answer in this case as an

6 expert or in his capacity as a human being, or as a citizen.

7 JUDGE ROBINSON: Speaking for myself, Mr. Saxon, I find that a

8 very tedious way to go about the work. I think we'll have to make up our

9 minds when he's testifying as an expert. We have said -- we said at the

10 very beginning that if you were prejudiced in any way by the lateness of

11 the notification in relation to his evidence as an expert that we would

12 allow you to make an application.

13 We'll have to decide what evidence comes in from this witness as

14 an expert and what is otherwise. I don't see that it is helpful to ask

15 the witness in relation to every answer that he gives whether he's

16 testifying as an expert or not.

17 Yes, Mr. Milosevic. Yes.

18 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]

19 Q. Professor Dobricanin, I'm going to follow Mr. Robinson's

20 suggestion. He suggested that I ask you whether there were any

21 indications.

22 Now, before I put that question to you, please bear in mind that

23 I'm asking you as a forensic expert. So in relation to this sentence,

24 there were no indications that these were persons who would be anything

25 but unarmed civilians. Professor, were there any indication that is

1 these were not unarmed civilians but persons who were armed and who were

2 shooting? Were there any indications and, if so, what were they?

3 A. I would like to single out only two out of all the indicators.

4 I've already spoken about this over the pass few days.

5 First of all, it is not customary ever in the street when all of

6 this was going on, and that is the early morning hours, to have so many

7 people in the street wearing several layers of clothing. When I say

8 that, I'm saying that this was truly clothing that was prepared for a

9 longer stay outdoors.

10 Secondly, the traces of nitrate on their hands which indicate but

11 not with any certainty that firearms were used and also the distribution

12 pattern of the traces indicates that they were armed and that they were

13 shooting from firearms.

14 These are two indicators which guide me as a forensic medical

15 expert to believe that there was a struggle between the police and these

16 people who were firing in Racak or, rather, that they were firing, that

17 they were shooting. Were they were shooting, I don't know.

18 Q. Thank you, Professor. Mr. Saxon gave some information here about

19 casings and bullets found in November 1999 in Racak. You recall this

20 information that he presented here?

21 A. Yes, I do.

22 Q. Tell us now, Professor, on the basis of the fact that in November

23 1999, that is to say ten months after the event concerned, some bullets

24 were found, casings on one side and bullets on the other. I don't want

25 to waste any time to look for the sketch that Mr. Saxon showed you. Can

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1 this lead to the conclusion that some kind of execution had taken place

2 there?

3 A. No. No.

4 Q. Now, if we were just to assume that on the location that was

5 marked there casings were found and that bullets were really found in the

6 place that was marked as such, the exit/entry wounds and their

7 bullet-path directions, could they confirm that it was execution that

8 took place from the place where the casings were to the place where the

9 persons were?

10 A. I already explained today that the sketch leads me to believe

11 that the bullet direction would be in -- on one level or they would move

12 from forward to the back or from the back to the front, but certainly not

13 from the top to the bottom, because the alleged pattern of the bodies

14 indicates only this possibility.

15 Q. Even if the facts were correct in relation to the location of the

16