1 Monday, 6 June 2005

2 [Open session]

3 [The accused entered court]

4 [The witness entered court]

5 --- Upon commencing at 9.02 a.m.

6 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Nice, you may continue.

7 WITNESS: OBRAD STEVANOVIC [Resumed]

8 [Witness answered through interpreter]

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

10 Q. Mr. Stevanovic, last week you had access to documents and

11 photographs in order to consider or reconsider the position about certain

12 things. So far as the documents are concerned showing the presence of

13 MUP/Skorpions in the area of Srebrenica and Jahorina at the time of the

14 Srebrenica massacre, what's the position?

15 A. Do you want me to answer the obligation I had taken with respect

16 to checking out some of the data?

17 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... know whether you are now in a

18 position to accept that the documents are what they purport to be.

19 A. No, I'm not in a position to accept that those documents show that

20 the members of the group that we saw on the photograph at that time

21 belonged to the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia.

22 Q. Let's deal with it in smaller topics. Forget for the time being

23 the video. Just focus, please, on the documents that you were inclined to

24 challenge, documents that showed presence of MUP or Skorpions in the area

25 of Srebrenica, Jahorina.

1 Are you now able to accept that those documents are genuine and --

2 well, are you now in a position to accept that those documents are

3 genuine?

4 A. You must tell me what documents you mean.

5 Q. My understanding is that you were given access to by the Court

6 certain challenged documents, because I checked that last week and I

7 understood you were -- had already been provided with them. Do you

8 remember the documents with which you were provided?

9 A. Yes. Now things are clearer, of course.

10 Q. Well, have you been able to check on the -- on those documents?

11 A. Well, on the last day of my testimony I did manage to contact

12 certain persons in the Ministry of the Interior, and on that day I sent

13 them a fax of the documents that I took over, and I have information as of

14 yesterday that during the course of the day today I would be receiving

15 certain information with respect to three written documents which I sent

16 out to them.

17 I do believe that the Tribunal knows and that you know that with

18 respect to the photograph and the individuals showed on the overhead

19 projector, that steps have been taken --

20 Q. I'll come to that in a second. I want to deal with things

21 separately. So that we can forecast receiving sometime today an answer by

22 the government on the three documents that you forwarded to them that

23 apparently reveal the presence of MUP or Skorpions at the area of

24 Srebrenica in the July of 1995.

25 A. I do not question, Mr. Prosecutor, the presence of the Skorpions

1 that you showed in Srebrenica. All I am challenging is, and I'm

2 definitely challenging that, that they belonged to the sector of public

3 security. Now, whether they belonged to some other sector of the Ministry

4 of the Interior I said that I had absolutely no knowledge of any of that.

5 Q. Well, staying with the documents, we're not thinking about or

6 talking about the video yet, is your answer that you do not question the

7 presence of Skorpions in Srebrenica, is that different from or the same as

8 the evidence you gave last week?

9 A. I am not bringing into question the presence of those persons from

10 the photograph at the location that we saw, but I did not see nor do I

11 have any proof or evidence that it was indeed those --

12 Q. Sorry if my questions aren't clear but I'm going to keep you on

13 the track I wish, if you would be so good. You were asked, before you

14 were shown the video, questions about documents. The documents showed the

15 presence of Skorpions or MUP in Srebrenica. You challenged those

16 documents. And unless my recollection is entirely false, you did not

17 accept, on the basis of the documents, that Skorpions were present. Now,

18 have you changed your mind? Have you changed your position, please? And,

19 if so, why?

20 A. I have not in any sense changed my mind with respect to the fact

21 that the Skorpions, according to your statement, belonged to the Ministry

22 of the Interior. So in that sense, I have not changed my mind in any way.

23 Q. I think you knew what I was getting at, Mr. Stevanovic. Have you

24 changed your position on whether Skorpions were present in the Srebrenica

25 in July of 1995?

1 A. Let me repeat: I do not exclude the possibility of the fact that

2 members of that group were there, but I do exclude the possibility that

3 they in any way belonged to the sector of public security of the Ministry

4 of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia.

5 Q. To that I will return. Now, let's turn to the second topic, the

6 video. It may be everyone in court knows this, but for the sake of the

7 record it's as well that I explain something you can confirm.

8 Following the playing of a small part of the video here and the

9 request to you to identify individuals, it happened that either a full

10 version of what would appear to be the same tape or very much more, a very

11 much longer version of the same tape, was played on television in Serbia;

12 correct?

13 A. I do know that some of the tape was shown, but I don't know how

14 much. I thought that what was shown there is the same footage that was

15 shown here.

16 Q. And as a result of the showing of that footage in Serbia by an

17 agency entirely different from the Office of the Prosecutor, nothing to do

18 with us, victims were identified and perpetrators or alleged perpetrators

19 were arrested, weren't they?

20 A. I have that information from the information media in Serbian.

21 Q. And as many as ten people were arrested within hours, four of them

22 being -- I think something like four of them being detained in custody.

23 A. I have information about the first part of your observation, that

24 eight to ten alleged members of the unit that were shown on the footage

25 were arrested.

1 Q. Help me as a former active policeman and present employee of the

2 MUP: How was it possible, do you know, for these men who you say had

3 nothing to do with the MUP to be arrested within hours of that broadcast

4 of a larger portion of the tape?

5 A. Well, it is difficult to answer that question, but I have given it

6 a great deal of thought about everything that happened here, and it is

7 quite certain that while I was an active duty assistant minister of the

8 interior that had we had footage of that kind we would have taken urgent

9 measures to uncover those individuals and arrest them, and I do believe

10 that the Ministry of the Interior, starting out from the video footage and

11 probably because they had some information before that, reacted in the way

12 they did; urgently. And that is quite normal and natural for that kind of

13 reaction faced with a case of that kind. The only question is whether the

14 results are good enough, and I think that at this point in time they

15 indeed are.

16 Q. Do you now accept that the video we saw last week in part and of

17 which you have had the photographs and names provided, or proposed names

18 provided, do you now accept that that shows a group known as the Skorpions

19 killing people taken from Srebrenica?

20 A. I did not have any reason to doubt what you said and what you

21 showed us. I, of course, really did not see any insignia or signs there

22 on the basis of which I would be able to claim that it was that particular

23 group, but I believe what you said, and I believe what you showed. But I

24 continue to maintain that they certainly did not belong to the Ministry of

25 the Interior or, rather, specifically, the public security sector of the

1 MUP.

2 Q. Very well. As a result of having the stills from the video with

3 the proposed names, have you been able to make any inquiries so as to tell

4 us one way or another whether the names provided to you were or were not

5 members of the MUP at the time?

6 A. The names from the video and the stills I did not send to Belgrade

7 because before I decided to send them I received information that the

8 group had already been arrested. So my interests with regard to the

9 group, despite the obligation that I took upon myself, would not have been

10 professionally in proper order because in a way I could have influenced

11 steps with respect to the investigation. I assume that you will be able

12 to receive that information from the ministry. Very simply, I decided on

13 three documents containing the 11 names that we discussed that I send that

14 out and during the course of the day today I expect to receive feedback

15 information as to what has been asserted up until now, and when I do

16 receive that information I will send it in to the Registry or the people

17 in the Registry in the Tribunal who communicate with me.

18 Q. Turn to your suggestion that the Skorpions were not subordinated

19 to the MUP. Will you take, please, tab 151 in volume 4.

20 This is a document for which we do have a translation, and to

21 remind the Court, if we look at the English translation and if the witness

22 looks at the original for tab 151, we'll see this relates to crime

23 reported by an employee of the Podujevo OUP which is -- OUP is still part

24 of the MUP, isn't it, Mr. Stevanovic?

25 A. Yes, it is part of the Secretariat of the Interior in Pristina.

1 Q. Thank you.

2 A. And of course the Ministry of the Interior as well.

3 Q. So this person reported several bodies in Rahmana Morine Street.

4 There was on-site investigation.

5 A. Yes. I do know about that case.

6 Q. Nineteen bodies, and included amongst them children, women, and

7 so on. And we see at the bottom that the criminal report was submitted

8 for this incident against known perpetrators Sasa Cvjetan and Dejan

9 Demirovic; correct?

10 A. Yes, I've already said that during the examination so far.

11 Q. And these men were shown to be members of the reserve force of the

12 Republic of Serbia, SAJ, and without any doubt that is a unit that is

13 under your part of the police, as you confirmed that last week.

14 A. That's right. It is a unit which came under the public security

15 sector. At one period of time it was outside the sector, but I think

16 during the period -- the material time it was within the sector.

17 MR. NICE: Your Honour, just give me a minute.

18 Q. Now, these men were two of the men eventually prosecuted for

19 crimes, and I'm going to look at the overall statistics for prosecutions

20 with you a little later. I'm dealing with this point now because of its

21 connection to Skorpions.

22 A. Yes. I also, in reading the papers yesterday, heard that these

23 people who were arrested and against whom a criminal report was filed do

24 have something to do with the Skorpions.

25 Q. All right. Which people arrested?

1 A. Well, the two men against whom the criminal report was filed, who

2 had been arrested previously.

3 Q. You're ahead of me, aren't you, Mr. Stevanovic, because you know

4 that your account of Skorpions not being subordinated is dishonest, and

5 you're leading with a defence to what you know is coming.

6 A. No, that's not true. All I'm doing is --

7 Q. What did you do over the weekend, pray help us, that suddenly drew

8 to your attention that these two men, Cvjetan and his colleague, clearly

9 subordinated to the MUP through the SAJ, were also connected to the

10 Skorpions? What is it that drew that to your attention over the weekend?

11 A. Well, that's quite simple. I read the papers. I have them in my

12 room. I can bring them in here. And I didn't read any documents.

13 Q. Which paper of yours shows, please, that Cvjetan and his colleague

14 were members of Skorpions? We see from your papers that they were members

15 of reserve MUP and SAJ -- or subordinated to the SAJ, but which document

16 shows they were Skorpions?

17 A. Well, that's what I want to explain to you. I said quite clearly

18 that from the information media, I learnt that these people had something

19 to do with the Skorpions, but of course I didn't explain the rest. You

20 have to ask me or you have to give me more time to answer.

21 As I was saying, I received information that they did have

22 something to do. At that point in time I cannot confirm or refute that

23 information, but I still stand by --

24 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... you can help us as much as

25 you can, but we're going to look at it logically. So --

1 A. Of course.

2 Q. -- "information media" and "I received information." I want you

3 to tell us precisely what you received over the weekend that told you that

4 these men were members of the Skorpions.

5 A. All I can do is to bring in the papers that I read you. I'm

6 talking about the news where there is sporadic mention of the fact that

7 these two men against whom a criminal report was filed belonged to the

8 Skorpions. I claim, and I still claim, everything that I said before;

9 that these two men belonged to the reserve force of the special

10 anti-terrorist unit and they could not have belonged to any kind of

11 paramilitary group. They were only as individuals members of the reserve

12 force of that unit.

13 JUDGE ROBINSON: General --

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] And quite possibly --

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: What was the date of the report that you read?

16 When was that newspaper published?

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] It is yesterday's papers or the day

18 before. They are papers in Serbian, and they carry certain comments in

19 Serbia with respect to the events we saw on the footage. And with respect

20 to those events, they bring that group in connection with this crime that

21 we have a document on here and the case here in the tab before us.

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Nice.

23 MR. NICE:

24 Q. I'm not in a position to accept or reject at the moment, although

25 I will of course check it, I'm not in a position to accept or reject

1 whether newspapers over this last weekend revived memories of the trial of

2 Cvjetan and his colleague showing them to be Skorpions, but we will now

3 look at two short contemporary records of their trial.

4 If we can make these available, please, from Vreme. This is from

5 Vreme on the 25th of December, 2003, and two passages translated.

6 The first passage I'd like you to look at can be found on page 24

7 at the bottom, as it's given, 25. Thank you. And it reads as follows:

8 "The crime on 7 Rahmana Morine Street, occurred on March 28th, 1999, only

9 four days after the ... bombing... That day, a group of Special Forces -

10 Skorpions (compiled from veterans from the wars in Bosnia and Croatia) as

11 part of the SAJ ... was directed towards the city."

12 It goes on, does the report, to say: "Even though the court is

13 still deciding over the specific of what really happened after the

14 Skorpions entered Podujevo, today the following is clear: Commander of

15 the unit, Slobodan Medic Boca, left for a meeting in the town, and he

16 ordered his soldiers to wait in the buses until he came back, yet the

17 soldiers did not listen to him, they left the buses in groups and they

18 dispersed around the surrounding houses, apparently looking for a place to

19 stay, however, in their apparent search for a place to stay, they also

20 robbed stores, searched citizens who they met on the streets, or within

21 their homes, took their belongings ... Soon after one of the Skorpion

22 groups entered a house full of civilians on Rahmana Morine Street,

23 gunshots was heard, and in the yard of the house there was a pile of

24 bodies in the courtyard. Immediately following the incident, Commander

25 Boca arrived and spoke '... I cannot even leave you for a minute without

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

13 English transcripts.

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1 you --'" and his view is expressed in vulgar terms. "He ordered the

2 Skorpions back onto the buses, while one of the units was returned to

3 Serbia ..."

4 Does that accord with your recollection of how the trial was

5 presented against the two men?

6 A. I do not have any recollection of what happened at the trial of

7 these people. Some of the elements and details here can be read in the

8 newspapers, and since you're interested, I'm going to bring in the

9 newspaper that I read and then you'll be able to see that what I'm telling

10 you is quite correct. But let me put it this way: I never had, up until

11 yesterday, information that there was a group of Skorpions over there. I

12 never until yesterday, or the day before, rather, had any knowledge of the

13 fact that Boca was there, but what I want to state here, if you allow me,

14 of course, some important things, because I'm worried that if I answer

15 briefly I'm not going to be able to give you all the important information

16 I wish to give you.

17 It is a question of the reserve force, and within the force --

18 they can be included in the police force as individuals. At this point in

19 time, I don't wish to challenge the possibility that after the war, in

20 1996, somebody, some of the members of those units, did join the reserve

21 force pursuant to the provisions and law governing those -- that

22 procedure. But I claim at that time within the ministry there could not

23 have been any alien foreign unit from any previous war as a formation, as

24 a unit per se. Some members of different formations and units,

25 individuals, could have joined the reserve police force, or any unit, and

1 that question is settled at a tactical level, decided at a tactical level.

2 It is not a question which is decided upon at a medium level and

3 particularly not a strategic level.

4 Of course at this point in time let me repeat: I cannot confirm

5 or refute that. These are newspaper articles. There is no reason for me

6 to doubt them but I do doubt quite certainly that they weren't interpreted

7 -- the facts weren't interpreted in the proper way, although we can see

8 clearly here we're dealing with a reserve force, and let me repeat: You

9 cannot have a unit join a reserve force. You can have individuals join

10 reserve forces if they fulfil provisions and conditions provided by law.

11 If a unit were -- could enter, I don't know of any case like that where a

12 unit became part of the reserve force.

13 Q. If I cut you too short too early you must ask for leave to

14 conclude.

15 A. Thank you.

16 Q. But two immediate points arise before we press on. We're going to

17 discover that it was about two or three, four or five or six MUP policemen

18 in all prosecuted for anything. You, in 1999, were in charge in Kosovo to

19 a large degree, and you're still in the MUP in 2003 when this trial

20 happened. Are you telling us the truth when you say you have no

21 recollection of this trial of people said to be subordinated to the SAJ

22 committing these appalling crimes? Are you saying you have no

23 recollection of that crime until the weekend? I see.

24 A. Absolutely that's not what I'm saying.

25 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... in 2003, not looking at

1 television, not reading newspapers, not talking to your colleagues? How

2 could you be so ignorant, Mr. Stevanovic?

3 JUDGE BONOMY: Mr. Nice, the transcript says, "Absolutely that's

4 not what I'm saying," so I'm a bit confused about the answer to that

5 question.

6 MR. NICE:

7 Q. Did you have any knowledge of this trial -- do you have any

8 recollection of this trial until you read newspapers over the weekend?

9 A. Of course I'm familiar with the trial. I have said that the trial

10 is under way in Serbia. On one of the earlier days I said that. But you

11 are suggesting an answer to me to confuse me. I said several times that I

12 know about these events ever since it happened. I know that the same

13 minute the members of the group who were suspected of committing this act

14 were returned to Serbia. The same minute. And I said the investigation

15 started immediately. It was conducted urgently. The criminal report was

16 filed several days later. Perpetrators were identified several days

17 later. They were arrested in Novi Sad. Mr. Prosecutor, to me as

18 assistant minister, those issues were of interest. As assistant minister

19 I cannot deal with the CVs of 25.000 policemen and several thousand

20 reservists. So I do not know their CVs, but I know everything that is

21 written in the criminal report and I followed the trial, but I claim still

22 that I did not make the link between the accused and the Skorpions. I

23 have already said all of this at least twice.

24 JUDGE BONOMY: Can I ask a question here, Mr. Nice, or would that

25 be disturbing the cross-examination?

1 MR. NICE: No, not at all, Your Honour. I'll be only too happy.

2 JUDGE BONOMY: Does it follow from that, Mr. Stevanovic, that your

3 understanding was that these officers who were arrested were part of the

4 public security section of the MUP?

5 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes.

6 JUDGE BONOMY: And does it also follow from that that Boca was

7 therefore part of the public security section of the MUP?

8 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That obviously follows if he was

9 there.

10 JUDGE BONOMY: Okay. And does it therefore also follow that the

11 public security sector of the MUP were responsible for what would appear

12 to have been a massacre in Rahmana Morine Street?

13 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That is not in dispute. That

14 massacre was perpetrated by members of the public security of the MUP of

15 Serbia.

16 JUDGE BONOMY: Thank you.

17 MR. NICE:

18 Q. We've had evidence in this Court from a man called Milan Milanovic

19 or Mrgud, and I believe it was all in open session and I'll be corrected

20 if any part of it was not, revealing that Medic agreed in answer to a

21 request for troops to go to Kosovo in early 1999 with some 150 men from

22 Novi Sad. Do you remember that happening?

23 A. I absolutely don't remember. I don't remember any discussions

24 with that Mr. Medic. I told you when I saw him on what occasion and for

25 what reason. I don't know where he was later, nor did I have any contact

1 nor do I know that anybody from the MUP was in touch with him.

2 Q. How could it be, with you in your very senior position and your --

3 with your -- with access to the information at the meetings you attended,

4 how could it be that 150 men under Medic, a very well-known man, could be

5 sent to help in Kosovo without your knowing? How could that happen?

6 A. If 150 men were -- from such a group were really sent to Kosovo,

7 then it would be really incredible for me not to know but you may rest

8 assured that I really don't know. First of all, I don't know that 150 men

9 were sent. All I know is what is written in the criminal report and

10 partially what you've just read, but I don't know the link between the

11 perpetrators of this crime and the Skorpions group.

12 Q. Well, do you remember this, then: That after the commission of

13 this appalling crime the Medic group was withdrawn from Kosovo?

14 A. I know very well that a group of reservists of a special

15 anti-terrorist unit which was suspected at the time of committing this

16 crime was returned from Kosovo the same moment, the same moment, literally

17 half an hour later. We were all informed about this, and our unanimous

18 position was that the suspects have to be returned from Kosovo immediately

19 and an investigation started, and that's what happened. And in my

20 opinion, that was the important thing; to prevent further crimes, to

21 identify perpetrators, to file a criminal report, for them to be arrested,

22 and that was done.

23 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... please, this, the most --

24 what role did General Vlastimir Djordjevic hold in Kosovo in the period of

25 March to June of 1999?

1 A. He remained in his position. He used to be head of the public

2 security sector, and he's had the normal powers that you have in

3 peacetime --

4 Q. [Previous translation continues] ...

5 A. -- as head of that sector.

6 Q. Was he subordinate to you, parallel to you, superior to you? Help

7 us.

8 A. No, he was not subordinate to me. But at that time, you could say

9 that he was not my superior either. We were both in the public security

10 sector but we were both assistant ministers. And in 1998 and 1999, I

11 received my orders directly from the minister and so did he. So you could

12 say that we were both in parallel subordinated to the minister.

13 Q. Did you and Djordjevic trust each other?

14 A. Well, in principle, yes.

15 Q. Did he ever keep things from you, General Djordjevic?

16 A. I don't know that. I don't know whether he kept anything from me.

17 All I know is what he told me. I don't know if there is anything that he

18 didn't tell me.

19 Q. Because you would need to know --

20 A. There's always probably something that people don't say.

21 Q. There could be no reason for Djordjevic to keep back from you his

22 access to reinforcements or his deployment of reinforcements in Kosovo,

23 could there?

24 A. I don't think he kept back anything. Reinforcements for Kosovo

25 were a matter of course. I cannot claim that I knew everything, but I

1 knew, generally speaking, all about reinforcements and withdrawals from

2 Kosovo.

3 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... with this: The same witness

4 tells us that a couple of weeks after the Skorpions were withdrawn,

5 Djordjevic had them brought back. What do you say to that? It can be

6 found on transcript pages 27830, thereabouts.

7 A. I don't know anything about that. I know very well, though, that

8 several police units were in Kosovo at the time, all special units, the

9 special anti-terrorist unit, and the SAJ. So if anyone from the reserve

10 force of the special anti-terrorist unit was in Kosovo, that would have

11 been normal. But I don't know that anyone from the Skorpions group was

12 brought back to Kosovo because, and I'm saying this again, if in a special

13 unit there was a reservist who was a member of the Skorpions from the

14 Republic of Serbian Krajina, then it might have been only a result of his

15 selection in keeping with the regular procedure, but the whole unit could

16 not have been made part of the reserve force. The reserve force is a

17 combination of individuals, not units. For them to be returned to Kosovo

18 the decision of the minister would have been necessary, and I don't know

19 about any such decision of the minister.

20 MR. NICE: Could we have a private session for a couple of

21 minutes, please.

22 JUDGE ROBINSON: Private session.

23 [Private session]

24 (redacted)

25 (redacted)

1 (redacted)

2 (redacted)

3 (redacted)

4 (redacted)

5 (redacted)

6 (redacted)

7 (redacted)

8 (redacted)

9 (redacted)

10 (redacted)

11 (redacted)

12 (redacted)

13 (redacted)

14 (redacted)

15 (redacted)

16 (redacted)

17 (redacted)

18 (redacted)

19 (redacted)

20 (redacted)

21 (redacted)

22 (redacted)

23 [Open session]

24 MR. NICE:

25 Q. Can we please then look, the last point, the same article

1 detailing the trial of Cvjetan, which is at page 25 for you, "The

2 Guardians of the Oil," where Medic gave an account. See whether this

3 helps you at all one way or the other.

4 "Slobodan Medic Boca, commander of Skorpions, spoke in the court

5 about the history of his unit, but his statements on that subject

6 sometimes were somewhat different. During the court appearance on the

7 28th of March, 2003, he stated: 'The Skorpion units were formed in 1991

8 as part of the Yugoslav army (sic!) as a regular unit. They operated in

9 the region of Bosnia and Croatia. After the end of war operations in

10 Bosnia and Croatia, they were transferred to Serbia and the men

11 discharged. The core of the unit was preserved in accordance to the rules

12 and in accordance to the instructions we received in order to provide that

13 the men could have a normal life.' A few months later, on December the

14 5th, Commander Boca replied to the same question with the following

15 answer: 'The Skorpion units were created on May 1992 in order to protect

16 "Oil Industries of Krajina" and they stayed in that capacity from

17 1992-1996. Afterwards, because I demanded that my unit be part of MUP

18 Serbia, the Skorpions became part of the reserve composition of Special

19 Anti-terrorist Units of MUP Serbia.' By the way, it is well known that

20 oil wells in East Slavonia were quite profitable source of income for the

21 president of RSK Goran Hadzic and the deceased ... Arkan."

22 Are you in a position to help us with any part of what Medic said,

23 as to whether it's either true or false? First of all, the history of

24 being part of the army. Do you remember its being part of the army?

25 A. I can only repeat what I have already said: All I know about them

1 I know because in 1995, in the second half of 1995, I visited Eastern

2 Slavonia. I ran into the man by accident two or three times maybe, and I

3 believed then that they belonged to the army of the Republic of Serbian

4 Krajina or perhaps the police. I don't know any of the rest. I don't

5 know when they were established, what he was doing. I don't know what

6 happened with them after the withdrawal from -- of the army and the police

7 from Eastern Slavonia. I don't know that he asked to be admitted into the

8 reserve force of the MUP of Serbia. I don't know whether any of them were

9 indeed transferred or admitted, but it seems incredible to me that they

10 could have been admitted as a unit. It is something not envisaged by the

11 law. Not even the head of the sector could have made a decision to allow

12 them to do that. And of course the minister can decide such things and

13 doesn't have to inform me, but I would normally know about such a decision

14 because such a decision would be against the law.

15 The law says that an individual who meets the requirements may be

16 admitted into the reserve force, and that is done at the level of every

17 unit. In order to admit an individual, a high level decision is not

18 necessary.

19 Q. My final suggestion to you on the Skorpions and Slobodan Medic

20 certainly at this stage is that, Mr. Stevanovic, you have been less than

21 frank with this Court from the first time I mentioned the Skorpions and

22 Medic, and you have been forced to make such concessions as you have by

23 evidence that you see to be irresistible. Isn't that the truth?

24 A. That is not correct, Mr. Prosecutor. You seem to be linking me

25 with everything bad that happened in the territory of the former

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1 Yugoslavia. I would really appreciate it if you would spare me from such

2 qualifications. And I'm telling you, I have nothing to do with the

3 Skorpions, and I know with the passage of time that will become clear, and

4 I will still be here and we can confront this again.

5 I understand you need to compromise me, and I understand the

6 position of this Court, but I would really hate it to be put into -- to be

7 linked with everything evil and bad that happened in the former

8 Yugoslavia.

9 Q. I must turn to another topic, and the topics won't be in

10 particular order but they have to be taken in the order I take them for

11 various reasons, and I'm going to turn to Racak.

12 If Mr. Nort would be good enough to get the plans lying on the

13 wall over there. It may need an easel. And we'll turn briefly to Racak.

14 You explained to us last week that you had basically no detailed

15 knowledge of Racak at all. Do you remember that?

16 A. I have explained already that I wasn't there on the spot. I

17 really never went to Racak. I also explained that at the time of the

18 event, I wasn't in Kosovo, I was in Belgrade, and most of my information

19 comes from official documentation and from reports received by the

20 ministry from the staff in the SUP in Urosevac.

21 Q. Even on the basis of having read the material, you had limited

22 knowledge of what happened at Racak, as I understood it; correct?

23 A. It is true that I did not have complete information. Of course I

24 would have had more information had I been there, but I read the case file

25 on Racak and I have seen most of the documents.

1 Q. And you understood those who died to have died -- are said to have

2 been attacked as a group or to have been attacking as a group and been

3 defeated as a group, with their weapons taken from them where they fell.

4 Would that be about right?

5 A. First of all, I didn't understand that they were attacked, and I

6 have tried to explain what my understanding was several times. The police

7 were attacked from Racak when they tried to perform their legitimate job

8 and achieve a legitimate goal. It is because of the attack from Racak

9 that armed combat ensued.

10 All that I know about it indicates that all those who died died

11 because of the legitimate use of weapons by the police.

12 Q. Now, because you weren't able to help us with the plan, I'm

13 showing for you, and you can take a moment or so to familiarise yourself

14 with it, an aerial which has been marked. I -- don't worry too much with

15 the English on the left. I'll interpret that for you as necessary.

16 MR. NICE: If the camera could possibly be focused on the plan,

17 I'd be grateful because I can't see it quite well enough from this

18 distance to read it.

19 Q. Are you aware yourself at all as to where the main body of dead

20 people were found, Mr. Stevanovic?

21 A. I don't know exactly all the locations where bodies were found,

22 but I remember the scenes from the mosque where the bodies were gathered,

23 and I remember part of the external examination and maybe part of the

24 post-mortem was performed, but I don't know where the bodies were before

25 the mosque.

1 Q. If you look at the map before you, number 5, which you can see

2 there, marks what's called a gully where a very large number of people

3 were found dead, 20. Did you know about 20 people or did your reading

4 lead you to learn about 20-odd people found dead in a gully?

5 A. Yes. I remember some photographs related to that gully.

6 Q. Here's two photographs I'd like you to look at. We'll place on

7 the overhead projector. Just lay these two photographs on the overhead

8 projector, please.

9 First of all, these are from Exhibit 156, tab 5. These, you see

10 -- we can now put first of all the first photograph on the overhead

11 projector. Look at that. That shows one of the bodies found in the

12 gully.

13 Next photograph, Mr. Nort.

14 That shows the head of the same body with the bullet wound beside

15 the neck. Do you have enough experience as a policeman to know what that

16 sort of wound indicates?

17 A. I can tell you something, but with a reservation that I'm not an

18 expert pathologist and that I'm not a criminal investigation policeman;

19 I'm a policeman in general terms.

20 The general comment I would make is that this is an exit and --

21 entry and exit wound, and all I know about such traces is what I learnt at

22 criminology classes at school --

23 Q. [Previous translation continues] ...

24 A. -- but I cannot tell you anything further about what that means.

25 Q. I'm only going to ask you a few questions to see if you can help

1 us. If you'd look on the map again, if we could see that. You'll see

2 that -- you'll see round and about number 5 there are lots of other places

3 marked. You can see 4, 3, 2, 1. And you will know from the area that the

4 distances between 4 and 5 or 3 and 5 is quite substantial. We're not

5 dealing with a few metres, we're dealing with considerable distances. And

6 so can you find the one that -- see number 3 and 3/7? Can we just lay

7 these three documents on the overhead projector so that you can understand

8 the evidence before I ask you a question.

9 First of all, the title page, please, Mr. Nort for scene 3/7.

10 This is direction of travel of the victims and the witness pointing to the

11 areas where three Mehmetis, one aged 22, one aged 54 -- sorry, two

12 Mehmetis were killed. That's father and brother. Father and daughter, I

13 beg your pardon. I'm grateful.

14 Now, let's look at the first photograph, please. This shows the

15 surviving son who was injured and could have been seen in a hospital to be

16 spoken to, pointing to where his father and sister was killed.

17 Next photograph, please. And another view of the same.

18 Now, if you look at that location on 3/5, you've got your thing

19 pointed on it, help me with this: From all the materials that the accused

20 wants you to put into evidence and that therefore I assume you're familiar

21 with, is there any document that shows that weapons in the hands of the

22 man and his daughter who died there were collected from that place?

23 A. Of course I cannot answer this question because I have no

24 knowledge about this whatsoever.

25 Q. I'm sorry, Mr. Stevanovic. Your -- the invitation, which I'm

1 resisting, is that the Court should accept 140 documents analysing the

2 Racak incident. My search, and earnest search, is to find material that

3 shows in any way the recovery of weapons from these locations away from

4 location number 5.

5 Here is a location where a man and his daughter were shot and

6 where the son was injured. It's your material. It's not my material.

7 You're bringing it in. Is there any material anywhere that shows that

8 weapons were recovered from these out -- these distant places where people

9 died? Please help us.

10 A. I can help you in the following way: It is quite certain that in

11 the village of Racak there was fighting. There's no doubt about that. Of

12 course the reason for the fighting is the attack that came from Racak that

13 was launched against the police unit that had as its task to search for

14 the terrorists and find them.

15 I cannot testify in any great detail. I cannot testify about how

16 a particular person was killed or whether that particular person had

17 weapons or not.

18 You know and I know, of course, that in relation to the

19 investigation and other things that were supposed to be carried out after

20 the event itself there were quite a few problems. I know that the bodies

21 had been moved, that the unit did not stay there overnight to secure the

22 crime scene because of the danger of being attacked. So I really am not a

23 witness who can talk about minutiae of that kind that are yet very

24 important, and you insisted on that in your last question. That is a

25 matter for detailed and long investigation.

1 Q. Well, Mr. Stevanovic, at every possible point in your

2 evidence-in-chief to this accused, when asked about any crime site, you

3 gave answers that exculpated him and the Serbs. You do it on the basis of

4 documents you say you have examined, and I am unapologetic about seeking

5 your detailed help, for if you can't help us on the accused's behalf, I

6 don't know who can, you see.

7 Perhaps have a look at two more, and we'll look at this one. Find

8 on the map crime location 4, scene 9.

9 A. I assume, Mr. Prosecutor, that this question is structured along

10 similar lines as the previous one was. If I'm supposed to answer what

11 happened at a specific point in time at a specific place, then for me that

12 is a question that --

13 JUDGE ROBINSON: Wait for --

14 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Thank you.

15 MR. NICE:

16 Q. Now, if Mr. Nort would show on the overhead projector, you having

17 seen where crime scene 4/9 is, now please look at the photographs in

18 order. First of all the title page. Yes, leave the title page there.

19 This is crime location 4, scene 9, photographs showing the direction to

20 and the areas where three people were found, one aged 21, one aged 14, and

21 one aged 54.

22 Next photograph, please. Here we see a map showing where that

23 location is aerially viewed, at the end of an intended escape route.

24 Next photograph, please. This shows the three deceased clearly

25 moved from where they died to inside a house nearby, but it shows them.

1 The 14-year-old boy and the two others.

2 Now, looking -- and last photograph, please, Mr. Nort. That's the

3 father with his walking stick, as you see.

4 I'm going to ask you two questions about this part of the scene

5 that you've brought evidence about. First, the same first question: Do

6 you -- can you point me in your materials to any piece of paper that shows

7 the recovery of weapons from roughly the area of scene 4/9 where these

8 three people died?

9 A. I think that as for these tabs, there is not a single document

10 that would show that weapons were found on a particular person. As far as

11 I can recall, at the moment of the on-site investigation weapons were

12 found in one particular location or a few, due to the fact that the police

13 had left the scene.

14 I brought the documents that could have been compiled at the time

15 when they were compiled. The documents were compiled sometime after the

16 actual events and sometime after the situation on the scene itself had

17 been changed. All my information indicates that it was not the police

18 that changed the situation on the scene but it was the villagers who did

19 it or the terrorists, depending on what would be proven to be correct.

20 Q. All your information indicates that. Well, you better tell us

21 what it is, then. What is this information that shows the villagers had

22 changed the scene? If you want to say that, make it good.

23 A. I only know about that from information from documents that I read

24 or from the oral information I had from persons who were in charge of that

25 sector. I think that documents also indicate that fact, that is to say

1 that at least for one night the scene had not been under the control of

2 the police. That is the knowledge I have.

3 Q. Absolutely correct. Now, go -- but before you slur, if it is a

4 slur, the relations of those who died, I want you to make good your

5 observation that it wasn't the police that changed the situation on the

6 scene but the villagers who did it or the terrorists. I want you to make

7 that good.

8 A. Of course what I can prove to you is my own knowledge about that,

9 the knowledge I have from the documents that are presented here. I

10 repeat: I was not an eyewitness. I cannot, therefore, say to you that

11 the situation had been changed by the police or by the other side.

12 Q. Don't hold back. Tell us everything you were told by local

13 people, point us to every document to show that this scene was corrupted

14 by the bereaved and/or by the terrorists.

15 A. Mr. Prosecutor, the knowledge I have is that during one of the

16 continuations of the on-site investigation the bodies were found in the

17 mosque. I really cannot imagine any logical version that would involve

18 the police collecting the bodies and putting them into the mosque when the

19 danger was there of continued fighting and when the police had to withdraw

20 from the site.

21 Q. Absolutely right and everybody agrees that the bodies were

22 recovered. But that's not what you're saying. You're suggesting there

23 was some misrepresentation of where the bodies might have been found. I

24 want you to make that good.

25 A. No. Please, that's not what I said at all. I made a general

1 statement that when the fighting stopped and all the way up to the arrival

2 of the police investigation organs on the scene the situation on the scene

3 had been changed in the meantime.

4 Q. Would you like to turn to the map this time and look to crime

5 location 2, scene 2, and we'll all see that displayed with the audiovisual

6 booth's assistance, if we could have a look at the map.

7 Crime location 2, there we see it, scene 2. Still some

8 considerable distance from number 5, the gully.

9 Mr. Nort, if you'd now be good enough to display on the overhead

10 projector the title page. This is 2/2, photograph showing the direction

11 from the village to and the areas where three men, 60, 62, and 58, were

12 killed. And let's take the first photograph, please.

13 Now, these three brothers who you see lying there in the area of I

14 think their home but I'm not sure of that, the same question again: Any

15 material in the papers that can explain who, when, and how their weapons

16 were removed from this scene?

17 A. Quite certainly there is no fact that can be ascertained in terms

18 of who took what weapon from what individual. Could you please be so kind

19 as to tell me the origin of these photographs? Were these taken by the

20 police or by who? I do not recall having seen this photograph.

21 Q. These were taken by OSCE on the first arrival of the international

22 presence there, by a witness who has been called before this Court.

23 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson.

24 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

25 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] It's finally now that Mr. Nice

1 explained to the witness what kind of exhibits these are. He's bringing

2 into question the documents that are very voluminous, that pertain to

3 Racak, and that General Stevanovic testified about. And then, while

4 bringing that into question, he is not showing him exhibits that have to

5 do with his testimony. He's showing him his own exhibits, and General

6 Stevanovic is not testifying about that. I don't think that that is

7 proper to challenge things in that way during the cross-examination, to

8 challenge something that the witness did not even speak about at all. The

9 witness did not speak about the exhibits that Mr. Nice has, he spoke about

10 the documents that the police had, and he's asking him to explain his

11 exhibits. How can General Stevanovic explain Mr. Nice's exhibits?

12 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, the Prosecutor is entitled in

13 cross-examination to put an exhibit to the witness notwithstanding that it

14 wasn't put in chief.

15 If there is a problem with the authenticity, the source of the

16 witness, then that is a matter that can be raised either by the witness or

17 by yourself.

18 Proceed, Mr. Nice.

19 MR. NICE:

20 Q. Mr. Stevanovic, you have heard the accused's observations. You

21 will have heard me ask you half a dozen times in the last 15 minutes to

22 point us to any exhibit in the pile of exhibits that the accused wants to

23 produce through you that deals with the issues I raise. Are there any

24 documents in the exhibits you produce or, rather, that the accused wishes

25 to produce through you that deal with the issues I've raised?

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1 A. I really looked at all the documents that were put into several

2 tabs and that have to do with Racak. These are documents that the police

3 and the investigative judge in charge prepared, and those are the

4 documents that I had occasion to see. I did not have an opportunity to

5 see the photographs that were made by someone else. Possibly I saw them

6 on television without knowing whose photographs they were.

7 Of course, according to what I know and according to what exists

8 in the Ministry of Interior, I said what I said and I brought here, that

9 is contained in the binders, in the documents, a series of documents in

10 terms of what I said.

11 As for the details of the event itself, I repeat once again, and

12 the events at the microlocations, I really do not know about the details.

13 Q. You remember that we -- you were asked a question, I think by His

14 Honour Judge Bonomy in respect of Racak, Is there a statement from the man

15 in charge of the exercise? You were asked a similar question by me. It

16 was made clear to you that you were the policeman, whether just public or

17 public and secret is another matter, but you were the policeman dealing

18 with all crime sites. I don't have anybody else to ask apart from you.

19 That's why I'm asking you these questions. Do you understand that?

20 All right. Mr. Nort, the next picture, please, or the next --

21 A. I would like to answer, of course. I could give answers to

22 questions about which I have knowledge. Regrettably, as a rule you put

23 questions to me about which I know less, but that's simply the way it is.

24 Had you asked me about details about which I do know, of course my

25 questions [as interpreted] would have been positive for the most part.

1 Since your questions are such that you are basically asking me about

2 microdetails which, I repeat, are very important, it is only natural that

3 I, generally speaking, give negative answers because I was not there. I

4 was not an eyewitness.

5 Q. I'm still going to ask you a few more questions and then we'll

6 move on, but this photograph here has white and blue markers. On the

7 evidence, the white markers are the bodies and the blue markers are the

8 bullets or are bullets. You see?

9 It may be suggested, I don't know if this is your suggestion, that

10 the bodies were redistributed around the area of Racak after they died

11 somewhere else. Is there any document in -- that you can turn us to or

12 any piece of information or any bit of hearsay that a villager gave to

13 you, anything you like, Mr. Stevanovic, that could explain how it is that

14 these three men, 58 to 60, are lying where they are with bullets in the

15 appropriate location with no evidence of weapons being taken from the

16 three brothers? Is there anything that can explain that?

17 A. Unfortunately, my answer will be similar to the previous answers I

18 gave. First of all, I don't know whether weapons were found or not as

19 regards these three particular casualties.

20 Secondly, I don't know whether they were moved or not in relation

21 to the specific microlocation. I know, generally speaking, that when the

22 -- after the on-site investigation had started, the scene had been changed

23 significantly, because most of the victims happened to be later in the

24 mosque, which is in the village, in the centre of the village, wherever.

25 Q. My last question on this type relates -- if Mr. Nort will be good

1 enough, and we'll move on to another issue. 156, tab 12. Just lay that

2 on the overhead projector, please.

3 We're now back, Mr. Stevanovic, to the gully where the large

4 majority of people were found, and European Union expert team -- the

5 colours aren't showing very well, at least not on my monitor but I hope

6 they're sufficient -- discovered bullets and bullet casings at the scene

7 of the gully, the black numbers referring to various bodies that were

8 found there. Do you follow?

9 A. Yes.

10 Q. The blue, almost all in the gully or thereabouts, are bullets.

11 The red are bullet casings.

12 Now, you've had a lot of experience in Kosovo, as you tell us.

13 You were in charge of special units in Croatia, and you were the senior

14 officer in the Bosnian borders, so you had a lot of experience of this

15 war. Does that distribution of bullet casings and bullets and dead men

16 suggest an execution to you?

17 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson.

18 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

19 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Nice put that kind of question

20 to Professor Dobricanin, who is a forensic expert, and the answer he got

21 is that is impossible because of the bullet path direction. I think that

22 it is pointless to put this kind of question --

23 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, if the witness cannot answer the

24 question, he's competent to say so.

25 Are you in a position to answer the question?

1 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, I really am not a forensic

2 expert or a ballistics expert. As the Prosecutor said, I did not have any

3 experience from combat. I did not take part in any combat, and I never

4 analysed the traces of the projectile, the place where the casings are,

5 the place where the casualties were, et cetera. I can talk about that as

6 someone who is a bit in a better position than a pure layman, because I

7 have graduated from the military academy after all, but I really cannot

8 give you a qualified answer to any one of these questions.

9 MR. NICE:

10 Q. Last question on this document: If the men in the gully died

11 where they fell and if they were firing back, you would expect to find

12 shell casings from their guns in their positions. Is there any document

13 that you know of in the material that you've produced that explains why no

14 such shell casings were found?

15 A. In principle, I can agree with the first statement you made, but I

16 repeat: The police did not carry out an on-site investigation immediately

17 after the event concerned and at the moment when the victims were in the

18 place where they got killed. Obviously you made a considerable effort to

19 do this and to have your concept of this. This is the first time I see

20 this picture. In order to give any kind of answer, I would have to give

21 it a great deal of thought and I'd have to consult and so on and so forth.

22 A lot of things could have happened within a single hour on the

23 scene, not to mention all the things that could happen within one year or

24 even more than that. One of the axioms of criminal investigations is that

25 nothing should be changed on the site itself so that the investigation

1 could start on a stable basis. Regrettably, what happened here happened.

2 Q. You've never considered the forensic scientific evidence, the

3 evidence of photographs, and all the other material available to this

4 Court, have you?

5 A. I have seen what is contained in the tabs that are here right next

6 to me. As for the other exhibits you have, I have not seen them except

7 for those that you showed me during these proceedings.

8 Q. Now, as to the --

9 MR. NICE: Thank you for that, Mr. Nort. I think that's ...

10 Q. As to the identity of the victims, what can you help us with so

11 far as that's concerned? What sort of victims were they?

12 A. As far as I can remember, a vast majority of the victims were men.

13 I seem to remember only one woman and one child. I don't think there were

14 more persons who belonged to those categories. There were persons

15 belonging to different age groups, though.

16 Q. And as to the suggestion that the victims were either civilians or

17 members of the KLA or fighting members of the KLA, how can you help us,

18 please?

19 A. All my knowledge indicates that these are persons who were engaged

20 in fighting.

21 Q. Detail, please. All your knowledge.

22 A. Of course, in fighting there can be collateral consequences as

23 well. I haven't got any details. I really have not got any details.

24 Q. All your knowledge, can you -- if you want to say things like

25 that, can you explain why? Why do you say these people were KLA?

1 A. I say that on the basis of the information that I believed and

2 that I believe now, too, on the basis of the information received from the

3 persons in charge of the territory of Racak and on the basis of the

4 documents that I read, that I familiarised myself with, and that are

5 contained here.

6 Q. Generalities aren't going to help us assess your evidence,

7 Mr. Stevanovic. Who spoke to you and told you they were KLA? Which

8 documents have you relied on? Point us to them.

9 A. It was an attack on the police using firearms. It is quite

10 certain that civilians would not attack the police using firearms. That

11 would be an extreme case. But if that happens where the KLA headquarters

12 is anyway, anybody who attacks the police, it is only logical, would have

13 to belong to that group, that formation.

14 There can be some exceptions, though, and of course the

15 consequences may perhaps be broader than consequences sustained by the

16 terrorists only. When there is fighting in an area that is so close to

17 residential areas, that kind of possibility cannot be precluded

18 altogether.

19 Q. You know there's no statement in all the papers from the man who

20 led the operation for the Serb police, so can you point me to any other

21 statement, written statement, or you can tell us what you were told by one

22 of policemen. Go on, tell us what you were told or what you read.

23 A. In this documentation, indeed there is no statement of the person

24 who led the operation itself. We have stated that several times now. But

25 there is a report that includes that kind of information too. Of course

1 that does not mean that a witness will not come here, as you said awhile

2 ago, who would bring all of this and who will be an eyewitness who will

3 testify to all of that. I can only testify to what I know, and I can only

4 tell you about things I know. You keep insisting that I should talk about

5 the situation on the ground, and it is general knowledge by now that I was

6 not there.

7 Q. Well, within the papers you've produced, is there any particular

8 category of document that you rely on to show that these victims were

9 actually members of the KLA?

10 A. I used documents that we quoted in part during my testimony.

11 Q. Well, what were they? You tell us.

12 A. I've already mentioned one of them. That is the report that we

13 quoted in part. Then there is the record of the on-site investigation.

14 It is the entire documentation contained in these tabs. We can have a

15 look at it again now and analyse it again.

16 You have to decide that. I cannot search for it through the tabs

17 now and remember each and every individual document.

18 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson.

19 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.

20 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I would like to draw your attention

21 to the following: The documents that have to do with Racak and that were

22 tendered here during General Stevanovic's testimony are in 7, 8 and 9,

23 tabs 7, 8 and 9. These are three tabs with a large number of documents.

24 If Mr. Nice wants to ask him about some document, he has to indicate the

25 document he has in mind. No one can expect the witness to know all those

1 documents just off-the-cuff. They're right next to him. Show them to

2 him. But this is not a fair way of dealing with it.

3 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Nice, if you have in mind a particular

4 document from any of those tabs, then you can direct the witness to that.

5 MR. NICE: If I chose to, Your Honour, but it's not my choice.

6 JUDGE BONOMY: Indeed, why should Mr. Nice direct the witness to

7 documents that he is professing a knowledge of?

8 MR. NICE: I'm grateful to Your Honour.

9 Q. I'm going to turn to -- that's all I'm going to ask specifically

10 related to Racak, I think, for the time being, but I want to ask you one

11 other question that may ultimately become associated, and it's this: As a

12 senior policeman, if material's published going to show that one of your

13 police stations is behaving improperly, what action would you take?

14 A. Whenever knowledge reaches me that any policeman, and especially a

15 whole police unit, is behaving unlawfully, according to the rules the

16 leader of that station is informed about the report coming in, and he is

17 required to report on it. If the complaint is of a more serious nature,

18 then as a rule a group is set up at a higher level which is given the

19 assignment of looking into the matter, checking everything out, and

20 talking to the person submitting the criminal report, talking and

21 interviewing the people concerned --

22 Q. Very well.

23 A. -- and so on.

24 MR. NICE: I don't know whether --

25 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, it's a convenient time. We'll take a break

1 for 20 minutes.

2 --- Recess taken at 10.31 a.m.

3 --- On resuming at 10.54 a.m.

4 JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Nice.

5 MR. NICE: Before I return to where I was, so as not to overlook

6 something, I should tell the Court that we have identified a newspaper

7 article this morning - today is the 6th of June, is it not? - referring to

8 the sitting of the Skorpions trial of the -- or the trial of the Skorpion

9 Cvjetan, resumption of the trial. It doesn't in any sense change my

10 position vis-a-vis this witness, but it is true that the matter was

11 referred to in Serbian newspaper today.

12 Q. I return to where we were. Would you look, please, at this

13 document, which is not yet an exhibit. One for the overhead projector

14 because it's in English and it's not in. One for the accused. One for

15 the accused and then we'll deal with the overhead projector.

16 It's in English, Mr. Stevanovic, so --

17 MR. NICE: No, Mr. Nort. One for the accused. Thank you. And

18 one for the overhead projector. If we could go to the last page but one,

19 Mr. Nort. It's got 31 on the bottom right-hand corner, so that we can

20 just see what it says there. 31, bottom right-hand corner. Second to

21 last page. Thank you. You were there.

22 Q. This is a document, right at the bottom under "Note." Right.

23 "This Spotlight --" thank you very much. "This Spotlight Report," says

24 the document, Kosovo Albanians, it has been sent to the parliament,

25 government, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, prosecutor's

1 office, and the president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and to

2 the same institutions of the Republic of Serbia.

3 "The report is being sent to the United Nations General Assembly,

4 Security Council," et cetera, et cetera.

5 This is a report prepared by the Humanitarian Law Centre, of which

6 we've spoken earlier.

7 And if we come back to the front page, please, Mr. Nort, you will

8 see what that says about it. It's report number 16, "Kosovo Albanians,"

9 dated February 1995.

10 Were you aware personally of the receipt of this document by the

11 organs of government referred to?

12 A. No. This is the first time that I see a report with this title

13 page, cover page, and I don't know that it was sent to anybody, but of

14 course I have no --

15 Q. You have no reason to doubt, do you, that the Humanitarian Law

16 Centre, whose aim is to publicise wrongdoing and get action taken, would

17 have sent this document to the organs of government identified. You have

18 no reason to doubt that, do you?

19 A. In principle, I do not, but I don't have any knowledge as to

20 whether it was actually sent or not.

21 THE INTERPRETER: Might the volume of the interpretation be put

22 up, please, for the witness.

23 MR. NICE: Mr. Nort, if we could turn, please, to the bottom

24 right-hand corner of page 15 and we'll rapidly turn to page 16.

25 Q. This report, you see, Mr. Stevanovic, sent as it suggests to all

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1 the organs of government - right at the bottom of the page, please - says

2 under 3.3 this: "Electric shock at the Urosevac police station." And it

3 reads: "FE, an 18-year-old, lives with his mother and younger brothers.

4 On the morning of 11 April 1994, he was awakened by the doorbell. Before

5 --" Over the page, please. "Before he could get dressed and downstairs,

6 the police were already in the house. They had broken the glass in the

7 front door and entered. They spoke Serbian, but when FE said he didn't

8 understand, they switched to Albanian. They asked for and took his

9 passport and driver's licence. They said they knew he was hiding weapons

10 and would search the house. They looked under FE's bed, nothing more, and

11 then took him with them to the police station.

12 "They made me take off my shoes and sit on the floor. Two of

13 them sat on my legs and asked if I had guns. 'No,' I answered, and the

14 two of them ten truncheons each to the soles of my feet. They asked

15 again. I answered the same. Again, ten blows from each. Then it was

16 that they'd kill my mother if I don't tell them where my guns are. I said

17 nothing. For the third time, ten blows from each. A total of 30 blows on

18 each sole. They pulled me up on my feet, leaned me against a wall, boxed

19 my head and ears, went at me with their truncheons until I was bleeding

20 from the mouth. I fell, they pulled me up and again the same question. I

21 answered they could do what they like, but I still had no guns. They

22 ordered me to take off my pants. I was slow because of the pain, so they

23 pulled them off. They tied my hands behind my back with my belt. They

24 made me lay on the floor. I saw something that looked like a telephone.

25 When I tried to get up, they pushed me down even harder. One held down my

1 head and the other sat on my legs. They stuck wires from the apparatus

2 that looked like a phone in my ears and on my sex organs. The pain was

3 horrible. It was so terrible I lifted both of them, even though I was

4 lying flat. When I screamed, they interrupted saying, 'Don't scream, it's

5 disturbing.' They switched on the electricity three times. In between,

6 they smoked cigarettes. They offered me one. While the electricity was

7 on, they forced me to say, 'Hello,' 'I'll come tomorrow,' and similar

8 nonsense. Finally, they told me to think it all over carefully and to

9 bring in the guns in two days. They never mentioned what kind of guns. I

10 had to hang on the fences to make it home."

11 If true, a terrible indictment of that police station. Do you

12 agree?

13 A. Of course. If even part of this is true, then it's a terrible

14 indictment of that police station.

15 Q. In light of what you said before the break, such information

16 demands an inquiry by the police authorities, including yourself.

17 A. Information of this kind of course demands urgent inquiry and

18 investigation on the part of the authorities of the MUP, but let me say

19 that I really don't remember an event of this kind. That, of course, does

20 not mean that it wasn't investigated and that the corresponding steps were

21 not taken, but I really don't have any information about the event or

22 whether any steps were taken by the police in that regard.

23 Q. And -- you're ahead of me. I want you to take us to, point us to,

24 tell us where we can find any investigation by your police of this

25 allegation identifying as it should and could the policemen involved. Can

1 you point me to where I can find such an investigation?

2 A. Of course. The place to check out what was done pursuant to that

3 information and whether the information was indeed sent to the Ministry of

4 the Interior is the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia. I do not believe

5 that it could happen that anybody in the Ministry of the Interior should

6 receive information of this kind and not take urgent steps to check out

7 the allegations.

8 Q. The truth is that by 1995, Kosovo was a violent police state and

9 allegations like this would simply be overlooked because they would be

10 standard. Right or wrong.

11 A. No. Let me remind you, and let me explain why I probably didn't

12 have information of that kind if it did reach the ministry at all. Let me

13 remind you, as I was saying, that in 1995 and 1996 I spent time in Eastern

14 Slavonia, and that was my assignment at that period. Of course, I didn't

15 actually look at the date of the information, when it was sent to the

16 ministry. I do not believe that it could happen that I don't know about

17 this piece of information had it arrived in the ministry when I was in

18 Belgrade. Quite possibly it arrived when I was not in Belgrade. But

19 regardless of when it did actually arrive, I'm quite sure and certain

20 that, having received information of this kind, all measures must have

21 been taken to establish or challenge the truth of those allegations.

22 Q. Well, I call for those documents if you're able to find them and

23 provide them for us.

24 Let me tell you something else: On the 22nd of May of 2002, three

25 years ago, and at page 5554 to 5557 of the Court record, a witness gave an

1 account not of being beaten himself but of seeing beatings by two police

2 officers whom he named, a man called Jasovic and a man called Sparavalo.

3 Do you know anything about those officers or nothing?

4 A. I met Mr. Jasovic in The Hague while we were waiting to testify.

5 Before that, I had not heard of either name.

6 Q. You see, what this witness said well before the Defence case, well

7 before any of the issues that you raise was that he saw a 50-year-old man

8 Muhamed Bega from Ferizaj tied to a chair, handcuffed, and being beaten by

9 those two officers. You know nothing to challenge the evidence of that

10 witness, do you?

11 A. First of all, I don't know the testimony of the witness and then I

12 don't know whether the witness did or did not tell the truth. For me to

13 be able to say anything about any specific event and concrete information,

14 I would have to know the contents of the information and to try to

15 remember whether I know anything about it. Perhaps it would be important

16 to note - let me repeat this once again - that in both cases, if they did

17 actually occur, are very grievous cases, but on condition that they did

18 happen, this was individual unlawful action on the part of individuals, on

19 the part of individual policemen, and this is recorded in all countries.

20 I'm well aware of that.

21 Now, the question is how far that behaviour was prevalent and what

22 the reactions to that kind of behaviour and conduct is. But we cannot

23 generalise this matter and conclude that the police as a whole in Kosovo

24 was violent and brutal and that there was a police state, as you termed

25 it, in Kosovo. And of course both cases are to be condemned, that is not

1 to be challenged at all, if they did indeed happen.

2 Q. Very well.

3 MR. NICE: Well, Your Honours, I really have now, I think,

4 concluded with Kosovo. Can I make, however, for your assistance the

5 following observations -- no, perhaps I'd better ask the witness one

6 question first and then I'll come back.

7 Q. So far as Racak is concerned, Mr. Stevanovic, the materials you

8 produce show, as is evidenced in this Court, that the KLA were present in

9 Racak and indeed they did fire weapons on the morning of the 15th.

10 A. Yes. That is shown by the materials that I read out and the

11 information I had with respect to the event in Racak. And there are a

12 series of operative informations, that is to say Official Notes, which

13 speak of the activity of terrorists in Racak.

14 Q. Thank you.

15 A. And the way in which they jeopardised communication lines between

16 Stimlje and Prizren, and Stimlje-Urosevac as well.

17 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... try and keep you short. But

18 the materials you've produced, the papers you produce, none of them gives

19 a narrative account from an eyewitness of what happened, and it's all, so

20 far as the Serb side is concerned, a matter of inference at best. Isn't

21 that the reality?

22 A. In the tabs, you will find a report on Racak or it contains a

23 report on Racak compiled by the corresponding working group, and from that

24 event we can see the sequence of activities on that day, what actions were

25 taken and what each of the units did and what the consequences of their

1 actions were. All the other documents show quite a bit more detail on it.

2 Of course, all the details contained in the documents are based on

3 knowledge before the event, knowledge about the event, and especially

4 knowledge after the event, which is when the investigations were launched,

5 with all the problems that we highlighted when we discussed the matter.

6 Q. And finally, although you may say you can't answer this I must

7 make the suggestion so my position is clear: The documents prepared by

8 the various Serb authorities avoid dealing with detail in order to obscure

9 the truth and thus never cover issues like the recovery of weapons or the

10 location of dead bodies. What do you say to that?

11 A. If you mean Racak itself, if that's what you have in mind with

12 that question, then it is clear why those details are not there. They're

13 not there because the documentation of the entire event was conducted

14 after the situation changed on the spot, on the location.

15 If you look at other cases that are also to be found in the tabs,

16 you will be able to see that you have the most minute details that are

17 recorded and documented on the scene of the crime once an on-site

18 investigation took place after the event, immediately after the event

19 itself, like the event in Suva Reka and I can't remember the others now.

20 MR. NICE: Your Honours, can I explain what we've done, although

21 it may be simply a matter of interest. I've drawn from every source that

22 I can accounts coming from the Serb side about Racak and put them

23 chronologically. To explore it with any witness would take a very great

24 deal of time. The majority of the documents come from sources other than

25 this witness's proposed documents but some do come from his 140-odd

1 documents. I mention that now because obviously we'll have to deal with

2 that when I seek to exclude either all his documents or all his documents

3 bar those few, but at some stage an analysis of the documents in

4 chronological order is likely, in the conventional way, to assist but it

5 would simply take far more time than I'm disposed to take on this

6 occasion. We may be able to deal with that material through another

7 witness.

8 Q. Can we turn to Izbica, please. You gave evidence about Izbica.

9 Again, of course, you weren't there, were you, ever, or were you? Never

10 there?

11 A. No, I was never there.

12 Q. Can we look at tab 69, please, in volume 2.

13 MR. NICE: Your Honours, just bear with me one minute. I haven't

14 marked it, I'm afraid.

15 Q. Is this a meeting at which you were present? Yes, you were. And

16 we will find --

17 A. Yes.

18 Q. We will find in it -- I've temporarily mislaid my reference, my

19 reference to Izbica.

20 A. Izbica should not be mentioned because we're dealing with the 17th

21 of February, but perhaps that is possible. Is it tab 69?

22 Q. Yes.

23 A. In those minutes? Thank you.

24 Q. I'll come back to that in case I'm in error.

25 By March of 1999, is it right that both the MUP and the VJ were

1 operating in the Drenica region?

2 A. Up until March 1999?

3 Q. Yes. On or about March 1999.

4 A. Well, in 1998 and 1999, both the police and army were operating

5 all over Kosovo and in Drenica certainly.

6 Q. Very well. Were they acting together?

7 A. Each of them did their own job within the frameworks of their

8 competencies, and in the anti-terrorist activities, yes, they did work

9 together.

10 Q. Your evidence about Izbica, does it challenge the fact in any way

11 that the people gathering in Izbica were divided, men from women?

12 A. As to the division of the people gathered there into men and

13 women, I learnt about that from the indictment and from your questions or

14 quotations from parts of the indictment.

15 Q. But if there's been evidence given to this Court that that's what

16 happened and the men were then massacred, do you have any reason to doubt

17 the accuracy of that?

18 A. Well, I do have reason to doubt because of the fact, if I recall

19 correctly, that in the indictment it says that the number of civilians was

20 several thousand and that the men were separated from the women, children,

21 and elderly and that they were then executed. So from that context and

22 that wording, it would emerge that in a group of 4 or 5.000 civilians

23 there were just 100 men, which is really illogical, and that lack of logic

24 is something that I'm aware of. But let me remind you that everything the

25 police knows about Izbica it knows from the moment at which on the

1 internet or some television screen a satellite image appeared. So the

2 police did not have any knowledge about what had happened before that in

3 that zone, in that area.

4 Q. You see, the evidence that we have includes evidence of somebody

5 who took photographs at the time. Part of our Exhibit 162, tab 4. Here

6 is a photograph of a man with crutches, or with a crutch. Just have a

7 look at that one as an example to remind us.

8 When you were interviewed as a suspect, you didn't suggest that

9 the victim -- here's another one. Have a look at this one, please,

10 Mr. Nort. Same exhibit.

11 You didn't suggest in interview that these victims were active KLA

12 fighters. Is that still your position?

13 A. I spoke about the victims who were found in the, conditionally

14 speaking, freshly dug graves in Izbica on the basis of the photographs.

15 And I think I remember correctly I did not know where the victims had come

16 from in that grave and what the cause of their death was. That was

17 supposed to be the subject of investigation.

18 Q. The investigation has never, if it took place and was

19 conscientious, it was never revealed that these victims -- Mr. Nort, this

20 one, please -- it has never revealed, has it, that people shown, for

21 example, in this photograph were members of the KLA actively fighting, has

22 it? That's how they were found.

23 A. Well, if I remember correctly, during this testimony, from the

24 documents we have here, we were able to note at least four pieces of

25 highly valuable evidence that at least four persons belonged to the KLA.

1 As far as the others are concerned, their membership in the KLA was

2 neither refuted nor confirmed. But that evidence is related to the

3 victims found in that grave, and that is part of the case file that we saw

4 here.

5 Q. Please feel free -- if you want to say now different from what you

6 said in your interview, that all these men were fighting members of the

7 KLA, please do so. Is that your -- is that now your evidence?

8 A. Of course not. I do not wish to say anything that I don't know or

9 I have no information about. Of course I don't want to change my evidence

10 in any way.

11 Q. Very well.

12 MR. NICE: I'll take that one back, please, Mr. Nort.

13 Q. Then you lingered on the fact that the graves were individual and

14 not a mass grave. Well, that's the evidence we've heard, that that's how

15 they were dug, that they were all dug at the same time. It's quite clear

16 from your own evidence and from the photograph you looked at, similar to

17 the photographs produced in the Prosecution, that the graves were clearly

18 dug at the same time; correct?

19 A. Individual graves were dug at the same time, relatively speaking,

20 during the same day, but every person that was buried was buried into an

21 individual grave, and all the individual graves were in one location

22 alone. I did not believe that that was called a mass grave. I believe

23 that to be a graveyard. That is how I understand these concepts.

24 Q. Are you in some way critical of the villagers and the bereaved who

25 allocated individual graves to individual bodies? Would you have

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1 preferred them to be in a mass grave?

2 A. That has absolutely nothing to do with what I said. I'm simply

3 speaking about the facts from the site. Of course I would not have

4 preferred to have found a mass grave, and of course I wouldn't like any

5 bodies to have been there. I would have preferred that there had been no

6 war and no terrorism in Kosovo at all, and I regret it deeply that you are

7 trying to portray me as the creator and architect of what happened in

8 Kosovo. Of course it would have never crossed my mind.

9 Q. I want to know, as we listen to your evidence about individual

10 graves, what point you're trying to make. But if you're saying that you

11 believe in the dignity of the dead, help me with this: When your

12 authorities exhumed those bodies, what machine did they use?

13 A. I really don't know that. I really don't know which machine they

14 used.

15 Q. An excavator?

16 A. I cannot believe that an excavator was used, a machine normally

17 used for digging trenches. There are photographs of the grave, and I --

18 it would be below everybody's dignity to have used an excavator. I can't

19 believe it.

20 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... tab 69. It was the right

21 tab. My colleagues were right and I missed the point. Can we look at 69,

22 please.

23 It's on page 2 in the English, and it's at a paragraph beginning

24 with the words "Montenegro," in English. So that will translate to the --

25 I think the bottom of the first page and over to the second page in your

1 version. I'm not sure.

2 Do you see a passage there, it's about three-quarters of the way

3 down, which says at this MUP staff meeting: "The staff plans to carry out

4 three mopping-up operations in the Podujevo, Dragobilje, and Drenica

5 areas"? Do you see that passage? It's right at the foot of page 1.

6 Because it goes on to say "and has allotted around 4.000 policemen, around

7 70 policemen of the operative pursuit group, and about 900 police

8 reservists." Do you see that? At the bottom of page 1.

9 A. I regret to say I haven't found it yet. The first page begins, in

10 my version: "The main thrust is towards stopping covert activities."

11 Maybe we are looking at different documents.

12 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... five lines up. "The staff

13 plans to carry out three mopping-up --"

14 A. I'm sorry. I was looking at a completely different tab.

15 Q. Before we come to the events at --

16 A. Yes, I can see that now.

17 Q. Before we come to these events that happened in March, we see that

18 the MUP were planning mopping-up operations in the Izbica area. What did

19 you mean by "mopping-up," those of you attending this meeting on the 17th

20 of February?

21 A. I have explained more than once that the term "mopping-up" means

22 only mopping up the territory from terrorists. It has several meanings.

23 It means to clear up roads, and it means also sanitisation. But in the

24 context of anti-terrorist actions, what is meant are certain specific

25 anti-terrorist actions that were planned to take place in certain areas.

1 That should not be a problem. Podujevo, Dragobilje and Drenica are three

2 regions in Kosovo that were notorious for the presence and activities of

3 terrorists.

4 Q. I suppose the lawful police force in February of 1999 would be

5 using the word "mopping up" to mean arresting wherever possible and only

6 resorting to violence and killing people if absolutely essential. Would

7 that be about right?

8 A. In a certain sense, what you said is correct. The objective is

9 what I have already explained it to be, and the consequences were

10 undesirable.

11 Q. Let's go to your diary next, then, please, at page 98 in the

12 English, which we'll place on the overhead projector, which I think will

13 be -- I'll find it for you. It's coming.

14 MR. NICE: You might like to put these -- if you can, Mr. Nort, if

15 you can put the B/C/S on the overhead projector, as well as the English.

16 I don't know if that's going to be possible.

17 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Could you help me? Which tab is

18 that?

19 JUDGE KWON: 440.

20 MR. NICE:

21 Q. 440. Thanks very much.

22 JUDGE KWON: Binder 17.

23 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I don't have it here. It seems I

24 don't have it in my set.

25 MR. NICE:

1 Q. Can you have this copy in front of you to save time. What we see

2 on this entry --

3 THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please.

4 MR. NICE:

5 Q. What we see on this entry, which is for the 21st of May, according

6 to the previous page in English, is an entry that says: "Clearing up the

7 terrain, Izbica."

8 Well, now, what was that all about?

9 A. I need to find it first. Please, I can't find it. Did you say it

10 was page 79?

11 Q. Item number 2 in the list of --

12 A. Yes, yes, yes. I've found it.

13 Q. "Clearing up the terrain, Izbica. Criminal offences. Isolation.

14 Return of weapons." What does all that mean?

15 A. Please. Under item 2 it doesn't say clearing up the terrain, it

16 says "asanacija," "sanitisation," but I will remind you that I said before

17 that we had found about Izbica through an aerial photograph and that we

18 spent several days looking for that place Izbica. I cannot confirm now

19 that we found it, but it seems that we did.

20 And do you know what "sanitisation" means? You have seen it at

21 the example of Pusto Selo. It implies in this case all that is done in

22 keeping with the law on criminal procedure, that means exhumation,

23 verification of information received, in this case the information was

24 obviously checked, and then all the subsequent steps, exhumations pursuant

25 to the orders of the investigating judge, on-site investigation,

1 post-mortems and everything else that you can find in the case file that I

2 brought.

3 Q. [Previous translation continues] ...

4 A. So this is about casualties, people who were killed.

5 Q. The reason Izbica had to be investigated is because it was

6 publicised and aerial photographs were produced by international bodies

7 and you had no choice. That's the truth, isn't it?

8 A. That is absolutely not the truth. There were only two cases in

9 Kosovo when we found out about such things, Izbica and Pusto Selo.

10 Q. [Previous translation continues] ...

11 A. In all the other 1.500 cases, we found about these cases in a

12 different way.

13 Q. But you're -- you're asking us to accept, I take it, that with

14 however many policemen there were on the ground in Kosovo altogether,

15 perhaps 15.000 [Realtime transcript read in error "150.000"] police at the

16 time, and with 100 people dying you needed international assistance to

17 tell you that the crime was committed and then you needed days to find the

18 village. Is that really your position, Mr. Stevanovic?

19 A. First of all, let me say that there were never 150.000 policemen.

20 There were 15.000 at the most. And of course we didn't need the

21 international organisations to tell us first. We simply needed --

22 Q. [Previous translation continues] ...

23 A. -- information, reports.

24 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... small territory like Kosovo.

25 That can't be right, can it? Who --

1 A. I am telling you that it is true, but it does seem illogical. We

2 were simply unable to find it. There is footage showing journalists

3 searching together with us, and they indeed did. We found the place seven

4 days after we started looking. Approximately seven days.

5 Q. Then we move, if we can, please, to page --

6 A. That is accurate. That is true.

7 Q. I should ask you, what does the word "crimes" mean on that --

8 "criminal offences" mean on that entry? What criminal offences are you

9 referring to there if it's only asanacija, sanitisation, that you're

10 dealing with?

11 A. Well, if you look more carefully, item 2 is subheaded "Legality"

12 in general terms, whereas sanitisation is one of the measures to ensure

13 legality. "Criminal offences" implies detection of criminal offences,

14 pursuit of criminal offences, et cetera; work on criminal offences in the

15 broadest sense.

16 Q. Sorry, I don't understand you. What criminal offences did you at

17 this time think had been committed? Or was it a question of you knew that

18 criminal offences had been committed?

19 A. It is not at all in dispute that at the time there were a lot of

20 criminal offences. I have already shown you tables showing exactly how

21 many, and there are lists for every crime in particular. But in this

22 context when one insists on legality, criminal offences are a priority in

23 terms of detecting, investigating, processing perpetrators, et cetera. So

24 all the work related to criminal offences must be done intensively in

25 order to ensure legality of procedure.

1 Maybe you think that -- I simply cannot understand your thinking,

2 your reasoning, because if you are biased or ill-intentioned, every theory

3 can be interpreted in different ways.

4 Q. Mr. Stevanovic, I want to give you an opportunity to interpret for

5 us words that may be of interest for the Court in due course. If you've

6 got nothing more to say on the meaning of crimes in that setting, let's

7 return to page 100 that we looked at before, coming your way for speed.

8 We looked at this in the setting of the entry towards the top of the page

9 which says: "Remove traces of violence against property." We substituted

10 the word "property" for "civilians," as the court will remember. But I

11 want to look a little bit above that in this entry which speaks of

12 "Clearing up the terrain."

13 A. Yes.

14 Q. "Clearing up the terrain --"

15 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic.

16 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Would you please ask Mr. Nice that

17 when he is showing pages, he should do it the way he did it before,

18 quoting the ERN number, because it is difficult to find these pages in the

19 diary the way he's indicating them now.

20 MR. NICE: R0172446 for the accused.

21 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Mr. Nice.

22 MR. NICE:

23 Q. Mr. Stevanovic, here, you see, we have: "Clearing up the terrain.

24 We must know the truth. Each case must be solved. Izbica - Buha."

25 Now, tell us about Buha. He was a PJP commander, wasn't he?

1 A. Correct. He was the commander of one of the PJP units, and at

2 that point in time we assumed that he had a unit in that area, and

3 obviously there is reference here --

4 Q. Not too fast. Let's just deal with it step-by-step. "We assumed

5 he had a unit in the area." Why did you make such an assumption?

6 A. Because we knew roughly the area of deployment of each unit,

7 although I did say before that, depending on the assignment, these units

8 changed their area of activity.

9 Q. So if, for example, a PJP unit had committed this dreadful

10 massacre, the probabilities are it was Buha's unit. Correct?

11 A. Well, on the assumption that he was really there at that time. We

12 are talking about the time when the graves were found. We are not talking

13 about the time of the event, because let me remind you, the time of the

14 event, as indicated in the indictment, is the month of March, and the time

15 when the grave was found was the month of April. And the assumption here

16 is --

17 Q. [Previous translation continues] ...

18 A. -- that he was then in the area.

19 Q. [Previous translation continues] ... "We must know the truth."

20 A. I'm sorry, I really don't have that intention.

21 Q. "We must know the truth. Each case must be solved. Izbica

22 - Buha." Explain to us please how the finding of the graves is likely to

23 solve the case and establish the truth.

24 A. Well, the first thing to do is to find the graves that we saw on

25 the aerial photograph. One cannot do anything before verifying the

1 allegations from the aerial photograph, the satellite photograph. After

2 that follows a number of criminal investigation steps to establish the

3 truth.

4 We see a case file specifying what exactly was done after the

5 thing was found.

6 Q. The unit of most interest to you in your effort to know the truth

7 and solve the case would be the unit present in the area of Izbica at the

8 relevant time, the end of March. So which unit was that and why haven't

9 you recorded it, please?

10 A. I am telling you again: At the time when we were discussing

11 Izbica, we had no knowledge of the event that you later described in the

12 indictment. We were unable to think at that time about March. We were

13 simply thinking about the facts in our possession, and the facts were that

14 there was a grave in a certain location. In order to reach the month of

15 March, we would have had to read the indictment. We had to read the

16 indictment. At that moment, we did not --

17 Q. I must suggest to you, Mr. Stevanovic, you're pretty much making

18 it up as you're going along to fit the contemporary documents.

19 A. I'm not making anything up.

20 Q. Then help me with this: Eventually you discover a hundred people

21 murdered in the way we can see in the photographs. You understand it

22 happened at the end of March. You should find the PJP unit in the area,

23 and you should investigate. Can you take me, please, to the documents

24 showing an investigation of the PJP unit in the area at the time.

25 A. You said again at the end of March, and I really have to repeat

1 that we only had information at the end of May. And you will see from the

2 documents that investigative steps were taken somewhere near the beginning

3 of June. And I will remind you again that I left on -- for Belgrade on

4 the 30th of May and on the 3rd and 4th I was in Kumanovo, and until the

5 20th I was in Kosovo. So I did not continue to work on that case. I was

6 instead involved with KFOR in the development of a very important

7 technical agreement.

8 Q. You bring all these documents, you see. Let me just remind you,

9 the NATO press statement was, I think, on the 17th of April and the matter

10 was even discussed in a negative way on Belgrade television on the 15th,

11 16th of April. You could isolate the group in the area of Izbica down to

12 the period preceding the middle of April. Now, has the police ever done

13 that? And if not, why not?

14 A. I really don't know what more I need to say if you refuse to

15 believe me that we didn't know where Izbica was until after the 20th of

16 May. That's the only reason. We found Izbica at the end of May. The

17 first patrol that arrived on the location found this site sometime around

18 the 25th. I'm not sure about the exact date, but it was certainly after

19 the 20th. And all the steps that were possible to perform were performed

20 by the beginning of June. And we have no information whatsoever about any

21 event taking place in March.

22 Q. By the way, was the Buha who was in charge of the PJP unit Bosko

23 Buha who was assassinated on the 10th of June of 2002? Was that the one?

24 A. Yes, that's the one.

25 Q. Is this an assassination that was ever solved by the MUP or is it

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1 another one that's gone on undetected?

2 A. I think it is one of the unsolved cases, but I know that intensive

3 investigation is underway in Belgrade in connection with this.

4 Q. What are the rumours as to why Buha was -- if you know of any,

5 Buha was eliminated?

6 A. I don't know. I really don't know. I don't listen to rumours.

7 I'm a professional, I've already told you, and rumours can only help in an

8 investigation to some extent, but I'm not involved in investigations.

9 Since 2001 I work exclusively in the police academy, I am involved in

10 teaching and scholarly work.

11 Q. After the -- after the bodies were exhumed by the forces of

12 Serbia, what happened to them?

13 A. According to the information and the documentation I have,

14 external examination, as it is termed, was performed.

15 Q. Why?

16 A. I also believe post-mortems were performed. I'm not certain

17 enough to -- to claim that with 100 per cent certainty. I -- what was

18 your question?

19 Q. Why external examination of the bodies? You dug them up, the Serb

20 forces, and I'm going to come back in a minute to confirm or withdraw the

21 suggestion of the use of an excavator. So there can be no doubt about it

22 what I'm putting: You dug them up, you examined them very briefly, in a

23 day or so, and then what did you do with then?

24 A. From the order of the investigating judge to perform an

25 exhumation, all further steps are taken in keeping with the orders of the

1 investigating judge. If I remember correctly, the case was referred to

2 military investigating organs or maybe it was that experts from the

3 Military Medical Academy were involved in the examination and

4 post-mortems.

5 That information was submitted to the prosecutor, and the

6 prosecutor made a request to the investigating judge. All further action

7 was taken pursuant to the orders of the investigating judge, and the

8 police was only assisting the investigating judge.

9 Q. Well, let's have a look at a map, if we can, please. It's not an

10 exhibit yet, but it's a map of the territory with some places marked on

11 it.

12 You accept, don't you, that evidence of the destination of bodies

13 has grown over time since this trial started, in particular because of the

14 findings in Batajnica and thereabouts?

15 A. You mean the destination of the bodies found in Izbica?

16 Q. Yes.

17 A. Yes, I did have that information, namely that some of the victims

18 were found in the mass grave in Batajnica.

19 Q. Let's look at a summary, as I suggest it is, of what happened to

20 those bodies after they had been dug up by the Serb forces. They went to,

21 amongst other places in the area of Izbica, they went to Suvi-Do,

22 Mitrovica North, Supkovac, Nevolane, and Brusnik, but also they ended up

23 in Petrovo Selo in the north and in Kladovo. Can you explain why?

24 A. Well, I've explained that very clearly already. I truly cannot

25 explain why the bodies that were documented and buried in certain

1 locations were transferred to Batajnica or perhaps Petrovo Selo. I don't

2 know about Petrovo Selo, I haven't heard of Petrovo Selo.

3 Q. I'm going to ask you now, please, to look at a schedule that we've

4 prepared. If that could be distributed.

5 MR. NICE: Your Honours, this is partly built on existing evidence

6 and it's partly built on material that's come to light since, and will be

7 subject to the appropriate application unless admissions can be made by

8 the accused or those on his behalf or by any Defence witness.

9 The document for the witness, please, first. He's got it, has he?

10 Good.

11 Q. If you look at the schedule, I'll explain its format to you. It's

12 on your right-hand side, Mr. Stevanovic. If you'd go to the last of the

13 -- to the fifth page, you'll see the key to exhumation sites, PSII, FHH,

14 FLP, and so on. If you then come back to the first page, you'll see

15 how the table is formed. It gives the victims names which is according to

16 the eyewitness who filmed, and other eyewitnesses, I think, who were

17 present at the scene when the bodies were found. It then says - and this

18 is in English so I'm afraid it won't necessarily be immediately clear to

19 you - but the next column is "Victim Recovered in: Kosovo." The next

20 entry is "Victim Recovered in: Serbia." So that looking at those, we can

21 see that Asllan Amrushi was recovered in Serbia at PSII-17, and that's

22 Petrovo Selo, whereas Asslan Bajra was recovered at the Suvi-Do cemetery

23 in Kosovo. Do you understand that part of the document?

24 A. Yes, I understand the principle involved.

25 Q. You drew to our attention, or the accused drew to our attention

1 through you differences between the lists of names running down the

2 left-hand side and those who had been identified following the exhumation

3 by Serb forces, and we see, for example, number 12 does appear in your

4 exhibit tab 417. Looking at the bottom of the page, so does number 23.

5 Turning on two pages, so does number 52. If you'd go to number 52.

6 Number 54, number 67, number 73. Next page, number 86, number 103. Last

7 page, number 109, number 113, number 115. So all those bodies, your

8 exhumation evidence matches the name given by the witnesses giving

9 evidence to this Court. Do you understand?

10 A. Yes, I understand.

11 Q. Thank you. Now, let's come back to number 17. You see, for

12 number 17, Dibran Dani, he was a person who was identified at the scene.

13 He's a person who appears in the Serb lists of those they exhumed. And do

14 you see where he landed up, Mr. Stevanovic? His body landed up in Petrovo

15 Selo. We have the death certificates. I don't -- I'm happy to produce

16 them, but it will take time, and we can produce them in a swifter way

17 later.

18 Can you explain for us, if the Court is ultimately satisfied that

19 this is what happened, how one of the bodies at least of those the Serb

20 forces exhumed is moved from its place of death, its place of family, to

21 the north of Serbia?

22 A. Of course I cannot give you an answer, and I've explained already

23 a few times why I cannot give an answer. This really causes surprise.

24 Q. Well, you tell me --

25 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Nice, what's the distance between Izbica

1 and --

2 MR. NICE: And Petrovo Selo? I suspect the witness, as an

3 experienced policeman, could give us both the -- on the -- as the crow

4 flies and the by the road time.

5 Q. How many kilometres or miles -- how many kilometres, roughly, from

6 Izbica to Petrovo Selo?

7 A. About 350 to 400 kilometres. This is a rough estimate, a very

8 speedy one.

9 Q. And none of the roads, unless I'm mistaken, between one and the

10 other, apart from possibly using a short stretch of the motorway, none of

11 the roads would be other than slow-ish roads?

12 A. Well, they're not local roads but they're regional roads.

13 Q. The survivors who have given evidence, Mr. Stevanovic, say that

14 excavators were used to dig up these bodies. The purpose of digging up

15 these bodies was to hide them, wasn't it?

16 A. That would really be highly illogical. There is documentation

17 about that, where each and every individual body was buried. There is a

18 sketch, and if I remember correctly, there are photographs of each and

19 every one of them too. It defies explanation, really, why this kind of

20 documentation would be compiled, why it would remain there, accessible,

21 public, permanent in nature, if it involved any intention of removing the

22 bodies. This is unfounded in logic or in reason as such.

23 Q. Well, then, if you can't help us with how it is that a body under

24 Serb control, a corpse under Serb control, finds its way 350 kilometres by

25 road to Petrovo Selo, can you tell us who can help us?

1 A. Those who did it. If you find them. I don't know who organised

2 it. I don't know who did it. Only those who did it know.

3 What we did at that time is what you can see here, and what

4 somebody else did without my knowledge is something that I cannot help you

5 about.

6 Q. It is shocking disrespect of the dead to dig them up and to

7 transport them to places where they might not be found. Would you agree

8 with that?

9 A. I absolutely agree with that.

10 Q. No one yet, is this right, has been identified as the transporter

11 of the bodies from -- I beg your pardon. There's been no inquiry, is this

12 the position, that has so far identified who drove the bodies or moved the

13 bodies from Izbica to Petrovo Selo?

14