Bosnian Serb Speaks of Srebrenica “Torment”
Witness tells tribunal of his regret over crimes committed in July 1995.
Bosnian Serb Speaks of Srebrenica “Torment”
Witness tells tribunal of his regret over crimes committed in July 1995.
The Hague tribunal trial of Zdravko Tolimir this week heard testimony from Momir Nikolic, a former security officer of the Bratunac brigade in the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, who described “a horrible crime” having taken place in Srebrenica.
Zdravko Tolimir was deputy commander for military intelligence and security in the Bosnian Serb forces during the war, reporting directly to General Ratko Mladic, who remains wanted by the tribunal.
The accused, who represents himself, is charged with eight counts, including genocide, extermination, murder, and the forced transfer and deportation of Bosniaks from the Srebrenica and Zepa enclaves in July 1995.
Nikolic is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Finland for crimes committed in Srebrenica and has testified before the Hague tribunal on three previous occasions - during the Blagojevic and Jokic case, the Popovic and others case, as well as in the trial of Momcilo Perisic. All are or were charged with committing or aiding and abetting crimes in Srebrenica.
Nikolic also testified in the trial of Milorad Trbic, former assistant commander for security with the Zvornik brigade of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, who was sentenced by the Bosnian court to 30 years imprisonment for genocide in Srebrenica.
At the beginning of his testimony, the prosecution witness gave a short biographical statement, saying that he was born in eastern Bosnia in Bratunac, a municipality which borders Srebrenica to its south.
“I am a university graduate and I worked as a professor in the Djuro Pucar-Stari secondary school in Bratunac,” Nikolic added.
He said that after the brigade was formed in 1992, he was given the military rank of captain, adding that he remained in that rank during July 1995 and until the end of the war.
“In July of 1995, I was the chief of department for security and intelligence affairs of the Bratunac brigade, a large unit which consisted of three battalions,” he said.
Nikolic then told the court that in July 1995, the brigade was commanded by Vidoje Blagojevic, a man who was subsequently convicted by the tribunal for his involvement in the Srebrenica massacre and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
Prosecutor Nelson Thayer asked Nikolic whether he could confirm that he had pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility for his crimes, to which he answered in the affirmative.
“During your previous statements, did you show repentance over what happened in Srebrenica and the Bosnian Muslim population in Srebrenica?” the prosecutor asked.
"Yes, during every testimony before the chamber, even before the sentence was pronounced, I had shown my repentance and do it whenever I can,” the witness answered. “I expressed my regret and [repented] over what happened in Srebrenica on so many times and not only do I feel sorry... it torments me.
“After all that happened I wish to use this occasion, too, to apologise to the victims."
He then broke down in tears, adding, “Since I was a teacher in the high school, I want to use this opportunity to once again apologise to all pupils who were hurt in that crime.”
The prosecutor asked the witness whether he knew of any other VRS officer who “pleaded guilty and accepted his responsibility for the crimes committed, before [Nikolic] did so?”
Nikolic answered that no VRS officer had done it before him, adding that he “thought that [he was] the first VRS officer who simply understood that that horrible crime was one which had happened with the participation of members of my army”.
To clarify, he added, “When I mean my army, I mean not only my brigade, and I know that in relation to that crime the things I did had in a way contributed to everything that happened.”
The witness said that he had “already talked and testified on numerous occasions that [his] role was not crucial”, adding, “I didn't plan or organise or command any of the units there, I was simply there to fulfill the orders which had contributed in good measure to the fact that the operation ended in the way it ended.
“I would have been the happiest man alive if none of this ever happened and if I had nothing to do with it, but I had something to do with it, I was there, I saw many things and am absolutely aware that a horrible crime happened there which cannot be justified by anything.
“As a VRS officer, I therefore had to say the truth and plead guilty. And I believe I have to carry my responsibility for what I did.”
Nikolic then told the court how he had been joined by Colonel Radislav Jankovic, who was assistant commander for intelligence affairs in the directorate for security and intelligence of the main staff, then headed by the accused, Tolimir.
“Jankovic told me he was coming to help implement such an important operation,” Nikolic said.
On July 12, 1995, after the fall of Srebrenica, Nikolic was tasked with providing security for high-level meetings between Mladic and United Nations DUTCHBAT peacekeepers at the Fontana hotel in Bratunac.
Before one of the meetings, he spoke to his direct superior Popovic, and claimed that Popovic told him that all Bosniak men in Potocari - of which there were some 2,000 - were to be detained and imprisoned.
After Nikolic asked what would happen to them, Popovic allegedly said that “all Balijas (a derogatory term for Bosniaks) must be killed”.
Nikolic also told the chamber that he was involved in an operation which involved “digging up and moving bodies of the executed men from mass graves” and was carried out in September and October 1995.
“It was planned to be a secret operation, but had simply involved too many civilian institutions so its secret character could not be kept," he said.
Asked by the prosecutor why it was planned to be secret, Nikolic explained that it was “probably because it was supposed to cover up the traces of the crimes”.
The first indictment against Tolimir was presented on February 25, 2005. He was arrested on May 31, 2007. In December 2009, he pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Velma Saric is an IWPR-trained journalist.
