Court Hears of Nova Kasaba Detainees

Velma Šarić

IWPR-trained journalist

Friday, 24 June, 2011

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The trial of Zdravko Tolimir continued this week with the testimony of ex-Bosnian Serb army commander Milomir Savcic about the treatment of captured Bosniak soldiers.

Savcic, prosecution witness, began his testimony on June 20, is a former commander of the 65th motorised protection regiment of the Bosnian Serb army, VRS.

Savcic also previously appeared in 2007 as a prosecution witness in the Popovic case, in which seven defendants were sentenced from five years to life for crimes in Srebrenica, including genocide, extermination, murder and persecutions.

He is the 115th prosecution witness to appear in the Tolimir case.

Tolimir served as deputy commander of military intelligence and security in the VRS during the war, reporting directly to the then VRS commander Ratko Mladic, a tribunal indictee, who was recently transferred to the detention unit in the Hague.

He 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.

At the start of Savcic’s testimony, the trial chamber permitted the presence of Marko Sladojevic, one of the legal advisers for tribunal indictee and former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic, since the witness has also been involved with Karadzic's defence team since 2009.

Savcic was granted the protective measure of face distortion, and informed that he must not answer any incriminating questions.

After prosecutor Peter McCloskey read a short resume of Savcic's testimony in 2007, attention switched to a document which is said to have delivered on July 13, 1995, to Mladic, as well as two others, Mladic's assistant commander for morale, Milan Gvero, and Zoran Malinic, who was the commander of the military police batallion of the 65th motorised regiment.

Testifying earlier in June this year, Malinic contested the authenticity of the cited document and corroborated Tolimir's claim of always having the best intentions when dealing with any Bosniak prisoners of war.

In the document referred to in court, Savcic allegedly wrote how Tolimir had instructed captured Bosniak men be treated.

"First, unauthorised access to any prisoner is prohibited. UNPROFOR (United Nations) vehicles are not allowed to travel on the road from Bratunac to Konjevic Polje, which passes by the football field in Nova Kasaba [where the men were held]. Thirdly, the prisoners are to be put in facilities where they ‘cannot be seen and photographed’," the document allegedly said.

The prosecution has implied that particularly this third point demonstrates an attempt to first hide the imprisoned Bosniaks, then execute them.

The witness confirmed that he couldn't remember having created or directed such a document to anyone.

"It could be that I simply wrote down a document which Tolimir dictated to me, but I can't remember doing so," he added.

Moreover, he said, there are strong indications that the document is not authentic.

"First, it wasn't signed, and an unsigned document couldn't be forwarded to anyone. Second, there are so many spelling mistakes and errors,” he said.

Savcic also said that he "failed to see anything dubious or prohibited in the document's contents", making a special reference to Tolimir's proposal to remove the prisoners so that they could not be seen. He explained why he thought this was legitimate.

"First, there was the possibility of bombing of VRS positions by NATO, which would endanger these prisoners,” he said.

"Also, it is much easier to protect prisoners in closed spaces and also in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.. they should be protected from the public eye."

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.

The trial continues next week.

Velma Saric is an IWPR-trained reporter in Sarajevo.