46481
Tuesday, 15 November 2005
[Open session]
[The accused entered court]
--- Upon commencing at 9.04 a.m.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, I understand there is a matter that you wish to raise in the absence of the next witness. What is it?
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] It is this, Mr. Robinson: A physician's report. I hope that you have it before you, that you received it.
JUDGE ROBINSON: I should just -- let me just stop you there. We haven't received any physician's report. Do you reason the report from Dr. Falke?
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] No. No. What I meant was the report by three prominent specialists who examined me on the 4th of November. That means ten days ago. And I would like to mention that in their report they present a joint view, a joint position by the consortium of physicians, and they say, among other things: "The patient's state of health has not stabilised and that complications are possible. [In English] Accordingly, the patient should be prescribed -- prescribed a period of rest; i.e., the suspension of all physical and mental activities for a minimum period of six weeks, which will probably reduce or at least stabilise the symptoms."
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, the Chamber is not privy to that report. If you want us to make a determination on anything that arises from that report, then you should submit it to us and we'll consider it. 46482
MR. KAY: It is being copied at the moment by Professor Rakic, as I understand it.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. Well, we wouldn't be able to consider that at this particular time. We haven't seen that report at all, Mr. Milosevic.
THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please. Microphone.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I don't know why my microphone is being switched off all the time. But that is the problem, where the problem lies. You haven't seen the report, and in the report by Dr. Falke it says that I was not here on Friday, as it says, due to exhaustion. Dr. Falke knows full well that for several months now I have serious health problems. I don't need to complain about them, nor is it my intention to complain about anything here before you. I was in Bronovo Hospital a few times for examinations, and he knows full well the kind of problems that I'm suffering from. The doctors who came to see me came two months after not having provided me with adequate and proper treatment to make note of what they noted. And I should like to stress that we're talking about highly acclaimed experts, professionals from Russia, France, and Serbia. So this kind of contradiction to Dr. Falke's report is not acceptable in any way, and I do feel that the position taken by the doctors must be respected, especially as they are serious problems that are involved.
And otherwise I would like to remind you that even if I were in full health, which I am not, unfortunately, in the decision by the Appeals Chamber, the ruling made with respect to the joining of three indictments 46483 or a joinder of three indictments, in point 27 it says quite clearly the following: "[In English] As has been shown to be necessary in all long trials before this Tribunal, the Trial Chamber will from time to time have to take a break in the hearing of evidence to enable the parties to marshal their forces and, if need be, for the unrepresented accused to rest from the work involved."
[Interpretation] In all these years -- well, I don't want to count them, but I have never been accorded anything like that let alone the fact that this was binding on the Trial Chamber and that the other side -- "... not to become unmanageable by overloading the Trial Chamber and the Defence with unnecessary material."
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, as I indicated, the Chamber is not privy to that report. We have not seen it. If you wish us to see it, then you must ensure that we -- that we get it. And if you have any submission to make arising out of that report, then -- then you may make it. But it is pointless continuing the discussion on the basis of a report which is not before the Chamber.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, I have brought up this subject matter and quoted the position taken by the physicians, but it's up to you what you do next. I'm not going to raise the question any more. The fact that you have not been apprised of it, you should have been informed because the Registrar is duty-bound to inform you about matters like that. It is the Registrar who is in charge of health matters and other similar problems.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, you must ensure that we get the 46484 report. You are the party involved. Let us have the report and we'll see --
MR. KAY: I'm --
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Kay?
MR. KAY: I do have copies here that have been prepared. I've got the full bundles here with the original language. I don't know whether you've got those there before the -- maybe these are the better reports for the Court to have.
[Trial Chamber confers]
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, Mr. Kay has been good enough to provide what appears to be the report to which you have referred. We are seeing it now for the first time. We will look at it, but you must make it clear to the Chamber what it is that you wish the Chamber to do arising from this report.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Nothing other than asking the Trial Chamber not to ignore what it says in the doctors' report, and that means that they said quite specifically suspension of all physical and mental activities [In English] for a minimum period of six weeks.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Very well, Mr. Milosevic. The Chamber has the report now. We will look at the report and give consideration to the submission that you have made.
[Trial Chamber confers]
JUDGE BONOMY: Well, I would like to make it clear at this stage that I don't understand any motion to have been made other than for the Trial Chamber to look at the documents. In my opinion, if these are said 46485 to give rise to a need for this trial to be adjourned, then that would have to be the subject of a written motion. I don't think it's an appropriate matter to be considered on the basis of the oral submission that's been made so far in this case. I understand that's not the view of my colleagues, but I thought it right to make my position clear.
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
(redacted)
MR. NICE: Sorry, in which case that should be redacted. Well, can I, in those circumstances, invite the Court's attention to paragraph 6 of that report.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, we have that report. We have that report.
MR. NICE: And possibly before the Court makes a decision, if it's minded to make this decision, to embark on a reading and consideration of the latest report provided, to deal with that paragraph.
JUDGE ROBINSON: No doubt that will be one of the matters that the Chamber will consider along with the consideration of the submissions from the accused.
Call your next witness, Mr. Milosevic.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson, in 46486 connection with this, I'm very grateful to Mr. Nice for moving that question. What it says there is not correct. There's probably some misunderstanding.
JUDGE ROBINSON: We are not going to discuss that now. Call your next witness.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, just one sentence.
JUDGE ROBINSON: I do not wish to have it discussed now. Are you deaf? Call your next witness.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I probably am deaf.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Well, if you are, we'll see about that. Call the next witness.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] But the fact that I'm deaf won't stop me from working.
JUDGE ROBINSON: No doubt that's to your credit.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] The next witness is Husein Sarvanovic, Captain Husein Sarvanovic.
[The witness entered court]
JUDGE ROBINSON: Let the witness make the declaration.
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I solemnly declare that I will speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
JUDGE ROBINSON: You may sit. Mr. Milosevic, commence the examination.
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Thank you.
WITNESS: HUSEIN SARVANOVIC
[Witness answered through interpreter] 46487 Examined by Mr. Milosevic:
Q. [Interpretation] Good morning, Captain.
A. Good morning, Mr. Milosevic.
Q. Captain, would you please introduce yourself.
A. Husein Sarvanovic, captain of the army of Serbia and Montenegro, retired, born on the 14th of February, 1961, Modric municipality, Bosnia-Herzegovina. I am a citizen of Serbia and Montenegro. I completed my secondary military school in Sarajevo. After that, I served in Pirot as a junior officer. In 1992 I completed the higher military school and as an officer started working in Pirot. I continued my service in Surdulica, Prizren, and Leskovac, where I was retired.
Q. When did you serve in Kosovo and Metohija?
A. I served in Kosovo and Metohija from the 11th of May, 1998, until the end of the war.
Q. What are you by ethnicity?
A. I'm a Muslim.
Q. And what were you during the war in Kosovo and Metohija?
A. During the war in Kosovo and Metohija, I was the commander of a motorised company in the 1st Battalion of the Prizren Brigade.
Q. On the map next to you --
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] And, gentlemen, that map was introduced into evidence during the testimony of -- or, rather, map already admitted during the testimony of General Djosan.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. Can you show us on that map where you were and where your 46488 movements were in Kosovo and Metohija during that time.
A. My unit was given its assignment for the region of Zur. The area of responsibility was Zur village and to the east, bordering on the village of Zur; to right or, rather, to the west, the Ceja [phoen] feature and mortar, 82-millimetre mortar unit in the village of Vrbnica at the border crossing with the Republic of Albania. And another rifle unit. And that is where I carried out my assignment with my original unit.
Q. Thank you, Captain. You mentioned that among your unit you had a mortar platoon; is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. I don't want to quote from the actual papers but in many places it says that our army shelled villages and towns. So I'm going to ask you to tell me, with that mortar platoon of yours, did you ever fire any shells?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you explain to us how that came about, what the situation was, and what the target was.
A. Since the mortar platoon was within the composition of my company and I was in command of the platoon because there were no other available officers, high-ranking officers, the way in which the 82-millimetre mortars acted was this: As my position was at the command post, reconnoitering command post, I would go into action pursuant to orders from the commander. So we would prepare for targeting and then a fire point would be targeted from where shooting was coming from. We never targeted any other features or targets which were not military targets or, rather, targets used to fire at us from. 46489
Q. So, Captain, what -- from what you've just said, it -- the following would emerge: Your position was a position next to the commander.
A. Yes, next to the commander at the observation post.
Q. At the observation post. I see. Now, were you personally able to establish from which firing points your unit was being fired at?
A. Yes, because next to me we had two scouts for reconnoitering purposes and reconnaissance and to tell us where the firing was coming from.
Q. Did it ever happen that you would target a feature or facility from which you were not fired at or our units were not fired at?
A. No, we never did that nor did our unit ever receive orders to target facilities which were not used as fire points and points of fire towards our units.
Q. Did it ever happen that you would -- your shell would go amiss and you would hit a civilian feature by mistake? Did you ever miss your mark, in fact?
A. No, that never happened.
Q. Thank you, Captain. Captain, a document was introduced into evidence here which was mentioned in General Delic's testimony and then Colonel Vukovic's. It is a document that was entitled "Order for the reinforcement and support of MUP forces to break up the Siptar terrorist forces in the area of Orahovac, Suva Reka, and Velika Krusa." Are you acquainted with that document? And it's to be found in tab 2 of your binder. Otherwise, it was introduced and admitted into evidence. 46490
A. The document meant nothing to me because I actually saw the document for the first time when I was in a proofing session with the lawyer here, and this is a classical order by a corps commander to brigade commander.
Q. All right. But -- I know that, but were you able to find anywhere in that record, once you had studied it, the position of your particular unit mentioned or the activities that you had?
A. No, I was not able to find that anywhere in that order.
Q. Right. Now, since we've established that point, explain this to us: During the events to which the order relates, did you take part in any combat action?
A. I did take part in combat action, but pursuant to an order that I received from my combat group commander.
Q. Right. Fine. Now, tell me this: Did you ever receive anybody else's order except an order from the command of your combat group?
A. No.
Q. Every time you went into action did you go into action exclusively pursuant to the order issued by the commander of your combat group?
A. Yes.
Q. In your company and when we're dealing with the artillery weapons, mortars, and so on, was there any action where people would go into action of their own free will without having received orders?
A. No, no action arbitrary of that kind.
JUDGE KWON: What's the exhibit number of this document, Mr. Milosevic? 46491 BLANK PAGE 46492
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] This document was admitted. It was D30, tab 356. It was used on the 30th of June, admitted on the 1st of July.
MR. KAY: It's D300 rather than 30.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you. D300.
THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please. Microphone.
JUDGE KWON: Microphone.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. Can you tell us, in connection with those activities, what your particular unit was doing.
A. My unit, receiving its assignment from the commander of the combat group, supported and reinforced MUP forces - that's the assignment it was given in the army of Yugoslavia - in the breaking up and destruction of the Siptar terrorist forces along the axis of Orahovac-Suva Reka.
Q. Bela Crkva is in the Orahovac municipality. Do you know Bela Crkva? Do you know the place?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Now, please, could this map of Bela Crkva be placed on the overhead projector. It is a large-scale map, so everything is clearly indicated.
Captain, can you say what this map represents? Can you explain it?
A. This is a map of the village of Bela Crkva. On it we can see the initial deployment. On it we can see the initial deployment of the forces of Combat Group 2 that was about to carry out its tasks, the direction 46493 from which the units came in order to carry out this task. Also, there is the line from which the group set off. It's about 700 to 1.000 metres away from the village.
Q. Captain, the indictment, in paragraph 66(b), alleges that on the 25th of March, 1999, or around that date, the forces of the FRY and Serbia surrounded and attacked the village of Bela Crkva, municipality of Orahovac. Were you there then at the time?
A. First of all, that is not correct. On the 24th of March, between 1930 hours and 2000 hours, I went along the outskirts of the village of Bela Crkva and deployed the units in Brnjaca, which is about 700 to 1.000 metres away from the village of Bela Crkva. As I passed through, I did not have any problems in the village. It was peaceful. I spent the night in Brnjaca and I was disturbed. We could not get any proper rest because NATO aircraft were flying from the Republic of Albania towards the territory of Yugoslavia. The village of Brnjaca is a locality I left in the morning around 5.00, and I proceeded towards Orahovac and Velika Hoca from where I carried out the assignment given to me by the commander of the combat group.
I note once again that there were no problems during my stay in Bela Crkva or during the course of the night.
Q. Was there any activity of any other unit in Bela Crkva?
A. No.
Q. It is stated here that many villagers from Bela Crkva fled along the Belaja river and that they were forced to seek shelter and that the forces of Serbia opened fire, killing 12 persons. Do you know anything 46494 about this?
A. This assertion is not correct. There was no activity. I claim that my own unit never did any such thing, and I have not heard of any unit having done anything like that.
Q. Further on it is stated that the forces of the FRY and Serbia then ordered the men and older boys to strip and then systematically robbed them of all valuables. The women and children were ordered to leave towards an adjacent village, and also 65 Kosovo Albanians were killed when fire was opened. Do you know anything about these allegations?
A. These allegations are not correct, as I already said at the outset when we were looking at the map of Bela Crkva; our units were outside the village. That is to say it passed through the village without any problems whatsoever and there was no one to do any such thing. There weren't any soldiers or units of the military in the village.
Q. During the NATO aggression in Kosovo and Metohija or, rather, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, were you aware of any incident like that, namely that our army and police attacked civilians or committed any crimes against civilians?
A. No, I'm not aware of any such thing and I have not even heard of such crimes.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, just a minute.
[Trial Chamber confers]
JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. Captain, you indicated where you were and where you moved in that 46495 part of the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. In paragraph 55 here, it is alleged that our forces deliberately and in a widespread and systematic manner expelled and internally displaced hundreds of thousands of Albanians from their homes across the entire province, using threats of force and acts of violence.
Please, you commanded a company: Did the army engage in threats and any kind of force against citizens of Albanian ethnicity?
A. No. I'm sure that my unit never did any such thing, nor have I heard of any unit under General Delic's command having done anything like that.
Q. Did you expel anyone?
A. No, never.
Q. A few moments ago you said that you shelled certain firing points, and you said that you only shelled those firing points that constituted a military target, from where firing came from. Please, in paragraph 56 it says that throughout Kosovo the forces of FRY and Serbia engaged in a deliberate and systematic campaign of destruction of property and that they were burning down homes, farms, businesses, cultural monuments, et cetera.
Please, did you shell towns and villages and destroy civilian targets?
A. No. I never engaged in such shelling or did I ever receive orders to target civilian property or citizens in Kosovo and Metohija.
Q. Thank you, Captain. Do you know anything about the units of the army of Yugoslavia escorting civilians to the border? You were near the 46496 border, weren't you? Do you have any knowledge about that?
A. My unit, the unit I commanded, never escorted the civilian population as it moved towards Albania nor was I given that kind of assignment. My basic assignment was not what is mentioned but the defence of the territory; protection from NATO Air Force attacks and protection of the territory.
Q. Captain, how did you keep up your communication with the superior command? Did you have meetings with your superior officers?
A. Every day I had meetings in the evening with my battalion commander, and in addition to that, I had wire communication and radio communication.
Q. At these meetings of yours did you hear at any time any information about crimes being committed against civilians or that somebody's property was being destroyed or that a town or village was being shelled?
A. No. During these briefings I never heard of any such information.
Q. Did you have specific information as to what was going on in the terrain throughout the zone where you were moving?
A. I did have information, and I reported about all of that to my superior command.
Q. Briefly describe what happened in the terrain where you were moving about.
A. In the terrain where I was moving about, my basic task was the struggle against Siptar terrorist forces, the protection of the state border, and the protection of the territory of the Federal Republic of 46497 Yugoslavia, and the protection of my own personnel, my own unit, and defence from NATO airstrikes while we were completing our task.
Q. Did you in your units have any contacts with civilians?
A. No, because I was deployed outside the village.
Q. Could your soldiers arbitrarily go into the village and do something impermissible without you knowing about that?
A. They could not do it and they wouldn't dare to do it.
Q. Did any such thing ever happen?
A. In my unit, no such thing ever happened.
Q. Let us just deal with one more thing. The seizure of documents of Albanians is referred to often here. You were near the border. Do you know anything about documents being taken away from Albanian inhabitants of Kosovo and Metohija?
A. I don't know anything about that. What I know for sure is that my unit did not take away anybody's documents nor did I hear of any unit taking away the documents of a civilian population. I was near the Vrbnica border crossing.
Q. Can you remember -- do you have any idea how many shells you fired during the course of the war throughout these combat activities, roughly?
A. I cannot recall because it's been quite a while now. It's been six years since the war ended, and the exact information is contained in archives, because every day, when completing our tasks, we submitted reports to the superior command about the materiel used.
Q. All right. But do you have a rough idea of how many shells you fired? 46498
A. One or two 82-millimetre shells were used for engaging military targets, firing points.
Q. How often did you engage in this kind of activity?
A. In the Orahovac-Suva Reka area, I fought the Siptar terrorist forces at Opterusa, two or three targets at Trljiste, a fortified point from which they were firing at our positions. So that's about four or five times that I opened fire.
Q. Was this always only at firing points from which gunfire was coming?
A. Only.
Q. Thank you, Captain. I have no further questions.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Nice.
JUDGE BONOMY: Captain, can I ask you, when was it you retired from the army?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] On the 3rd of March, 2004.
JUDGE BONOMY: Thank you. Cross-examined by Mr. Nice:
Q. Who was your commander?
A. My battalion commander was Lieutenant Colonel Uros Nikolic.
THE INTERPRETER: Interpreter's note: Could the witness's other microphone please be turned on. Thank you.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Please have the witness's microphone turned on.
MR. NICE:
Q. And you left on the -- on the evening of the 24th of March, is that right, on deployment? 46499
A. I set out from Prizren in the direction of Orahovac, and I was staying with my unit in Brnjaca.
Q. Well, we can see Brnjaca on a map which we'll return to in a second, but tell us this, please: As a company commander, what records did you keep of what you were doing on that particular evening or night?
A. As company commander, I do not keep any written records about what I do with my unit, because I was the leader of a platoon. That was my role when carrying out these particular tasks.
Q. So you keep no written records. You reported back to your commander, is that right, Nikolic, what you were doing?
A. When carrying out this task, I reported to Zoran Djokic. And as for my own unit, I reported to Uros Nikolic, Lieutenant Colonel Uros Nikolic.
Q. So that either Djokic or Nikolic may have contemporaneous records of what you were instructed to do and what you reported on having done; is that right?
A. First of all, I report to them orally. I don't know. My commander writes things down in his own notebook, and he probably does have some traces of what I said about what I did.
Q. Did you make any report to the VJ Commission for Cooperation with the ICTY, any statement to that commission?
A. No.
Q. Or to something called the Expert Committee or Expert Commission?
A. No.
Q. As a platoon commander or company commander, you've used platoon 46500 and you've used company, so I'll let you decide which, did you have a map showing what you were to do and recording what you had done?
A. On the basis of the map of the battalion commander, I worked and reported.
Q. Did you -- did you carry a map with you, marking on it what you were doing and when and where?
A. I only have the map when I worked as company commander about the deployment of the units on the ground.
Q. Well, does that apply to what you say was happening when you were at Brnjaca outside Bela Crkva? Is there a map showing or was there a map showing your location there?
A. First of all, I did not have any positions in Brnjaca. My unit, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Djokic, came there to carry out an assignment and to rest and prepare for carrying out an assignment which was to take place on the 25th, and this was based on my commander's orders.
Q. Is there a map showing that? Just yes or no.
A. On this map of Bela Crkva we can see where Brnjaca is. That is where I deployed my unit, in a basement. That's where the unit was. And when I was near Velika Hoca and Opterusa, the positions of the mortars can be seen too.
Q. Well, we're just concerned with Bela Crkva at the moment.
MR. NICE: The map you were looking at, Your Honours, it wasn't actually identified properly for the purposes of the record. It's a Delic exhibit, so that's exhibit whatever it is, 300 or -- it's tab 360 of that. 46501
Q. When did you first see this map?
A. I saw this map at the commander of my combat group, but with the total combat deployment of forces on it.
Q. Yes. I mean you -- it's very helpful. And this particular map, let's just get it on the overhead projector, shall we, so we can look at it. And I want you to take your time with it. Tell me again, you saw it at the commander of your combat group. Where was -- where was it that you saw it; before the operation, during the operation, or after?
A. Only Bela Crkva, this map?
Q. Yes, this map.
A. This is the first time -- the first time I saw this was during the preparations, but the commander had a map for carrying out the assignment itself.
Q. Well, let's focus on this map. The first time you saw this map was during preparations for what?
A. For my testimony.
Q. What did you discover about who'd written or drawn this map?
A. When I got the map, I didn't ask who it was that drew it. I know that commanders made decisions, and then they made the appropriate markings on maps.
Q. Did you understand this to be a map that related to the operation that you'd been on, or what did you understand this map to be? You've been asked questions about it. What's your understanding of what that map is, please?
A. This map is Bela Crkva and Combat Group 2 deployed to carry out 46502 BLANK PAGE 46503 its assignment. Combat Group 2 at the initial line, and the units that were moving towards Orahovac were deployed there.
Q. What did you understand the map to be? Who prepared it, when, and all that sort thing? It's got a date on it, but what did understand this map to be?
A. A map or document, a written document that had to do with the execution of the task involved.
Q. Prepared at the time or prepared subsequently? That's what I want you to help us with, please.
A. The map was made before the task was carried out.
Q. This particular map?
A. Yes.
Q. And this is the sort of map, is it, that you as a company or platoon commander saw in your commander's headquarters? Is that right?
A. Commander of the combat group, yes.
Q. Yes, because -- I mean, they're very conveniently sized, these maps. Maybe they're the sort of maps that commanders would take with them in their small units. Is this the sort of size of map that was made available to you to take with you?
A. This is not the size of the map that is otherwise carried around. This is made smaller.
Q. But it's the sort of map, or the map, whichever you tell us it is, that you saw before the operation?
A. Yes.
Q. Well, let's just look at it and then we'll look at an aerial view. 46504 Just tell us, how far is Brnjaca --
JUDGE BONOMY: Mr. Nice, I'm certainly confused. I understood the witness to have said that he saw this for the first time during the preparations to give evidence.
MR. NICE: Yes, but he also, unless I misunderstood it, he also said --
JUDGE ROBINSON: There are two maps.
MR. NICE: The map was made before the task was carried out, and I said, This particular map? and he said Yes. Page 21, lines 4 and 5.
JUDGE ROBINSON: So that is a map for the operation.
MR. NICE: This particular map is what we're looking at.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes.
MR. NICE:
Q. Help us, please, if you will: What's the distance from Brnjaca to the centre of Bela Crkva?
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, yes.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Nice is confusing the witness. Please. The witness said that he saw this map during the preparations, and when he says whether this is a concrete map, the witness understood this to mean whether it is the map of a concrete terrain, not whether this is the map that he was shown during preparations. It's so obvious.
JUDGE BONOMY: It's certainly not obvious to me. And it's not the questions that are confusing, it's the answers, as far as I can tell.
MR. NICE: I must press on because obviously with the limited time 46505 of the examination-in-chief, I must be brief.
Q. Just give us an idea, please, of the distance from Brnjaca to -- from Brnjaca to the centre of Bela Crkva. You can see the grid squares. We haven't got the scale marked on this particular map, so you just tell us, you know the area: How far?
A. About 1.000 metres, as the crow flies.
Q. Each of these squares you would say is 500 metres; is that right? We can no doubt check it elsewhere, but just you tell us.
A. One centimetre on this map denotes 250 metres in actual fact. So about three or four centimetres. Up to 1.000 metres.
Q. Have a look at this picture, which comes from Exhibit 157, tab 2. On the overhead projector, please. Do you recognise this? This is Bela Crkva. If you want to orientate yourself, I think you can see the mosque pretty well in the middle. Slightly to the right but pretty well in the middle. Do you recognise this as Bela Crkva? You don't recognise it or you do? You're a military man, terrain --
A. No, I cannot recognise it.
Q. Because I wanted you to tell us if you could, but if you can't, it doesn't matter, in which direction and at what distance, viewed from this area, you were located on the night of the 24th/25th. This is the centre of Bela Crkva, so it's at least half a kilometre and probably a kilometre away from here that you were based, is it?
A. I can't show you on this map, but I can show you on a map where I was quartered together with my unit. 46506
Q. Well, you've shown us on this map. You've shown us where Brnjaca is. Tell me --
MR. NICE: Just leave that map on, please, Usher, if you would be so good. Could you leave the aerial on. I just don't have enough time.
Q. Do you recognise the streambed there that you've been asked about by the accused? He asked you about a streambed. Do you see it there?
A. No, I don't see it here. Is it in the village?
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... help us. We need your assistance. Maybe I can help you. If you -- if you look at the map, on the right-hand side you'll see a line of trees or bushes, wiggling it's way up to the top of the map. Now, do you think that, with all your military experience, might be a streambed? Do you think that might be a streambed? Have a look at it. Hmm?
I mean, it could be a hedge, or I suppose it could be a covered road taking a particularly wiggly route, or it could be a streambed. What do you think it is?
A. Mr. Nice, I'm an infantry officer, retired currently, and I don't normally deal with aerial pictures. I walk on the ground. This can be a streambed, whereas the Belaja river does have its source in the village.
Q. Now, if you look towards the top of the village - and just to orientate you if you don't remember, this will be on the way to Rogovo -- Rogova - you'll see a line crossing it which is the railway line, and at the railway line and the streambed, there's a bridge. Do you know that bridge?
A. No. 46507
Q. You see, it's that bridge, on the evidence from many survivors and eyewitnesses, that people were massacred on the morning of the 25th. You were nowhere near that point, were you? You were a kilometre or a couple of kilometres away. Weren't you?
A. In an earlier answer, I told you literally that my unit did not execute such tasks. I was near Brnjaca, but it was peaceful, and I didn't hear about any other unit doing such a thing.
Q. In terms of being disturbed on the morning of the 25th, what was it disturbed you? Because the evidence is to the effect that Bela Crkva was occupied from earlier than the time you say you left, from about 3.00 and 4.00 in the morning. Was it occupation of Bela Crkva that disturbed you?
A. Mr. Nice, I said that during the night, around 2400 hours, we were disturbed by the overflying NATO aviation. Nothing else disturbed us. On the 25th in the morning, I raised my unit after the preparations and we set off towards Velika Hoca.
Q. A few last questions in the time available. Have a look at this similar but slightly more detailed photograph, aerial photograph of Bela Crkva, taken in June of 1999. You see all the damage to the houses? Can you explain that to us?
A. Well, it's probably due to NATO airstrikes on the village.
Q. I see. What, selectively picking off houses and burning them from the bottom up so that their roofs disappear; is that what you're saying?
A. I did not say that the NATO burned them. I said they shelled and fired in those places. I can enumerate the places where there were NATO 46508 airstrikes.
Q. Just looking at that photograph -- actually, have a look at this one, as an infantry officer. Perhaps you will. It's all from the same exhibit. This is even closer still. See the sort of damage to the houses where the walls are standing but the tops are gone, the roofs are gone? You can't see any bomb crater or blast damage. You're saying this is the sort of damage that a bomb caused, or is this the sort of damage caused by artillery destroying a village? Which is it? It's the latter, isn't it?
A. What you are doing now, Mr. Nice, is making statements.
Q. I'm asking you a question. You tell us, please. Are you really saying that this is consistent with bomb damage, or is this consistent and only consistent with artillery damage?
A. This is probably due to NATO airstrikes.
Q. I see. Tell me, what was your function on the following day, the 25th? Were you there going on -- were you out to cleanse villages?
A. My task was to support other forces in the breaking up and destruction of Siptar terrorist forces in the direction of Velika Hoca, Opterusa, Samodreza, and Trljiste; that is, to support other forces in the role of the commander of firing mortar unit.
Q. Were you engaged in cleansing villages? Yes or no.
A. No. No. No cleansing of villages but fight against Siptar terrorist forces.
Q. It would be quite wrong to describe what you were doing as cleansing a village, wouldn't it?
A. Mopping up of villages does exist as a tactical activity in a 46509 populated area, but support of other forces in fighting Siptar terrorist forces, which was my task, and as such I was active in Trljiste, Opterusa, et cetera.
Q. "Cleansing" was not the word appropriate to the activity you were engaged in on the 25th on your own account, was it?
A. I told you a moment ago, mopping up exists as a tactical action by infantry forces when you want to break up and destroy the enemy, in this case the Siptar terrorist forces, during combat in a populated area.
Q. You were a witness, weren't you, at a trial involving somebody called Mancic?
A. Yes.
Q. Kosovo Albanian shot by whom, a member of your unit?
A. I was not concerned with that part, and I know nothing about it.
Q. Well, what was the trial of Mancic about, then?
A. It was the trial of Mancic, but I was not a witness called for that particular part that you are mentioning.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... then. Mancic was charged because he told some of his soldiers to shoot Albanians. Correct or incorrect?
A. I cannot tell anything about somebody who is not my superior or my commanding officer.
Q. You've been asked to give the most broad and general answers about whether anything happened in Kosovo. Last time I'll give you a chance: Was Mancic charged with causing -- or instructing his soldiers to shoot Albanians? Yes or no. 46510
A. He was convicted.
MR. NICE: Thank you.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Any re-examination, Mr. Milosevic? Re-examined by Mr. Milosevic:
Q. [Interpretation] Just one question, Captain, if you can answer it based on your experience and your knowledge. If we're talking about consequences of a shell fired from an anti -- sorry, from an airborne gun versus the consequences of a shell fired from a ground-based gun, can we distinguish between the two?
A. We can distinguish between various effects of the shell.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Captain, that concludes your evidence. Thank you for attending at the Tribunal to give it. You may now leave.
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Thank you.
[The witness withdrew]
JUDGE ROBINSON: The next witness, Mr. Milosevic.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] My next witness is Lieutenant Colonel Zlatko Odak.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, it is Mr. Janos Sel who is outside - there is some confusion - not Lieutenant Colonel Odak. So why don't we just proceed with Mr. Janos Sel.
Let Mr. Janos Sel be brought in. What's his status, Mr. Milosevic, Mr. Sel? Is he an army officer?
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Yes; lieutenant colonel.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Well, we're back to the original schedule. It's Mr. Odak. Let Mr. Odak be brought in. 46511 Perhaps the court deputy will take in consideration that all these witnesses today are short witnesses, and so the witnesses who are to be called should be alerted to that.
[The witness entered court]
JUDGE ROBINSON: Let the witness make the declaration.
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I solemnly declare that I will speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
JUDGE ROBINSON: You may sit. Mr. Milosevic, you may begin.
WITNESS: ZLATKO ODAK
[Witness answered through interpreter] Examined by Mr. Milosevic:
Q. Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel.
A. Good morning, Mr. Milosevic.
Q. Would you please introduce yourself as briefly as you can.
A. My name is Zlatko Odak. I was born on the 8th of May, 1971, in Belgrade. I am Serb by ethnicity. I graduated from the military high school, Military Academy of the Ground Forces, and the advanced training school for staffs in headquarters. I occupied various positions from commander of rifle platoon to chief of staff of a brigade. That would be the briefest I could make it.
Q. Where did you serve?
A. From 1986, when I finished the military academy, I served in the Djakovica garrison until 1999 when we pulled out of Kosovo. And later --
Q. Yes, go on. 46512
A. Later in garrisons in Belgrade and in Kragujevac.
Q. That would make you one of the few officers in the army of Yugoslavia, and before that the Yugoslav People's Army, who had spent 15 years in the Djakovica garrison -- almost 15 years?
A. To be exact, 13 and a half.
Q. I suppose you know very well the circumstances, the situation, the conditions in Djakovica?
A. Yes, I know all about that.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Are you now a serving officer?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, Mr. Robinson. My current rank is lieutenant colonel.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. Where were you during the war in Kosovo?
A. During the war in Kosovo, I occupied two positions, practically. I was commander of the Logistics Battalion in Air Defence Brigade at the beginning of the war. That was the 52nd PVO Brigade. And I later asked to be transferred back to the 2nd Battalion of the 549th Brigade, and that's where I served the second half of the war, as deputy commander.
Q. Up to the middle of the war you say; what would that be precisely?
A. Well, I don't remember the exact date, but it was around the 20th May, something like that. Until then I was in the 52nd Brigade, and then I moved to the 549th Brigade.
Q. So until the 20th May you were commander of the logistics battalion of this 52nd Anti-aircraft Defence Brigade in Djakovica?
A. Correct. 46513 BLANK PAGE 46514
Q. Until approximately the 20th of May. Now, tell me, please, Lieutenant Colonel, your battalion was stationed in Djakovica all of the time. Yes or no.
A. Yes.
Q. Was there any other unit stationed in Djakovica at the same time?
A. In the town of Djakovica itself, there was only the command artillery battalion. No other units were there.
Q. So apart from the command of your brigade, you were the only unit in Djakovica?
A. Yes.
Q. We have heard various references here to various crimes committed in Djakovica, allegedly committed by FRY forces. That's why I want to ask you again: Only your unit was in Djakovica at the time?
A. Yes, plus the command battalion that caters to the command of the brigade.
Q. Yes, but tell me very briefly, what was the situation in Djakovica, since you lived there 14 years? What was the situation there as long as you lived there? Did you have social bonds, friends? Did you socialise with Albanians, for instance? They are numerous in Djakovica. Quite simply, what was life like in Djakovica?
A. I actually got married in Djakovica. My father-in-law and generally my wife's family grew up together with Albanians, and through them I came to know a lot of Albanians and I socialised with them just as I socialised with Serbs and members of all other ethnicities.
Q. Did any problems arise due to different ethnicities? 46515
A. No.
Q. When did the first problems begin to occur? Because as somebody who lived there for more than a decade and a half, you could tell us that.
A. Well, the first problems started to appear elsewhere in Kosovo, not exactly in Djakovica at first. In 1979, there were unrests, and until 1997, 1998, there were no major unrests.
Q. What exactly happened in 1998 and 1999 prior to the beginning of the war? What was going on?
A. In 1998, I was commander of Combat Group 2 of the 549th Brigade, and I got a task to provide in-depth protection for the state border in the broader area of the Mitar Vojinovic watchtower. That is the area overlooking Popovac village and another village, Babaj Boks, somewhere halfway between the watchtower and the state border. We were given this task because smuggling of weapons across the border was an increasingly frequent occurrence. So our combat group secured this area all the way until September 1998. In this period, from Smonica village and Popovac village there would be several attacks per day on vehicles that supplied the watchtower personnel, and my job was to provide security on these routes used by our personnel to reach Kosare, Kosare, Molina, the watchtower, et cetera.
In the course of execution of these tasks, I also captured six terrorists somewhere above Popovac village. I think it was in early May.
Q. You mean May 1998?
A. It was actually end May. I captured six terrorists who were turned over to the authorities. In this period, there were unrelenting 46516 attacks by terrorists from Smonica, Bezanic, and other villages. Kvetz [phoen] village as well, injuring many soldiers. In early August I received an order to attack terrorists in Kvetz and Smonica villages, which I did. And in one of our actions, they were defeated in the course of one day and withdrew towards Racaj village. Several days later, I mounted an attack -- or, rather, I went into pursuit of the terrorists. However, they hid in the woods in this area, which is a very inhospitable terrain. That area was important to them because of the proximity of the state border, and they kept a constant presence in that area. Seremete, Koc [phoen], Racaj, et cetera, so that they could transfer arms across the state border deep into the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.
Q. At the same time you were providing security on a road?
A. Yes, Djakovica-Ponosevac.
Q. And why was that communication line or road important for us or, rather, you, given this assignment to provide security for it, and why was it important to the Siptar terrorists?
A. Well, it was important to us because it was the supply route for the Morina, Kosare and other watchtowers.
Q. So these watchtowers were supplied by that supply route?
A. Yes. And at one point the terrorists blocked off that communication line, cut it off, and for the terrorists it was an important communication line because it was close to the border. And in fact, they were trying continuously, as they did in 1998 and 1999, to join up their forces or join up the territory with Albania, that territory with Albania, 46517 so that they would be able to bring in weapons along that route. That would be the easiest way.
JUDGE ROBINSON: It's time for the break. We will adjourn for 20 minutes.
--- Recess taken at 10.34 a.m.
--- On resuming at 10.56 a.m.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Have we lost the witness? Yes, Mr. Milosevic.
THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please. Microphone.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. Sometime in May 1998 when you went into anti-terrorist action, you captured six terrorists.
A. Yes.
Q. Can you tell us of the circumstances and where that was exactly.
A. Well, during that period the terrorists had blocked off the road towards the Morina watchtowers and Kosare watchtower and cut off the supply route to our units, and so I was given the task of providing security for lateral movement of the unit to lift the blockade and to make it possible for supplies to come in to the watchtowers on that supply route. Above the village of Popovac itself I came across a group of terrorists who had set up an ambush and were preparing to attack the column. That's just one part of the terrorists who were in Popovac. And I captured them. Then they attacked the column that was moving. And since we started heavy pursuit of them, they went off in the area of the village of Smonica. 46518
Q. All right, and what were the proceedings, steps taken with those you captured?
A. The people we captured we took to the camp and then handed them over to the MUP forces.
Q. Did anybody abuse them in any way, mistreat them?
A. No.
Q. You said a moment ago something about what was happening along that Djakovica-Ponosevac communication line, along that road, and the surrounding villages, the villages that you enumerated where the terrorist groups were located that you engaged with. Now, what happened in the town of Djakovica itself? Was there any violence there, any incidents of any kind?
A. You mean during the war?
Q. No, I mean at that time in 1998 and before the war actually broke out.
A. Well, no, there were no incidents in the town itself. People lived normally. There were no untoward events happening. The terrorists otherwise avoided large towns because they found their strongholds in the villages where they actually forced the population to help them, to join up with them, and they felt safest and most secure there.
Q. On many occasions here we had saw -- well, I'm not going to ask you to indicate on the map because this was pointed out a number of times, but you had your area of responsibility in the region of Djakovica itself and the town of Djakovica itself; is that right?
A. Yes. 46519
Q. Now, that general area of Djakovica, how was it significant as an entire region? Was it significant for the terrorist forces in any way?
A. Well, I said a moment ago that it was one of the most important regions, and this was seen later on during the war, because there were constant attacks launched on the -- our forces along the border belt, and from the Republic of Albania as well as from our territory in-depth. They tried to link up the terrain with Albania and thus create grounds for the easier transport of terrorist forces from the Republic of Albania into Kosovo and Metohija.
Q. Where was the most intense concentration of terrorist forces?
A. Well, the villages I've already mentioned; Nec, Smonica, Bezanici, Racaj, Pacaj, Dolosaj, Seremete, Meja. It was a circle or circular territory which is fairly heavily forested and allows for terrorists to hide there. So they used that general area quite a lot, both in 1998 and 1999 as well.
Q. All right. Let's move on to 1999 now, please. In paragraph 63 of the indictment, 63(h), in fact, it says that by March, and we're talking about 1999, the number of inhabitants in the town of Djakovica significantly increased because of a large number of internally displaced persons who fled their villages to escape deliberate shelling, deliberate shelling by forces of the FRY and Serbia during 1998, and to escape the armed conflict between these forces and members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the so-called Liberation Army.
Now, as you yourself were present in Djakovica itself, what can you say about those allegations? 46520
A. Well, first of all, there was no, to use the term that is used there, shelling. There was no shelling, I don't know of this term as part of military terminology. I don't know of any shelling. What the army did was to target targets where the terrorists were firing from, facilities, features, bunkers, and any other points, firing points, terrorist firing points. There was no deliberate shelling.
Q. And what about this large concentration of population in Djakovica by March 1999? You have been living in Djakovica yourself for a decade and a half. What can you tell us about that?
A. Well, all I can say is to explain it through the way in which the terrorists acted, if I may be allowed to do so. The terrorists acted in the following manner: They would arrive in a village, they would effect forceful mobilisation, force the population to mobilise, force the population to purchase weapons, usually rifles which cost between 200 to 300 German marks - that was the going price - then they would order the population to fortify, to dig trenches around the villages, and by doing so they created the impression that the village was defending itself. And the army -- or, rather when, the army did not attack, the population was in the village, of course, and then the next form of action was that the terrorists attacked the army or the internal affairs forces. When the army retaliates, the terrorists order the population to leave the village, creating the impression in that way that the population had moved out under pressure from the army, whereas what was actually happening was quite the reverse. And I was a personal witness of this. Wherever we attacked a village, the population moved out of those villages in the 46521 course of action because the terrorists forced them to flee, to leave their villages.
Q. Furthermore, it states that the continual movement of these internally displaced persons increased after the 24th of March, 1999, when, as it says here in the indictment, following violent expulsions - violent expulsions, mark you - in the town of Djakovica, many internally displaced persons returned from the town of Djakovica to the outlying villages only to be expelled from these villages again by forces of the FRY and Serbia.
Now, you were in Djakovica yourself. What kind of violent expulsion was this?
A. There was no violent expulsion, not only in the town of Djakovica but nowhere in the region that I was in, nor did I ever hear there were incidents of violent expulsions. And I told you how the terrorists acted. I described that, how they made the population move out and how they displaced the population, et cetera. And what I do know for certain is that the population fled from the NATO bombing. And when I talked to the people personally, to refugees, I talked to them, they said they had taken refuge with relatives in the internal regions of the country where they thought they would be safer.
Q. Then it says that the Serb forces controlled and coordinated the movement of these internally displaced persons as they travelled from these villages to and from the town of Djakovica and finally to the border between Kosovo and the Republic of Albania. Persons travelling on foot were sent from the town of Djakovica directly toward one of several border 46522 crossings. Persons travelling in motor vehicles were routed first towards the town of Prizren before approaching the border and crossing. Tell us, please, did the army control the refugee movements and what is true in these allegations?
A. The army did not control the movement of refugees nor was it assigned that task. Its prime assignment, the prime assignment of the army was to defend the country from the NATO aggression. Since I was in the town of Djakovica myself, I, unfortunately, saw that population, those inhabitants, and I had a chance of talking to the people who were moving, on the move. From Mitrovica there were a lot of children among them. They were terrible images to behold. And I had occasion to talk to these people, and principally they were afraid of the bombing. And secondly, many of them claimed that the terrorists had threatened them and that they were told that they had to go to Albania and were not allowed to go back home, probably to create the impression of an alleged humanitarian catastrophe.
Q. In paragraph 63(i), it says that from on or about the 24th of March, which was the first day of the war, through the 11th of May -- you were there until the 20th of May in Djakovica, were you not?
A. Yes.
Q. So this covers this entire period that you were there; is that right? Anyway, it says from on or about the 24th of March through the 11th of May, forces of the FRY and Serbia began forcing residents of the town of Djakovica to leave, and these forces spread out through the town and went from house to house, ordering Kosovo Albanians from their homes. 46523
A. That is absolutely not correct. I and my unit were in Djakovica, and I communicated with the population of Djakovica all the time, so that those facts are certainly not correct ones. I don't know what else you -- I can say on that point.
Where my unit was, the population lived in Djakovica normally, those who were not afraid of the bombing, of course, and who remained, who stayed on where they were. Or they didn't have anywhere to go, perhaps.
Q. All right. Now, do you know anything about our forces going from house to house, ordering and forcing the population to leave their homes?
A. Once again, I state that my unit was there, and my unit had the task of ensuring supplies, the various health supplies and food and anything else, and it's not true that that's what that they engaged in.
Q. Then they go on to state in that same paragraph that many were killed and many were threatened with death and that many properties belonging to Kosovo Albanians were set fire to where the properties and shops of Serbs were protected. So that is the general image that is portrayed here. Is it true? Is that correct?
A. No, it's not correct that anybody was threatened nor that people were expulsed nor was the property of Albanians set fire to. What was -- what resulted in properties being set fire to was the result of NATO bombings. And my battalion was in the northern parts of Djakovica, towards Pec, the area towards Pec, where the population lived. The population of Djakovica lived in that area, of course, and there were strikes at my unit many times. So that many facilities, civilian facilities, were hit during those strikes. 46524 BLANK PAGE 46525
Q. Now, since you were there yourself, did you personally tour all these areas that were targeted; and what did you see if you did?
A. Yes, I was there. My unit was on an assignment throughout the town. I went into town myself frequently to tour the town. And what sprang to the eye, what was most evident as you exit Djakovica was the column of refugees that was hit. I think it was on the 24th, in actual fact. 24th of April. I'm not quite sure of the date. Anyway, the refugees were hit by the NATO bombs. As well always the Maja settlement, where there were Serb refugees from Krajina. Another thing that was hit was the factory of Erenik Sokara, which is an area predominantly populated by the Serbs, and a number of people were killed when the factory was bombed.
Q. Sokara. It says "Sokora" here, but it's Sokara. You mean the juice producing factory, fruit juice producing factory, and that's how you refer to it in the local jargon?
A. Yes. And specifically targeted was area bordering on Mount Cabrat, that part of town. And as far as I know, the mosque was destroyed there and that part was burnt as a result of the NATO bombings, because at Mount Cabrat was the positions of the rocket divisions until they dislocated to other areas. They would move quite frequently, but that's where their positions used to be, and they put models up there which were constantly targeted by NATO. So these targets would be missed and civilian targets would be hit.
Q. Now, since you were in command of practically the only unit that was in Djakovica, do you know whether any one of your soldiers set fire to 46526 any houses, for example?
A. Well, what I can tell you is that certainly was not done, at least to the best of my knowledge. And I was considered to be a very strict officer myself. My brigade commander, Djosan, who was a colonel at the time, was also a commanding officer who would not allow anything like that to happen, and any cases of criminality, crimes of any kind, steps were taken to prosecute.
Q. It says here in this paragraph, in paragraph 63, that on the 24th of March, 1999, the old mosque at Rogovo, the old mosque in Rogovo, then the bazaar, the Hadun [as interpreted] mosque and the adjoining Islamic library "were among the several cultural sites substantially and/or totally destroyed." What do you know about that? You were there, on the spot.
A. As to the mosque in Rogovo, I can't say one way or another. I wasn't there during that period of time. However, I mentioned a moment ago that that particular mosque was adjoining the Cabrat area. Are you referring to the Hadum Mosque?
Q. Yes, Hadum. All right, very well.
A. So that part bordering on Cabrat hill was frequently targeted -- not frequently but daily targeted by NATO in the NATO strikes. So that part of town was the part of town that was destroyed most, and that's where that library was hit and -- the Islamic library -- the mosque and the library.
Q. I'm not asking you about where you were not, but the Hadum Mosque, the bazaar, the Hadum library. Tell us about the bazaar. What 46527 was that all about? What is the bazaar in Djakovica? It's a marketplace, is it?
A. Yes, it's a marketplace if we're thinking of the same thing, the same mosque.
Q. No. The mosque is one thing, the Hadum mosque is one thing, but the bazaar in Djakovica, what is that? Is it a centre or what?
A. The bazaar. The bazaar, yes, I'm sorry, yes, I see. The bazaar is located, well, near the centre of town.
Q. And how was that destroyed?
A. Near the bazaar mosque was where my unit was, part of my unit, and it was that unit that was targeted. I can't tell you the exact day that this happened, but it was hit by a NATO bomb.
Q. Thank you. Now, the -- during the period from the 2nd to the 4th of April, it says here thousands of Kosovo Albanians living in the town of Djakovica and neighbouring villages joined a large convoy, either on foot or driving in cars, trucks, and tractors.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Let me just ask the lieutenant colonel this: You're saying, then, that it was a NATO bomb that destroyed the bazaar?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes.
JUDGE ROBINSON: I mean, how do you know this?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, as I said, my unit was located -- since the areas of deployment were changed frequently, at one time it was close to the bazaar mosque, and areas were targeted frequently, the areas that my unit was deployed in.
JUDGE ROBINSON: And so you witnessed the bombing of the bazaar by 46528 NATO, NATO planes?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, not at that point in time, at exactly that moment, but the testimony of my soldiers and those who were there right then. I came later on. I don't remember exactly when that was. Perhaps a half an hour later, an hour later. But anyway, wherever my unit was targeted, I would turn up soon afterwards once they reported back to me about what had happened.
JUDGE ROBINSON: You say you don't remember the date, but do you remember the day of the week when this took place?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I'm really sorry, Mr. Robinson. Six years have gone by since then. I really can't remember just now. I can't remember.
JUDGE ROBINSON: And was -- what else was destroyed, if anything, by the NATO bombs?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I mentioned this a moment ago: Part of Djakovica, the part bordering on the hill called Cabrat, above Djakovica. And that was almost completely destroyed by the bombing, that area. And I say again that that's where the firepower positions were and where we had put up models. And there were daily NATO strikes in that area, targeting that. And another -- or civilian facilities around the barracks were completely destroyed.
JUDGE ROBINSON: In the area of the bazaar, was anything else destroyed by NATO bombing?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Well, the surrounding houses were destroyed. 46529
JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. I asked you in relation to this allegation that between the 2nd and the 4th of Albanians [as interpreted] thousands of Kosovo Albanians living in the town of Djakovica and neighbouring villages joined a large convoy, either on foot, or driving in cars, tractors and trucks, and moved to the border with Albania. What do you know about this? Why did these people go and was there a massive departure from Djakovica?
A. I've said a few moments ago that some inhabitants of Djakovica left from fear from NATO bombings and others under threats of the terrorists that they had to leave their villages and go to Albania. They went where they thought they'd be safe. Some went to Albania. Others stayed with their relatives in Djakovica. Others were staying in Raca, Moglica, Petrusa, and other villages. So there was no expulsion. They went where they thought they were safer.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Lieutenant Colonel, what would be the basis for your conclusion that some of the inhabitants left from fear for NATO bombing? What precise information do you have in this regard?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I've already said in response to the previous question: I directly spoke to people who were in the convoy of refugees, a group of refugees, about 100 of them, women, men, children, old people. Since they were passing by the Emin Duraku factory, they were coming from the direction of Kosovska Mitrovica and Pec where my command was in that factory. My command was in that factory. And at one moment that hill of Cabrat was bombed. It's about 3 to 400 metres away from the 46530 road where the column of refugees was.
I received them in the compound of the factory. We gave them food, water, whatever we had. And some people were complaining there about the situation. They said they were afraid of the bombing, that they had to go to Albania. Others were saying other things. But again, they were afraid that someone might overhear what they were saying.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. Let's just clarify another detail: What about the population of the town itself? Were they leaving en masse? You said that some went to stay in villages and some went to stay with relatives in Djakovica.
A. No, they were not moving out en masse. That became obvious at the end of the war. Djakovica's population had doubled, I think.
Q. So as a rule, citizens were not leaving the town of Djakovica itself?
A. No.
Q. Further on, it says that the forces of FRY and Serbia directed those fleeing along pre-arranged routes and at checkpoints along the way most Kosovo Albanians had their identification papers and licence plates seized. In some instances, Yugoslav army trucks were used to transport persons to the border with Albania. What do you say about that?
A. Well, as I've already said, the army did not control the movement of civilians. All units were at the state border, where they were deployed in order to organise the defence. I did not hear of anyone exercising control there, taking IDs, taking them in vehicles to the 46531 border. Those poor people who had vehicles went in those vehicles and others even walked. So I certainly would have heard had something like that happened, because I was in Djakovica non-stop. In town, that is.
Q. Thank you. In paragraph 63(ii), it says that in the early morning hours on the 27th of April --
MR. NICE: The accused is making the same mistake that he makes about citing paragraphs of the indictment, and it's only corrected for the purposes of the record. In each case it's 63(h)(i) or (ii), and it would help if we got that right when he cites from the indictment.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Please bear that in mind, Mr. Milosevic.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] All right.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. In the early morning hours of the 27th of April, 1999, or around that time, the forces of the FRY and Serbia launched a massive attack against the Carragojs, Erenik, and Trava valleys, Djakovica municipality, in order to drive the population out of the area. What do you know about that?
A. I've already said in response to the previous questions that this region was very important for the terrorists. Their concentration in that area varied all the time. Their numbers varied.
At one point, according to the information I had, they jeopardised the rear of our units or, rather, of the fighting echelons of the units. So it was necessary to search the area and to make it impossible for the terrorists to jeopardise our units. As far as I know, the only goal of that action was to expel the terrorists from that region. 46532
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, I quoted exactly. All of Djakovica is in 63(h), and this is subparagraph (ii).
JUDGE ROBINSON: It's like Roman 2. But let us proceed.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, it looks like an i. There's a dot on top.
THE INTERPRETER: Could Mr. Milosevic's microphone please be adjusted. Thank you.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Would you see that the microphone for the accused is adjusted. There is a request from the interpreter. Yes, please continue.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. In this paragraph that I mentioned to you a few moments ago, in Meja, Korenica and Meja-Orize, a large number of civilians were separated from the mass of fleeing villagers, and they were abducted and executed. Further on, it says that this went on throughout the entire day. Villagers under direct threat from the forces of the FRY and Serbia left their homes and joined several convoys of refugees using tractors, horse carts, and cars, and eventually crossed into Albania. And then again that many had their identity documents confiscated before they crossed the border.
So what do you know about that?
A. You mean the 27th of April?
Q. Yes, the 27th of April. That's this entire subparagraph. I told you, the 27th of April. This major offensive, as it is called here, and then what I quoted to you, that in these villages a large number, as yet 46533 undetermined, of Kosovo Albanian civilian males were separated from the mass of fleeing civilians, abducted and executed.
A. I don't have any information that something like that happened - I would have to know because part of my unit took part in that action, in the blockade of that area - the order of the brigade commander, because there weren't any other units in Djakovica, and there wasn't a unit that would intervene in case the terrorists attacked the town itself. I was given orders to establish a company about 100 men strong, that is to say three platoons, that one intervene if the terrorists attacked, or they would go on any mission as assigned by the corps command.
Q. So as commander of the logistics battalion, you don't really have any combat function in this.
A. No. The battalion, simply because there weren't any other units there, I singled out some soldiers and formed the unit of these men.
Q. Please go ahead. Please finish.
A. I took part in this action, and I don't have any information to the effect that something like that happened. I would have had to hear about this.
Q. In which capacity did you take part in that action?
A. Since I am an infantry officer, I commanded this company, and my task was to take the blockade line above the village of Osek Hilja and Skivjane.
Q. All right. Now I'm just going to ask you to show that on the overhead projector. I hope that you have this map in tab 2. 46534 Unfortunately, I haven't got it here. Have you got the exhibits there? This is a map of Meja. D321, tab 29.1.
A. My unit was at the blockade line. Trig 468. Trig 460. Have you seen it?
Q. Yes, yes. And what is the length of the line of blockade that you held with your unit?
A. Well, it's about a kilometre and a half. A kilometre or a kilometre and a half.
Q. All right. You held a line of blockade that was at least one kilometre long.
A. Yes, yes.
Q. As you held this blockade line, did you see any of what is alleged here, anything that is alleged here?
A. This is an area that is highly forested. This is near Osek Hilja and Skivjane. It's very hard to see there. And when the blockade line was taken, part of my unit went a -- a bit further up and saw terrorists at the entrance of the village of Racaj. As a matter of fact, they even found a shelter there where they were staying, and the terrorists left, went back to the village, and our exclusive task was to prevent any breakthrough through the line of blockade.
Q. So you did not enter the village in order to find the terrorists?
A. No, no, no. We were really not in a position to see anything from the trees and bushes, to see what was going on there. But on the 27th and 28th, gunfire was heard, that is to say fighting with the terrorists.
Q. All right. When you set out to carry out that task, I assumed 46535 BLANK PAGE 46536 that you received orders as to what your assignment was.
A. Yes, yes.
Q. Bear in mind that 66(i) of the indictment says the same thing as in paragraph 63: A massive attack against the Kosovo Albanians, population of Carragojs, Trava and Erenik valleys, in order to drive the population out of the area. That is what is written there. Now, tell me, what was your task? What were your intentions? As commander of this group or this company that you established and that was assigned to block this line of one kilometre or kilometre and a half, what was your task, your intentions, your objectives, what?
A. The task of that company that was established was to take that line of blockade and to prevent the terrorists from withdrawing to the villages of Racaj, Osek Hilja, and -- and Racaj-Skivjane. And if civilians were to withdraw from the village, then we were supposed to return them to the village. Why should we return them? For one reason only. I already told you in which way the terrorists operated. So as soon as the army attacked, the terrorists ordered the villagers to leave the village. However, I didn't have anyone withdrawing in my area and I didn't really have any contact with the terrorists. I didn't have any fighting with them or anything.
So that's how the terrorists operated: They forced the villagers to leave the village, and in this way they were pretending that it was the army that was jeopardising the population. The only objective was -- the only objective of that action was to defeat the terrorists. They kept returning there all the time from 1998, 46537 and they were threatening our units in-depth.
Q. You were battalion commander. You received orders from your brigade commander.
A. Yes.
Q. Is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. Was there any idea there or order or were any instructions given to you to do anything hostile towards the civilians?
A. Certainly not, not in a single order that I received during the war and while I was in the 52nd Brigade and in the 549th Brigade. There was no such order. And it's certain that we would never do that to our own population nor did we do it then. The only intention was to defeat the terrorists in the area.
Q. All right. It says here that a large number of members of the forces of FRY and Serbia were used there and that many checkpoints were set up and that villagers were leaving the area all the time under direct threat of the forces of the FRY and Serbia, and they were joining this convoy.
Tell us, please, what is correct?
A. I told you that the village population was leaving only on orders from the terrorists. "Major forces," what does "major forces" mean? If in an area of a kilometre and a half you have 90 men, these are not major forces.
So the other units, too. Whatever they managed to get out of the combat deployment they did in order to be in a position to carry out that 46538 particular mission.
Q. The next allegation in the same paragraph is that in Meja, Korenica, Meja-Orize, a large and as yet undetermined number of Kosovo Albanian civilian males were separated from the mass of fleeing villagers and abducted. Many were summarily executed and approximately 300 persons are still missing. Do you know anything about that?
A. It's not true that anything like that happened or that I know about it. There are certainly terrorists who got killed. That is a certainty because the whole operation was conducted for that purpose. But as for the civilian population being killed or dying, that's not true.
Q. Very well. I will now question you on a subject different from Meja.
In 66(e), the date mentioned is the 26th of March, 1999. When were you -- where were you then?
A. In Djakovica.
Q. Since you were in Djakovica on that day and for 15 years before that, you can tell me this: It says that forces of FRY and Serbia came to a house at 134A Ymer Grezda Street. The women and children inside the house were separated from the men and were ordered to go upstairs. The forces of the FRY and Serbia then shot and killed the six Kosovo Albanian men who were in the house.
So it was the 26th of March.
A. I don't know where the street is, but since I was in Djakovica at the time, I would have certainly heard if something like that happened. I have no knowledge of anything similar, and I don't believe it happened. 46539
Q. Tell me, on the 26th of March, was there any other unit in Djakovica apart from yours?
A. No.
Q. So if this were true, then it would have been -- it would have had to be members of your unit involved.
A. Well, according to what you say, yes.
Q. Was it possible for members of your unit to do something like that without you knowing?
A. No, impossible. I am going to repeat myself, but I have to say that in our army, just like in any other army, there are certain principles we abide by, and certainly somebody would have notified me; either one of the superior officers -- rather, subordinate officers, or one of the soldiers.
Q. The smallest unit that was subordinated to you was a platoon, followed by a company.
A. Yes.
Q. Could a squad or a platoon independently perform a task that would be some sort of invitation to acting without official leave?
A. That was impossible. The soldiers were under constant supervision of their superiors, and if the allegation is that this incident happened at night, then it is certain that none of the soldiers went about town at night. It was very strictly prohibited for their own safety, for the safety of personnel. They were not allowed to leave their area of deployment.
Q. Was it possible that any of them left their place of deployment 46540 without permission?
A. No. We didn't have any such cases.
Q. In 66(h), it says that on the late evening of 1st April, 1999, or about that time, and continuing through the early morning hours of the 2nd of April, 1999, forces of the FRY and Serbia launched an operation against the Qerim district of Djakovica. Over a period of several hours, forces of the FRY and Serbia forcibly entered the houses of Kosovo Albanians in Qerim, killed the occupants, and then set fire to the buildings. So this here is a whole operation taking place at night, in the night of the 1st of April. Where were you then?
A. I was probably on my command post - where else? - within the perimeter of the Emin Duraku factory. But through a combination of circumstances that evening my village [as interpreted] had passed through Ljug Bunar and Qerim. A vehicle was hit there and I got orders to get a fire brigade vehicle and a -- and an ambulance urgently. I asked one of my subordinates in charge of such matters and told him to meet those vehicles outside Djakovica near the bridge on the road leading to Pristina.
They left. They performed that task. They transported the bodies of the soldiers who had been killed, lent assistance to the injured, returned to the command. And every time a commander returns from a mission, he informs me about the mission performed and any problems he may have encountered. On that occasion he told me that he had passed through the terrain, it was absolutely peaceful, there were no lights anywhere in the area they had passed through, and they hadn't noticed anything 46541 happening. So I don't believe that anything happened.
Q. Can you tell us, if you remember, the time when this radar was hit upon which you sent that ambulance, the fire brigade vehicle?
A. I don't remember exactly. I think it was around midnight. I can't tell you precisely.
Q. So it was right in the middle of this time when purportedly some sort of operation was going on in Qerim?
A. Yes.
Q. When the forces of the FRY and Serbia were forcibly entering Kosovo Albanian houses and killing occupants.
A. Well, they passed through the area very frequently. I would have noticed, I suppose, if something like that had happened. My subordinate commander, as I told you, informed me that there was nothing going on.
Q. What other forces were there? Who could have been involved?
A. Well, that rocket battalion was not exactly there, some way off.
Q. Well, the rocket battalion has its own job. They are a crew to a weapon, and they are --
A. They are constantly on the alert, and they are not allowed to leave the weapon.
Q. It also says in the same paragraph that on that occasion dozens of houses were destroyed. So around midnight, when the radar was hit and you sent a rescue team, that is the time when allegedly dozens of homes were destroyed and over 50 persons were killed. For example, it reads: "In a house located at 157 Milos Gilic Street, forces of the FRY and Serbia shot the occupants and then set the house on fire. As a result of the 46542 shootings and the fires set by the forces of the FRY and Serbia at that single location, 20 Kosovo Albanians were killed, of whom 19 were women and children."
A. Well, that's absolutely not correct. I would certainly know if anything like that had happened, because as I said, my units passed by at the same time.
Q. That's the same night, between the 1st and the 2nd of April.
A. In that case, it's not correct that anything like that happened.
JUDGE ROBINSON: In your operations, was any civilians killed at all, even one?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, in those operations in which I participated, I did not have occasion to see any civilians killed, or even terrorists killed, for that matter. It's possible that a civilian gets killed in an exchange of fire, but we didn't find any bodies of civilians, or even terrorists, as I said.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. Lieutenant Colonel, on more than one occasion you gave statements concerning events in Djakovica.
A. Yes.
Q. Those statements were introduced through General Djosan, who was commander of your brigade.
A. Yes.
Q. In these statements that you gave, did you explain precisely what you knew about the subjects you were asked to talk about? 46543
A. Yes.
Q. In tab 8 -- I hope you have it in front of you. In tab 8 there is --
MR. NICE: If the accused could give the Djosan exhibit reference then we could be sure we find the right document. It's not that easy to track them down that quickly.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, let us have the exhibit number.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Give me just a moment to find it.
JUDGE KWON: D321, tab 8. The list says it.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. In your set, Mr. Odak, it's in tab 3. Let us just make sure that we're looking at the same document. I have in front of me your statement on the activities of the unit on the 1st of April, on the 27th and 28th of April, and another statement about the activities of your unit separately on the 28th of April. That's three statements made by you to the Commission for Cooperation with the ICTY, to the expert team specifically. Do you have the same statements?
A. Yes, Mr. Milosevic.
Q. On 1st of April, that is the date when our forces allegedly committed certain crimes over there, you describe what you were doing and what your assignment was. You were at the time commander of the logistics battalion, and you explain in the second paragraph where the battalion was deployed.
A. Yes.
JUDGE KWON: Just a second, Mr. Milosevic. All the Chamber has 46544 received is a sheet of index which says about the documents we are going to use with this witness, but number 3 says it's D321, tab 8. It says it is the statement of unit engagement on 24th of March. It does not refer to the event of 1st of April. So could you make it clear.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, Mr. Kwon, I'm reading what I have in my set of documents from a statement written by Mr. Odak. It says activities of the unit on the 1st of April, 1999. I'm only reading what's written on his statement.
MR. KAY: It's misleading on the index. These are the statements written for the commission, referring to those incidents in 1999.
JUDGE KWON: So it's the 1st of April.
MR. KAY: Yes.
JUDGE KWON: Thank you.
JUDGE ROBINSON: It's the 1st of April instead of the 24th of March, is it?
MR. KAY: The incidents refer to the 24th of March. Tab 8 is a document written the 26th of December, 2002, and tab 3 in this index but tab 8 of the Djosan index.
JUDGE BONOMY: Well, Mr. Milosevic has just suggested that there were three statements in the hands of the witness; one relating to the 1st of April, one relating to the 27th and the 28th, and one then relating to the 28th. Now, the only one on the index that he's produced is one relating to the 24th of March, which he hasn't mentioned, and then one relating to the 27th and 28th, which might be one of the three.
MR. KAY: It seems that D321, tab 11, has been missed off the 46545 index, because that's a statement dated the 26th of December, 2002, referring to the 1st of April, 1999. It was an untranslated document in Djosan.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Thanks for that clarification, Mr. Kay.
JUDGE KWON: Is a statement of that within Djosan tab 11?
MR. KAY: It's a statement within the Djosan records, by Mr. Odak.
JUDGE KWON: Thank you.
MR. KAY: These are three Odak statements within Djosan.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you, Mr. Kay. Mr. Milosevic.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Bonomy said it correctly. I mentioned three statements that I have in my set of documents, and through the good offices of the liaison officer, I have received the document related to the 24th of March now as well, which is not contained in my set of documents but we can look at that too.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. Let's take a look at the statement dated the 1st of April first, if you have it before you.
A. Yes.
Q. I hope you are going to bear in mind what I quoted, that a crime of some sort had been committed in the Qerim settlement.
MR. NICE: This one is not translated. Handling it is problematic when I imagine the accused is going to ask that it be moved into evidence. Perhaps it could go on the overhead projector. It's only just over one page long, and rather than summarise, if there's any part he relies on, 46546 BLANK PAGE 46547 perhaps he could quote it so we know exactly what it says.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes. Let be it placed on the -- it's on the ELMO. Mr. Milosevic, is there a particular section that you wish to refer to, bearing in mind that it's not translated.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, this was provided during the testimony of General Djosan, and as you know, considerable time has elapsed since then and it certainly could have been translated.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. But take a look at paragraph 3, now, please, Lieutenant Colonel, and it says on the 1st of April, 1999 - this is important because of the time - it says: "A little before midnight I received an assignment urgently to go to the area of the village of Ljug Bunar which was where the fire positions were of the artillery battalion and radar P15 to send a motor vehicle and anti-fire -- and a fire brigade system truck there." So the radar had been hit, there was burning going on, and you received that assignment soon before midnight; is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And your medical corps, a truck, the cistern and everything else -- the truck and everything that was dispatched to assist, how long did it take them to get there?
A. They went within the space of 30 to 45 minutes. They were dispatched there, they set off within the space of 30 to 45 minutes.
Q. I see, set off. And how long did it take them to reach the area?
A. It took them 30 minutes. It's not a long way away, but as it was night-time, that's how long it took them. 46548
Q. All right, you don't know how long they spent there, but do you know when they returned after putting out -- extinguishing the fire and when the medical corps turned up and so on, ambulance?
A. Well, since the time they set off, as far as I remember, they returned two hours later, roughly two hours later.
Q. All right. And if we were to reconstruct these events, they set off a little after midnight and returned a little after 2.00 a.m., roughly. Can we say that?
A. Yes, we can.
Q. So the team, did it have to pass through the Qerim settlement both on its way out and on its way back?
A. Yes, they had to pass that way.
Q. And who made up the team?
A. The team was composed of a squad, an officer with seven soldiers providing security; there was an ambulance with a doctor, a nurse, a medical technician and so forth; and a fire-fighting -- fire-fighting truck.
Q. Right. So that's the assistance you sent out.
A. Yes.
Q. Was there any other unit - yours or anybody else's - along that route and in that general area?
A. No.
Q. Take a look at the penultimate paragraph, the middle of that paragraph on page 1.
A. Yes. 46549
Q. The one that begins: "I quickly effected the preparations ..." et cetera. And in the middle, what does it say: "Upon returning from the assignment ..." You read it out, please.
A. "Upon returning from the assignment, I was informed by the security commander that the road leading to Qerim was empty. When returning from the assignment, I was informed by the security commander that the road up to the village of Ljug Bunar, which leads through the Qerim settlement, was completely empty, that it was dark and they didn't encounter anybody on the way. He also informed me that the killed soldiers were brought to the garrison clinic and that Aleksandar Gajic, Sergeant, and soldier private -- a private who was with him at the radar were transferred to the clinic, but that the radar -" P15 was the radar - "that they were not able to put out the fire on the P15 radar."
Q. And what does it say in the last paragraph -- or, rather, is that roughly what you told us when I asked you a question about that event between the 1st and 2nd of April?
A. Yes. I've already answered that question.
Q. All right. Fine. And what does it say in the last paragraph? "As to the alleged crimes committed in the village of Qerim, I heard about them at the end of 2001 for the first time."
A. Yes.
Q. Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel. Let us just take a look at this second statement that I have, relating to the 27th and 28th of April. I hope that that one has been translated, and if need be, we can place it on the overhead projector. No problem there, I think. 46550 We're going to skip over the first part, what you did on so on. Mention is made of what you mentioned a moment ago, that you had established a company within the frameworks of your battalion. And what does it say, that the reason for setting up a unit of this kind was the situation, that is to say that in the town of Djakovica there was not a single combat unit.
A. Yes.
Q. And you explained that to us a moment ago. Now, what does it say in the last sentence of this paragraph? It was the task of the unit to intervene where?
A. In places where the Siptar terrorist forces jeopardised the security of our units in the town and the Pristina Corps command post, the brigade command post, garrison, infirmary, and the local population, in order to operate in coordination with other units in the event of an attack by the Siptar terrorist forces.
Q. And that in principle was the main task, was it?
A. Yes.
Q. And it says here that you were given the assignment -- "On the 25th of April I was given a task," it says, "for the intervention unit to accomplish in the early hours of the 27th of April, 1999, which was to take the following line for a seal-off operation ..." Trig, the trig you pointed out to us, the trig point.
And what does it say in the last line there? Commanders and soldiers. What does it say? "I carried out necessary preparations for the combat operation and I regulated the procedure of units and 46551 individuals in the event of encountering Siptar terrorist forces and in the event of evacuating the civilian population over the seal-off-line," or blockade line.
In all our orders, in fact, that were issued, as with other units, these were all questions and issues that were regulated, the kind of conduct and treatment given to terrorists and the civilian population, of course.
Q. All right. Thank you. Now, on page 2 you say that you took up positions along the blockade line at 6.30 a.m. with a half an hour delay until a connection was made between the platoons in the company and with your left and right neighbours.
A. Yes. And I said that my right wing had moved further forward, was almost at the village, so I had to send them back to the blockade line, and that's why there was this delay.
Q. And we have a repetition here of what you've already told us. And it says, "During the day, the unit did not engage in any fighting with the Siptar terrorist forces and no civilians were encountered."
A. Yes, that's right.
Q. And then the event that took place: The commander of the platoon on the right wing informed you of the shelter and the group that had fled towards Racaj village.
A. Yes.
Q. You saw them at the first houses of the village, disappearing between those first houses. And then what do you say in that last paragraph? You say, "Throughout the day, NATO aircraft were flying over 46552 the sector where the unit was located, and airstrikes were heard from various directions."
A. Yes, the NATO aircraft did fly over the area and struck the Kosare area and that area, too, but from the place that I was at I was not able to see how and where.
Q. All right. Now, what does that last statement relate to of the 24th of April, the very brief statement on the second day of the operation?
A. This statement relates to the fact that the blockade was continued. The units spent the night there at their positions and the blockade continued the next day and ended towards the afternoon, after lunchtime, because the soldiers had their lunch there, and they had dry rations. They had their lunch there, and I remember it at around 1600 hours.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Nice?
MR. NICE: Is the witness looking at another statement, or --
JUDGE KWON: It should be tab 8 of Exhibit 321.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Colonel, what are you looking at?
MR. NICE: [Microphone not activated]
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Operations of the unit on the 28th of April.
JUDGE KWON: What's the tab number?
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] This should be 4A, and it was admitted. It was introduced through General Djosan's testimony.
JUDGE KWON: This should be an order, then, which is admitted, 46553 correct. If it is an order.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Is it on the ELMO?
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] No, no.
JUDGE KWON: 4A. 4A. It's coming.
MR. KAY: Tab 30.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, you should be organising your material better than this.
THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please.
JUDGE KWON: Mr. Kay, tab 30 has a couple of documents of -- couple of statements of Mr. Odak? I think there's only one.
MR. KAY: There is only one. I'm just trying to unravel the date. It can be the only one that we're referring to here, tab 30A.
MR. NICE: I think I can remember the problem and whether I can solve it, I'm not sure. Originally 30, and thus 30A, contained two statements of this witness, one of the 26th of December relating to the 27th and 28th of April, then I think a shorter statement, which may not have been translated, also of the 26th of December relating to the 28th of April. And I'm holding up what I've got, which is the original -- I mean the B/C/S version.
Now, that may still be untranslated, and it may have remained as part of tab 30. My recollection is not absolutely clear on that. There may have been a possibility of it being moved to another tab.
JUDGE KWON: The Registry's index does not reflect that, so thank you, Mr. Nice.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I have just -- or, rather, that's 46554 right. That's the short statement that Mr. Nice had in his hands a moment ago, related to the 28th of April, 1999. And it says, "No English copy" on my copy here, which means it has not been translated. It is a very short statement.
Is it on the overhead projector now? Are we seeing it on the ELMO?
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. So the date is the 28th of April. It is the second day of the operations. The unit continued its blockade of the territory. There was no -- there were no conflicts with the Siptar terrorist forces today either, nor did they come across civilians at the blockade line. And you go on to tell us what happened -- or, rather, what does this statement say?
A. This statement says that the unit continued the activities that it had been engaged in the previous day and that shooting could be heard from the direction of the village of Racaj, Ramoc, and so on, from that general area, and that the action -- or, rather, that I was given the assignment at around 1600 hours, if I remember correctly, because I know the soldiers had already had their lunch, that I should collect up my men and return to the deployment area, the battalion's deployment area. And on that day there was no clash with the terrorists nor did the civilians cross the blockade line.
Q. Thank you. Lieutenant Colonel, in point 105 of the indictment it says, in addition to the forcible expulsion of Kosovo Albanians from the 24th of March, 1999, I assume further on, the forces of the FRY and Serbia 46555 also engaged in a number of killings of Kosovo Albanians. Such killings occurred at numerous locations, including ... and I'm going to skip the places that you weren't in and just mention Djakovica, Djakovica being among those places. So please consider that this description, when it comes to you, only refers to Djakovica.
So from the 24th of March onwards, our forces, it alleges, and you were in command of them in Djakovica, took part in numerous killings of Kosovo Albanians, a number of killings.
A. That is absolutely incorrect. There were no killings in the town of Djakovica. I would certainly have known about it, because I was in Djakovica at that time, if there had been.
Q. Now, Witness Beqe Beqaj here said that in August 1998 the population of Racaj left the villages the first time when the army and police reached the area of that particular village and other villages in the valley. Were you there then?
A. Yes, and I mentioned that when you asked me about 1998.
Q. I'm asking you about the witness statement now. You were there personally, were you?
A. Well, the terrorists from the Smonica village withdrew to Racaj. And several days later, when I searched the terrain with the aim of expelling the terrorists from that area, we were in the Racaj village area but there was not a single inhabitant left in the village of Racaj, and I said how the terrorists got rid of the population. The village was completely empty. I didn't come across any terrorists either. The terrorists had withdrawn in the direction of the forest. They'd taken to 46556 the forests and wooded areas around Qerim village, et cetera.
JUDGE ROBINSON: It's time for the break. We'll adjourn for 20 minutes.
--- Recess taken at 12.20 p.m.
--- On resuming at 12.43 p.m.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Milosevic, please continue.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. Mr. Odak, Witness Hani Hoxha stated that on the 27th of March, 1999 -- actually, before I put my question to you, where were you on that date? That's the third day of the war, or the fourth day into the war.
A. In Djakovica, Mr. Milosevic.
Q. On the 27th, around midnight, she heard gunfire, and she saw her neighbour's house on fire, and she went to Milos Gilic 157, where 24 people were hiding, and saw Husein Gashi's body as well as other dead bodies. What happened there? Do you know anything about it?
A. I have no knowledge of any such thing having happened. However, I don't believe it is possible that in the same house in the same building at the same address people be killed twice, because this is also mentioned as having happened on the 1st.
I don't have any knowledge of any such thing having happened, and I do not believe that any such thing happened.
Q. When I first put my question to you it pertains to a paragraph from the indictment, whereas this is the testimony of -- of witness Hani Hoxha. However, this is what matters: You don't have any knowledge of that having happened there? 46557 BLANK PAGE 46558
A. No.
Q. In paragraph 53 of the indictment it says that I, together with others, from the 1st of January, 1999, until the 20th of June, 1999, planned, instigated, ordered, committed, or otherwise aided and abetted in a deliberate and widespread or systematic campaign of terror directed at Kosovo Albanians living in Kosovo in the FRY and that this kind of campaign was carried out with the assistance of the forces of FRY and Serbia that acted against the civilian population in order to expel a large number of Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija in order to establish their own control.
Please, you were battalion commander, you were the most senior officer in Djakovica in terms of officers commanding units. Do you know any such thing? Have you ever heard of any such intention, plan, objective, anything from the army of Yugoslavia?
A. Everything my unit did, as well as the brigade command, was regulated by orders from the Pristina Corps, that is to say the superior command, and the brigade command then regulated everything through orders. As for battalions and other subordinate units, not in a single document is there any reference to any kind of campaign, violence, murder. That is absolutely incorrect. I know and I'm sure that no such thing happened, nor have I seen a single document regulating something like that.
Q. In paragraph 55, it says that the forces of FRY and Serbia, in a deliberate and widespread or systematic manner, forcibly expelled and internally displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians from their homes across the entire province of Kosovo, creating an atmosphere of fear 46559 and oppression through the use of force, threats of force, and acts of violence.
What about you, your unit, and generally speaking in the army? Did you hear anything about force, threats of force, violence, and expelling Albanians from Kosovo?
A. As I've already said, I lived in Kosovo for 13 and a half years. I lived with these people as I did with all other citizens. I'm referring to the Albanians now. And I had very proper relations. And would it be reasonable to expect that I and other people who lived in Djakovica would expel our fellow citizens from the country?
I claim that the Albanian population was fleeing exclusively on account of their fear from NATO bombing and threats issued by terrorists.
Q. In paragraph 56, it says that throughout Kosovo forces of the FRY and Serbia engaged in a deliberate and widespread or systematic campaign of destruction of property owned by Kosovo Albanian civilians and that this was accomplished by the widespread shelling of towns and villages, the burning and destruction of property, including homes, farms, businesses, cultural monuments and religious sites, and so on and so forth.
Do you know anything about that?
A. First and foremost, "shelling" is a term I'm unaware of as far as military terminology is concerned.
Secondly, all towns were under our control, so it would have been silly for us to shell ourselves, as it is stated here. What happened was that wherever the army of Yugoslavia was, and it 46560 was throughout the region of Kosovo and Metohija, NATO aircraft were targeting all these objectives, and they destroyed many villages, and they hit many civilian targets too. So this assertion that we were engaged in shelling, I repeat yet again: We were firing only at buildings from which terrorists were shooting, and they did not hesitate even to use religious buildings, places of worship, for firing from them. For example, the Catholic church in Nec, where I was, they were firing from there too. So we only fired at buildings from which the terrorists fired.
Q. Thank you. Paragraph 60 says that the forces of FRY and Serbia tried to dissuade Kosovo Albanians from returning to their homes by looting and pillaging the personal and commercial property belonging to them and through wholesale searches, threats of force and acts of violence, et cetera, they expelled them, stole their personal property, including vehicles.
Do you know anything about that?
A. No. That's not correct. I don't know about any such thing. After all, it is possible that there were individual cases that were punished. I cannot claim that no such thing ever happened. Certainly there were some isolated individual cases, but whenever a case of that kind was observed, then the law enforcement officials acted against the perpetrators.
Q. Do you know about the seizure of documents from Albanians?
A. It was terrorists who were taking these documents away. I personally, in the village of Nec, found over 300 documents. Also in the village of Smonica, a large number of IDs that belonged to Albanians. 46561 That is when I talked about the way the terrorists operated. They would come to a village, they would take the documents from the civilian population. I've already talked about this, so I don't need to repeat myself. And they were the only ones who took documents away.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Lieutenant Colonel, what you haven't told us is the source of your information that it was the terrorists who took away the documents. I mean, did you witness this or was this something that you were told?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, I've already mentioned that I personally conducted the action against terrorists in the villages of Nec and Smonica. And I personally, in the house where the commander of this terrorist unit was, found a large number of documents belonging to citizens from Nec. The same goes for Smonica. I collected all these documents and I handed them over to my superior command.
MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
Q. When you saying "documents," are you referring to personal identification documents?
A. Yes, yes; personal IDs, et cetera.
Q. Tell me, please, as an officer of the army, did you ever get any order to deport anyone from Kosovo in order to ensure, as it says here, "lasting Serbian control over Kosovo"? Or irrespective of intentions involved, did you ever receive any such orders?
A. Well, I've already said a few minutes ago that there was no order of the superior command regulating any such thing, nor did I issue such an order, nor did such things happen. 46562
Q. Did you ever receive any information to the effect that someone had done anything of that sort?
A. No.
Q. As an officer and as a battalion commander at the time, did you know what was specifically happening on the ground in the area of Djakovica? Did you know what was happening in Djakovica?
A. Absolutely. Since there were briefings every day and we reported to the brigade commander, he informed us about the situation on the ground and we reported to him about our own observations from the ground. So we were informed about the situation.
Q. So regarding everything that happened on the ground, you reported to the superior command, the higher instance?
A. Yes.
Q. And did your superiors have information about what was going on through Kosovo?
A. Well, yes. I had meetings with my subordinates every day where I informed them about what happened in our area of responsibility, that is to say the municipality of Djakovica. And they informed me about their observations in the areas where they were, where the -- their company or platoon was deployed.
Q. In these reports did you ever have occasion to see that there was a problem in relation to the civilian population?
A. There were absolutely no problems whatsoever. We were neighbours with them, so to speak, and there were no problems of incidents. As far as I know, in the brigades there were two cases where rape was attempted, 46563 but these persons were brought into custody by the military police.
Q. You mentioned a while ago, and you said that you lived there for 13 and a half years, that even at the end of the war the town of Djakovica was full of people. Does that mean that the population of Djakovica did not move out?
A. No. Residents of villages came to Djakovica, those who were expelled by terrorists. As I said, probably to portray this image of alleged humanitarian catastrophe.
Q. According to what you've been saying, Djakovica was full at the end of the war.
A. Yes, full, absolutely. When we withdrew, we could barely got out because there were so many people. Had we not been provided security by the Italian soldiers, we could barely withdraw. The town was bursting at the seams.
Q. Thank you. I have no further questions. Now other questions will be put to you.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Nice. Cross-examined by Mr. Nice:
Q. Do I understand you to say that you saw no terrorists being killed throughout this conflict?
A. What conflict are you referring to, Mr. Nice?
Q. With NATO, however you described it. Do I understand you to say that you saw no terrorists being killed throughout that period of time?
A. No. I did not see a single terrorist killed. It's quite understandable in any army, after all. Terrorists do that too, 46564 unfortunately.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... you saw no civilian being killed?
A. No.
Q. You have no explanation that you can offer this Court for any civilians in Djakovica being killed in the course of these events?
A. The only civilians I saw killed was the column of civilians moving from Djakovica to Prizren in the month of April that was hit by the NATO Air Force.
Q. We've heard a lot about that. I'm not going to trouble you with that. I'll repeat the question. As to other civilians killed in streets here or there in Djakovica, you have no explanation of any kind that you can give to this Court about how such civilians were killed?
A. Mr. Nice, there was no killing of civilians, nor did I see any civilians that were killed in town. Perhaps these are your assumptions, but it is a fact that this did not happen.
Q. We'll come to that in a short while. I'm a bit confused about your particular position. At some stage you were in charge of part of the anti-aircraft or an anti-aircraft unit, and at some time you were not engaged in anti-aircraft work. Can you just explain it to me a little bit more simply. When were you dealing with anti-aircraft work?
A. Mr. Nice, that is written in one of my statements. Due to certain personnel movements, in September 1998 I was reassigned to be commander of a battalion in the 52nd Artillery Rocket Brigade, and I stayed there until mid-May, the 20th of May, approximately. I can't remember exactly. But I 46565 objected to that order. I filed an objection. I did not want to leave my battalion where I had spent 13 years. So I requested to be returned to that other battalion, and I was returned to the battalion at my own request in mid-May, the 2nd Battalion of the 549th Brigade.
Q. Throughout your deployment in anti-aircraft and with the brigade, your superior officer was whom?
A. Colonel Milos Djosan.
Q. So do you therefore, as a battalion commander, occupy essentially and effectively the same rank, the same level as a witness we've recently heard, Vukovic? You're the same rank as him, are you, battalion commander?
A. Yes, except that these are battalions for different purposes.
Q. Yes. Therefore we understand from Vukovic that battalions -- or battalion commanders maintain war diaries. Can we see yours?
A. Mr. Nice, I don't have this war diary because, I repeat once again, I left that battalion, brigade --
Q. Where is your war diary, please?
A. Probably in the archives, because I did not hand over documentation. I left that unit. I left --
Q. There's no reason, is there --
A. I already said mid-May. And my successor was Major Ramiz Pejcinovic.
Q. And there is absolutely no reason to believe that that diary no longer exists. It does exist, and you told us you've made no effort to locate it in order to bring it here; is that right? 46566
A. Mr. Nice, it's not a question of whether I made an effort or not. First and foremost, I'm an active duty-officer, and I did not have time to gather documentation. You see that I made only three statements. And secondly, I'm sure that this war diary exists but it's in the archives and I really didn't have any time for that. But I could make an effort --
Q. How many days have you been here preparing to give evidence?
A. Twenty.
Q. Twenty days. In the course of that time did nobody raise with you, perhaps following questions of earlier witnesses, that it might be desirable for you to lay your hands on contemporaneous documents? Hmm?
A. Well, Mr. Nice, I repeat yet again, I was asked -- or, rather, General Djosan, my superior officer, he gathered documents, and at his request, I wrote my statements. So I thought that he would gather all the relevant documentation, because he had the opportunity to do so since he is retired and he has time to do so, whereas as I've already said, I'm a serving officer and --
Q. As a colonel, you have to simply tell your adjutant, "Lay hold of my diary, will you, please. I want it next week." It's not a very difficult thing to do in a military organisation. Are you really trying to persuade us that it was beyond your ability, for want of time, to get the critical document that would assist this Court?
A. No, Mr. Nice. I'm not trying to persuade you of that at all. I'm repeating this one more time: My superior commander, Colonel, or now General Djosan, asked me to write statements. As for the other documents, 46567 I repeat again, since he's a pensioner now and he has time, he was the one who was supposed to gather all these documents, and he did. But he probably did not consider it necessary to look for that diary. I don't know what the reason is.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ...
A. At any rate, I did not --
Q. The map that's been --
JUDGE BONOMY: Just to be clear, we're talking about a diary relating to the 549th Brigade, are we, or --
MR. NICE: No, his battalion during the conflict when he was a battalion commander.
JUDGE BONOMY: Yes, but we're talking -- am I misunderstanding the situation when I think that he was a battalion commander in two battalions?
MR. NICE: He may have been but I'm more particularly concerned -- and to make sure I make this clear to the witness:
Q. Mr. Odak, I'm interested in the time when you were battalion commander between September 1998 and May 1999 in Djakovica. I hope I suggested clearly to you that there was a war diary prepared for that period of time. Am I correct?
A. Yes, absolutely.
MR. NICE: Your Honour, it's that war diary that I'm interested in.
JUDGE BONOMY: Yes, I follow that, but was General Djosan not with the 549th Brigade, the other -- and therefore in charge of the other 46568 BLANK PAGE 46569 battalion. So we've been getting answers about a war diary from one brigade to questions from you about the war diary from another brigade, I think. Or another battalion, rather.
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Excuse me. If I may clarify, with your leave.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Yes, go ahead.
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] In 1998, I was in a different battalion of the 549th Brigade until September. In that battalion, my superior was then Lieutenant Colonel Vlatko Vukovic. Then in September 1998, I moved to the 52nd Rocket Brigade, and my superior was General Djosan. Then in mid-1999, I moved back to the previous battalion, where my superior was again Vlatko Vukovic. I don't know if I managed to clear things up.
JUDGE BONOMY: That clarifies it. Obviously the questions and answers were related to the same diary. Thank you, Mr. Nice.
MR. NICE: We'll try and lay hold of that diary.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Can I just ask you, Lieutenant Colonel, in writing your statements, did you rely on your war diary?
THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No.
MR. NICE:
Q. You appreciate, don't you, Mr. Odak, that contemporaneous documents are immensely valuable and more valuable than memories that are recorded years later? Do you appreciate and accept that?
A. I accept that. But I remember all those things that matter, the major things. 46570
Q. Help the Court, if you will, please. You've made a number of assertions today, and in respect of each assertion I want you to tell us if you have with you any contemporaneous document recording the assertion you've made. The destruction of the bazaar or marketplace by a bomb, do you have any -- by a NATO bomb. Do you have any contemporaneous document relating to that?
A. No, I don't.
Q. The destruction of the mosque by a NATO bomb; do you have any contemporaneous document relating to that?
A. I don't, Mr. Nice, but --
Q. I'm so sorry, go on.
A. But it is certain that in the war diaries of most units you will not find entries about civilian targets because that's not something that you normally enter into war diaries. Those are not normally the type of issues you cover in war diaries. What is recorded are losses and activities conducted by the unit.
Q. There are other contemporaneous records; combat reports and maybe other documents. Were there combat -- daily combat reports in your battalion?
A. Yes, absolutely.
Q. So they may have recorded what happened at particular locations. I press on.
Have you any -- you've made an assertion about Kosovo Albanians somehow taking from other Albanians their documents and destroying them. Is there any contemporaneous document to which you can refer this Court 46571 that details that?
A. Mr. Nice, I didn't say that they destroyed them. The terrorists seized the identification documents of civilians in villages, especially males, able-bodied men capable of fighting, in order to force them to leave the village and join the terrorists. So they didn't destroy their IDs. I said that in Smonica and Nec villages I found a large number of IDs and turned them over to my superior command.
Q. There is a great deal of evidence before this Court from people saying that they had IDs taken from them, either in convoys on the way to borders or at borders, particularly the border with Albania. Can you explain that, or do you say all that evidence must be untrue?
A. I personally haven't heard of such cases. It's possible that there were individual incidents, but I don't think it was a general occurrence.
Q. Dealing with the fact that you were -- oh, no. You were -- have I got this right: You and your anti-aircraft unit were the only military force in the town of Djakovica at the material time? Have I understood that correctly?
A. Djakovica housed the command of the 52nd Artillery Rocket Battalion, command battalion, or, rather, their communication company and my battalion, if you're asking about the town of Djakovica itself.
Q. And the artillery rocket battalion, that's anti-aircraft, is it?
A. Yes.
Q. And you were anti-aircraft as well, because you were part of an anti-aircraft battalion. Or you were an anti-aircraft battalion, part of 46572 a brigade; correct?
A. No. That's not true. Mine was the logistics battalion. The logistics battalion's purpose is to supply ammunition, fuel, food, medical supplies, and other necessities to the units. Therefore, it's not a combat unit but a logistical unit. It has nothing to do with anti-aircraft defence.
Q. Dealing with the period of 1998, and it's the only question I want to ask about 1998, for want of time, Colonel Crosland, an attache at the British embassy, told us that anti-aircraft units had, amongst other things, 20-, 30-, and 40-million cannon. Is he right?
A. Yes, he's right.
Q. And of course that cannon's intended for use on aircraft. Is he right about that?
A. In part, because the purpose of those cannons is to fire on targets on the ground and in the air alike.
Q. That was the point he made, and so he seems perhaps to have got it right, has he, because he says he saw anti-aircraft cannon being used quite disproportionately on houses in Kosovo by anti-aircraft units. Is he right on that?
A. No, he's not right. I don't know what he means by "disproportionately." They were used to the extent necessary to destroy the terrorists.
Q. Well, how do you destroy terrorists on the ground with enormous cannon of the type appropriate for aircraft? How do you do it? Focus it on a house and blow the house up? 46573
A. Mr. Nice, we don't shoot at a house. We shoot at a building from which terrorists are firing.
Q. Checking first of all that there's nobody but a terrorist in the house before you fire at it with something that's appropriate to knocking a plane out of the sky. Is that what you did?
A. Well, Mr. Nice, I don't know if anybody can possibly know what exactly is located in a building together or behind an enemy. I don't know if NATO was aware what was in the building when they killed the little girl called Milica.
Q. Oh, if you'd like to deal with a child, please help me with the following -- I was going to come to this later but I'll deal with it straight away, if I can. We've had a witness in this court, K13, whose statement was permitted to be read to this Court, who was 11 years old at the time of the matters of which she spoke, and she was staying with others in a pool hall, I think for safety. Police came and ordered the occupants out, we were told by this child who was 11 years old at the time. Nobody was questioned. They were simply taken to another house, and in that other house the people, including this girl's family, were shot and killed.
Do you know anything about that?
A. No, I know nothing about this event. I don't know where it happened, if it happened.
Q. Well, one possibility I want you to consider before you leave this court is whether in defending the army's position, you're needlessly also defending the police's position. Think about it. 46574 Is it possible that the things that are said to have happened in Djakovica were caused by the police and not by the army?
A. Mr. Nice, I didn't come here to defend or attack anybody. I am talking about things that I heard and I saw. I gave a solemn declaration and I'm acting accordingly.
Those who need to be held liable for committing a crime should be, and should be punished, but I'm certainly not trying to defend anyone.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... police may have done things unknown to you, and I have your answer. Before I move on, just one other question about documents: You showed us a map -- I'll get the reference for it in a minute. Who made the map?
A. That map was drawn on the basis of the elements that I provided by General Djosan, as far as I know. I think he drew his own part and Colonel Vukovic drew his part.
Q. Oh, I see. So Djosan and Vukovic were together, and you. Yes?
A. No, they were not working together with me. I'm going to say again: General Djosan just asked me to provide the underlying data, which I did in the form of a statement, and Mr. Djosan was the one who did the drawing.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... how did you provide it; in written form or by speaking to him or by doing your own map? Tell us.
A. After having been contacted by the expert team, himself, General Djosan, asked me to write these statements and I did. Everything is indicated in those statements, so he could have made the map based on my statements, based on the information in them, because exact trig points 46575 are indicated. Those trig points are the dominant features. That's why I remember them.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... with your information. The expert committee, by the way, just tell us, what did you understand their role to be in all this? Why do you need an expert committee to provide information to a court like this? What did the expert committee do?
A. I have no information whatsoever about the expert team. All I was told by General Djosan was that it was a team that had been established in order to - how shall I put it? - gain knowledge about certain things, but that's all I know. And I've never been in contact with them.
Q. So you provided your statements, and I want to know who drew the plan, the map. Perhaps you don't know.
A. I've just said I believe it was General Djosan.
Q. Did he do it on his own or did he have a map-maker or did he do it with a colleague? Can you tell us?
A. I really don't know.
Q. I may come back to that. Let's look at a video, please. It's Exhibit 11, shown in the opening of the case but I think the exhibit may have been moved into evidence without either any or much of it being seen. We'll just look at some extracts from it, please. It's a very long video, about an hour, I think in all.
I want you to confirm, please, what we're looking at is Djakovica.
[Videotape played]
MR. NICE:
Q. The video was taken in August of 1999. Is that Djakovica? 46576
A. Yes, yes.
Q. Is that Djakovica?
A. I'm not sure about this one.
Q. What do you say about this damage? Bomb damage or artillery damage or both?
A. Well, judging by this damage, I would say artillery weapons do not inflict this kind of damage. These are larger bombs. Probably NATO air bombs because the damage to the buildings is huge.
Q. Tell us, Mr. Odak - You were there, you've told us you're basically the only army officer there - tell us: Bomb or artillery?
A. I've just told you I was in Djakovica. So it would not have been normal for my army to shell me, as you keep insisting. This can only be a result of NATO air bombs.
Q. Press on, please.
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Mr. Robinson, it says here the question: "Press on, please." I haven't heard this question interpreted to the witness.
MR. NICE: "Press on" was a request to Ms. Dicklich to move on with the video.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Very well. Not addressed to the witness.
MR. NICE:
Q. Are you saying that there was no example on any occasion of there being burning of buildings in Djakovica?
A. No, I'm not saying that there were not individual cases - I say that again - but that somebody burnt houses, killed people in the way that 46577 you put it, that is incorrect. And I'm sure that all the cases that were uncovered, of course you cannot uncover all cases of crime, so that those which were uncovered were prosecuted, I'm quite sure.
Q. Just have a look, please, if you will --
THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, please, Mr. Nice.
MR. NICE:
Q. Have a look, please, at a Defence exhibit produced through Stevanovic, D299, tab 72, and if you just look at paragraph 12 of this record of the Ministry of Interior's meeting held on the 11th of May of 1999. The MUP, the police -- and I'll get the usher to put it on the overhead projector at page 12 of the English. It's not on my screen, I'm afraid.
Have you got the end of paragraph 12 where we're looking at the report of Brigade Commander Colic?
MR. NICE: Does the Court have it on its screen? I don't have it on mine, I'm afraid. Well, to save time I'll read out to you what's in English -- there it is. Thank you very much, perfectly positioned, don't move it. Bottom of the screen.
Q. "Commander Colic reported this: Citizens and refugees in Djakovica town were treated correctly during the operations, however, after all the actions, VJ reservists burnt houses and went into them; we informed VJ commanders in order to prevent these incidents." Were, at a minimum, VJ reservists burning houses, as the police seem to have recorded against you? Yes or no.
A. Well, cooperation between the army and the police was on a daily 46578 basis. Now, this vision of the brigade commander or, rather, this meeting with the brigade commander and the responsible people of the MUP in Djakovica were on a daily basis. They had regular meetings and just as they helped us uncover individual crimes, we would help them uncover individual crimes. Specifically speaking, I'm quoting the example of these two once again, the two soldiers that tried -- that attempted rape from our brigade. Those two cases. But we received information about that from the MUP organs.
Now, as to this particular instance, well, it is possible -- I say they were individual cases, but he informed us of this for us to be able to take steps in the best intentions. But that certainly didn't happen in my unit and with the knowledge of my unit.
Q. Where is the record of the prosecutions?
A. Well, the command of the brigade sent them on. That's up to the brigade command.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... this Court of the prosecutions of people for burning houses down in Djakovica, if there is a record. It doesn't exist, does it, Mr. Odak?
A. Well, no, we didn't have such cases, Mr. Nice, that there were any burnings of houses. I mentioned the only two cases that I know happened in the brigade, and steps were taken against those individuals. Criminal reports were filed and they were taken into custody. But there was no burning of houses in the unit at all.
Q. You've told us about the rapes before and we don't know what happened to the alleged rapist. Or perhaps we do; nothing. But there was 46579 BLANK PAGE 46580 one other trial, I mentioned it to the previous witness, Mancic. Do you remember the trial of Mancic? Do you remember the trial of Mancic, the officer?
A. No, I didn't follow that.
Q. Well, did you hear about it at all? Did you understand that his trial came about only because one of them --
A. Yes.
Q. Sorry?
A. Yes.
Q. You did hear about it. And the only reason he was put on trial is because one of the men he told to kill Albanians reported himself for process and therefore there had to be a trial. Do you remember that happening?
A. I do remember, but --
Q. Yes.
A. -- that trial -- well, I have my opinions about that trial. I don't want to present them here and now, because it was an officer of mine, and as far as I know, the lawyers received from KFOR the fact that these people did not exist at all. So that particular trial was mounted, in my opinion.
Q. Let me just go back to the point which I think you confirmed: The Mancic trial is a trial where there had to be a trial because one of the people he'd commanded to commit a crime reported himself. He couldn't avoid having a trial. And it's only in special circumstances that there was any judicial process for the crimes that were being committed in 46581 Kosovo during this period. Am I not right?
A. Well, let me tell you. You -- I didn't follow that trial very much because the goal was clear to me. And all I can talk about is what happened in my own unit.
Q. Before we move to the next topic, just a little bit more from the video. But before we look at a couple of things from the video, tell me this: Are you saying there was no expressed hostility towards Albanians, no expressed desires to get them out or to do damage to them in this period between March and May of 1999 or March and June?
A. No.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ...
A. That's not correct.
Q. In -- you accept there was hostility, do you?
A. No, no. I said there was no hostility. Or perhaps there were individual cases, but that the general mood was that way, that's not true.
Q. Can you read this out for us, please.
A. "Lepa sela lepo gore"; "Beautiful village, beautiful woods."
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... villages burn nicely. Ugly ones stay ugly when they're burning. Is that what it says?
A. "Pretty villages burnt nicely," is what it says, and that was a film that had that same title, "Lepa sela lepo gore," and that was uttered by one of the actors in the film.
Q. I see. Let's look at the next one, then.
A. "Nice villages burn nicely."
Q. The next one. Does this express the desire, "Serbia until Tirane, 46582 fuck you, NATO." Is that what it says?
A. Yes, yes, that's what it says.
Q. "What's going to happen to this house? I'll set fire to it." Is that what that one says?
A. Yes, yes, that's what it says.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... was a town full of hate, wasn't it?
A. No, that's not true that it was full of hate. Let me repeat again. I was there for 13 and a half years. I lived with the people and it was impossible for me to live amongst people like that and to hate them. And these graffiti mean nothing. The war is a special state where people express some of their feelings which are not or certainly are not normal in any way during those times. So this means absolutely nothing.
Q. You appreciate, don't you, that as well as witnesses who have come to this Court, events in Djakovica have been logged by several other organisations, including Human Rights Watch and OSCE. Do you appreciate that?
A. Possibly.
Q. Now, help me with this as a person who knows your Djakovica, or knew it: Was there a man called Dr. Izet Hima, a very respected physician? Do you remember him?
A. No.
Q. Do you remember --
A. I don't know him.
Q. Very well. Do you know a man Qamil Zherka, who was aged 70, and 46583 his son Nexhdet, aged 41?
A. Mr. Nice, Djakovica has a population of 60.000, and the municipality has over a hundred thousand.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ...
A. So --
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... if you know these people. Do you know a then-prominent lawyer called Urim Rexha? Do you remember him?
A. No.
Q. Finally, do you remember a man called Mark Malota, who rented his house to the Mother Teresa Society? Do you remember him?
A. No, no. No, I don't know the individual.
Q. [Previous translation continues] ... two passages then of a book called "Under Orders." We don't have time to go into more, but if we can just show you, please, on the overhead projector, it's in English and I'll read the passage slowly to you. One organisation, Human Rights Watch, and this is Exhibit number -- I always forget the number. Don't worry. I'll come back to the exhibit number.
This book, which is based on extensive interviews which are footnoted, has a large passage on Djakovica. It's Exhibit 145. And it summarises the position in this way: "Djakovica suffered the most intense violence against civilians of Kosovo's larger cities. While not all of the city's estimated 100.000 residents (including 20.000 internally displaced) were expelled, threats and killing drove a majority of the population from the city. Serbian police and paramilitaries, as well as 46584 Yugoslav soldiers, killed approximately 200 people between March 24 and June 12 alone in the city, and many more were killed in nearby villages such as Meja and Korenica. Approximately 1.200 other people from the Djakovica municipality remained missing as of February 2000. At least 150 ... were arrested during the war and taken to Serbia proper where they were convicted by Serbian courts for terrorist acts, although most were later released."
Now, that's a summary, of course. Do you say there's truth in that or not a word of truth?
A. Mr. Nice, if the source of this is a veteran of the KLA, Mr. Oker [phoen], then it's certainly not true. None of this is true.
Q. Mr. Who?
A. I don't know about any of this. Mr. Walker. Mr. Walker. If his organisation is the source of this, then it certainly isn't true. Because I don't know any of this, about any of this.
Q. First of all, this organisation has nothing to do with Mr. Walker. But since you mention Mr. Walker, is it going to be your position if and when we look at any document that has any connection with Mr. Walker, that anything remotely connected by Mr. Walker is false from first to last? Is that going to be your case, your position?
A. Mr. Nice, the person whom terrorists call their own veteran, I have reason to doubt any of his documents or any of his words.
Q. Very well. This book, which has nothing to do with Mr. Walker, it comes from Human Rights Watch, which published reports sent to the accused on a regular basis throughout the 1990s, deals with Djakovica in some 46585 detail but let's go, if the usher would be good enough, to page 216.
JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Nice, this is a day when we'll have to stop at 1.43.
MR. NICE:
Q. They -- they analyse available evidence about Djakovica in various phases, and this is why I asked you about the names I asked you about. It says that "The first wave of violence began on March the 24th when NATO initiated its attack on Yugoslavia, and it continued until the 2nd of April." It deals with the mosque, which it says was set on fire, and it deals with sporadic killings. It then says this: "On March 25, unknown security forces broke into the home of a respected physician ... and shot him in front of his wife." That's Dr. Hima. "According to the Washington Post, Faton Poloshka picked up Dr. Hima's body at 5.00 p.m. and then collected the bodies of three other ethnic Albanians killed that day: Kujtim Dula ... Qamil Zherka -" the man aged 70 - "and his son, Nexhdet." Then this: "Prominent Djakovica residents Urim Rexha, a lawyer, and Mark Malota, an LDK leader who rented his house to the Mother Teresa Society, were also killed."
Then it goes on to March the 26th. You were there on this day. Under cover of NATO's attack, the opportunity was taken to pick off prominent Kosovo Albanian residents and kill them, wasn't it?
A. That's your insinuation. It's not true.
Q. That's why I asked you. Were you completely unaware of this group of either respected or certainly well known and significant local 46586 residents, were you unaware that they were all killed on that day?
A. Mr. Nice, at the time, I was battalion commander, and I had many things to attend to and one of those things was to protect 40 tonnes of explosives which could have blown up the whole of Djakovica. So I didn't delve in questions like that nor did I hear anything like that happening.
Q. In my remaining one minute, let's go back to two things you said and see if you want to review them. In answer to the accused, you've told us that you knew everything that happened in Djakovica, and nothing happened. In answer to me, you declined to take the opportunity to blame police or other forces. Now, is the reality you haven't the first idea what was happening in the centre of Djakovica or in its residential areas on the 24th of March 1999 because you were elsewhere?
A. No. I was in Djakovica. I said that, and I have no reason to protect anyone, let me state that again. I do not say there were not individual cases, but there was -- that there was organised operations such as some unknown police unit, there were no such units. All police units that were there were properly trained and clothed, and their most important task was to provide security for the civilian population and to prevent crime in town.
Q. With Ms. Dicklich's assistance and the Court's indulgence, one more question.
Please turn over one page and put the -- one page, please. This is a picture of the 20 people killed, their bodies burned in the house at 163 Milos Gilic Street, and we can see from the picture how many of them are young children. You were there. You were the senior military person. 46587 Explain that to us, please.
A. These are really terrible pictures, and certainly the crimes like that and similar crimes must be punished just like the crime --
Q. [Previous translation continues] ...
A. -- of the column of civilians that was hit. However --
Q. No, Mr. Odak, you will not escape by referring to NATO. You were there, you've told this accused you basically know everything that happened and that nothing happened. You tell us, please, how were those children killed and what's been done, if anything, to bring the culprits to justice?
A. Mr. Nice, I said that my subordinates passed by during that period of time that is mentioned in the indictment, they passed through the area and noticed nothing. Therefore, I cannot tell you anything else except for the report or, rather, what my subordinate officer informed me of. And I don't believe that he lied, that he would have lied to me had he seen something along the way, en route. I see no reason for him to do that.
JUDGE ROBINSON: We have to take the adjournment now, but Judge Bonomy has a question for the accused.
JUDGE BONOMY: Mr. Milosevic, just clarification on one thing from earlier this morning. You presented us with a number of medical reports from experts. One of these is by a Professor Vukasin Andric. Now, earlier this year we heard evidence from a Professor Vukasin Andric. Is it the same person?
THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Yes, the same person, and he is a 46588 very distinguished otorhinolaryngologist. And it has nothing to do -- the examination, ear, nose, and mouth, has nothing to do with the testimony.
JUDGE BONOMY: Thank you.
JUDGE ROBINSON: We're adjourned until tomorrow, 9.00 a.m.
--- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 1.46 p.m., to be reconvened on Wednesday, the 16th day
of November, 2005, at 9.00 a.m.