Krajisnik trial exhibit P857, Chart of civilian casualties produced by Mirsad Tokaca
KARADZIC
CHAMBER’S FINDINGS OF FACT REGARDING THE FIRST INCIDENT ADJUDICATED BY THE
JUDGMENT DON’T WITHSTAND SCRUITINY
www.slobodan-milosevic.org
- April 12, 2016
Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
The Karadzic trial chamber claims that 45 civilians were killed by Bosnian-Serb
forces in Bijeljina on April 1-2, 1992, but their
findings rely on hearsay evidence, and the citations in the footnotes of the
judgment don’t support the claims that they’re purported to.
Introduction
The 1992-95 Bosnia war has been portrayed by Western
journalists and politicians as a genocidal Serbian assault on defenseless victims.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was
established by the UN Security Council to prosecute war crimes perpetrated
during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia as Yugoslavia
disintegrated.
The findings issued by successive ICTY trial chambers have
largely confirmed the anti-Serb narrative advanced by our politicians and our news
media.
A journalist can make unsubstantiated claims in the media,
and a politician can make unsubstantiated claims in a speech, but the judges at
the ICTY must prove their findings “beyond a reasonable doubt” and issue “a
reasoned opinion in writing” justifying their conclusions. Unlike news reporters
and politicians, the judges at the ICTY are required to cite the evidence that
proves their claims.
Last month, former Bosnian-Serb president Radovan Karadzic
was sentenced to 40 years in prison for crimes committed during the Bosnian war.
As is required by Article 23 of the ICTY Statute, a written judgment was issued
and the evidence purporting to prove Dr. Karadzic’s guilt beyond a reasonable
doubt was set out in detail.
Prosecutors have had more than 20 years to interview
witnesses and conduct investigations since the war in Bosnia ended in 1995.
Karadzic was arrested in 2008 and the judgment convicting him was rendered in
2016. The Bosnian war went on for three and a half years, and Dr. Karadzic was
in office for four years, but the legal proceedings against him at the ICTY dragged
on for nearly eight years.
Given the unprecedented length of the trial, and the time
that the prosecution had to investigate and marshal its evidence, the trial
chamber’s findings should be based on the highest quality evidence.
Let’s see if the Chamber’s findings with regard to the
first crime in the judgment, Scheduled Incident A.1.1, can withstand scrutiny. Let’s
see if the footnotes listed in the judgment actually support the claims made by
the judges.
The
Evidence
Paragraphs 617 through 624 of the judgment deal with “Scheduled
Incident A.1.1”. The allegation set out in paragraphs 617 and 618 is that on
April 1-2 1992, at least 48 civilians were killed by Serb paramilitaries during
the Bosnian Serb take-over of Bijeljina. The chamber
ultimately found, in paragraph 624, that “At least 45 civilians were killed by
Serb Forces on 1 and 2 April 1992 in the town of Bijeljina.”
Paragraph 618 of the Karadzic judgment states that “The
Chamber took judicial notice of the fact that at least 48 civilians, were
killed by Serb paramilitaries during the Bosnian Serb take-over of Bijeljina” The basis on which they took judicial notice was
adjudicated facts 2243, 2245, and 2246, which in-turn rely on paragraph 300 of
the Krajisnik trial judgment.
The evidence that paragraph 300 of the Krajisnik
chamber relies upon is: Krajisnik trial exhibit P584,
which is a newspaper article written by Sejo Omeragic for the Slobodna Bosna
newspaper; Krajisnik trial exhibit P857, which is a
chart of civilian casualties compiled by prosecution expert Mirsad
Tokaca; and the closed session testimony and sealed
witness statement of protected Krajisnik trial
“Witness 57”.
Because all of witness 57’s testimony is under seal, we have
no idea who they were or what they may have said.
Sejo Omeragic’s
newspaper article indeed reports a massacre. He says, “Local Chetniks
slaughtered people satisfying their innate hatred that one cannot trace the
origins and reasons for.” His report consists entirely of hearsay that he
heard around town in the days following the alleged massacre and he doesn’t name
his sources.
Mirsad Tokaca’s chart contradicts the finding that 48 civilians
had were killed on April 1-2, 1992. According to the chart, for the month of
April (“IV”) 1992, 10 Bosniak civilians (“Bošnjaci civili”) were killed (“ubijeni”) and 8 went missing (“nestali”)
in Bijeljina. This exhibit was tendered into evidence
by the prosecutor, and was created by an expert witness who is himself a
Bosnian-Muslim.
Krajisnik trial exhibit P857, Chart of civilian casualties produced by Mirsad Tokaca
To bolster its findings, the Karadzic trial chamber explains
in paragraph 619 that their own “Witnesses also testified that civilians were
killed in Bijeljina on 1 April 1992.”
The first witness they cite is protected witness KDZ531.
The testimony cited was given in closed session, so we don’t know who the
witness was or what was said. All we know about that witness was that Dr.
Karadzic wanted their testimony to be given in public, but his request was
denied. [Transcript pages 15836-15838]
Next the Chamber cites the following testimony given by Martin Bell of the BBC
as proof that civilians were killed on April 1, 1992 in Bijeljina.
[Transcript pages 9781–9782 (14 December
2010)]:
MARTIN BELL: I knew Arkan's men well from the war in Croatia. I had been to
their headquarters. I had even done a report on his volunteers being baptised in the great cathedral in Dalj.
I knew Arkan well. The interview there was conducted
in the ice cream parlour that he owned in Belgrade.
They quite often wore balaclavas, as you would have seen in this report, so I
had no difficulty in identifying them.
PROSECUTOR: You also spoke of
an incident in Bijeljina, and you reported: ‘They
have just accounted for 41 so-called Muslim extremists in an action in Bijeljina nearby.’
Do you recall what information
you had about the events in Bijeljina and how you
came to be aware of it?
MARTIN BELL: The report was --
this report was edited in Belgrade. And when I was in Belgrade, I found out
about the attacks in Bijeljina, which actually
yielded one of the iconic still images of the war which appeared on the front
page of 'Time' magazine. But I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of that
report and those figures.
Martin Bell is not a direct witness. He is testifying about
what he heard while he was in Belgrade, and what he was told was that 41
“Muslim extremists” (not civilians) had been “accounted for” (not killed).
The contemporaneous news report that he filed for the BBC was
admitted as exhibit P2001, and in the context of his report, “accounted for” seems
to mean taken in for questioning. What he said in his report was: “The Serbs on
their side of the lines were taking in suspects for questioning by the busload.
The men on guard here were members of the most disciplined of their private
armies, commander Arkan’s volunteers. They had just
accounted for 41 so-called Muslim extremists in an action in Bijeljina nearby.”
Furthermore, the date stamp on the slate at the beginning of his report says
“23-Mar-92 17:42,” which is eight days before April 1, 1992. Unless we’re to
believe that Martin Bell is clairvoyant, he would not have even been reporting
about the events of April 1st on March 23rd.
Karadzic trial exhibit P2001, Screen-capture showing computer generated date-stamp on Martin Bell's BBC News report
The next evidence cited by the chamber as proof that
civilians were killed is the witness statement of Defense witness Aleksandar Vasiljevic (exhibit
D3065, paragraph 176). Vasiljevic is not a direct
witness either. He served as the head of the counter intelligence unit of the
JNA and oversaw a JNA security detail that was in Bijeljina
and reported to him at the relevant time.
Paragraph 176 of his statement says: “The Serbs and Arkan’s
men then blocked the barracks, threatening to attack the JNA too, if it
interfered in the conflict. Finding himself in this situation, a lieutenant, a
Croat, asked the barracks commanders to leave and go home, because he did not
wish to interfere. The commander gave him approval and a Military Police patrol
to escort him out of the barracks, but he was killed by armed Serbs, or Arkan’s men right there in front of the barracks, and
fighting continued throughout the day. According to the security organ figures,
some 52 or 53 people had already been killed in the clashes. Also the Muslims
hanged a Serb who worked at the town hospital, and who was said to have been an
SDS member. But there were around 50 bodies in the course of the first day. It
was mostly Arkan’s men who did the fighting, but
Serbs from the neighboring villages had also risen and entered the town to help
the fight of the Serbs in Bijeljina, which Arkan had, in effect started.”
Notice that Vasiljevic did not say that the people “killed
in the clashes” between the Serbs and the Muslims in Bijeljina
on April 1-2, 1992 were necessarily civilians. Although he did readily agreed
with the prosecutor’s suggestion that “Arkan, would
loot, would mistreat the non-Serbs, and would even kill prisoners of war or
innocent civilians.” [Transcript pg. 34700]
What the chamber omits to tell you is that in paragraph 174 of Vasiljevic’s witness statement he says: “I have no
information that Radovan Karadzic had any part in sparking these incidents or Arkan’s unit arriving.”
In Paragraph 172 he says that the Muslim Patriotic League was active in Bijeljina, and in paragraph 173 he speaks of two-way
fighting in the area, saying: “There were constant scuffles between the Serbs
and the Muslims during that time. I am not sure whether the Serbs had first
attacked the Muslims at their café or the other way around. But the first
serious conflict took place when grenades were thrown into cafés frequented by
the Serbs and the Muslims.”
The next evidence cited by the chamber as proof of the April 1st
killings is paragraph 117 of Milorad Davidovic’s witness statement (exhibit P2848). That
paragraph generally speaks about Arkan’s cruel
behavior towards Muslims in Bijeljina and the murder
of Amir Fidahic and his son, but it does not deal
with the specific events of April 1-2, 1992 and the alleged killing of 48
civilians. Ironically, Milorad Davidovic
was sent to Bijeljina by the Bosnian-Serb authorities
to put a stop to the paramilitary activity there. [Transcript pg. 15581]
The next evidence that is cited as proof of killings on
April 1, 1992 is exhibit P29. This is a transcript of protected witness KDZ446’s
testimony in the Slobodan Milosevic trial where he testified as protected
witness “B-161”. Specifically, the chamber references page 21108 of the
Milosevic trial transcript where the witness said, “In Bijeljina,
behind the SDS building, several tens of people were killed.”
But if you read the testimony of the same witness on pages 21057 through 21061
of the Milosevic transcript you see the following exchanges:
MILOSEVIC: You have no idea as
to how many people were killed, both Serbs, Muslim, men and women, in those
events in Bijeljina.
B-161 (KDZ446): I said about
close to 50 all in all were killed.
MILOSEVIC: A moment ago, you
said that in those headquarters 50 people were reported to have been killed.
B-161 (KDZ446): Yes, but in the town only some about six
people were killed.
MILOSEVIC: I see. So they were
captured, taken to the headquarters, interrogated, and killed. How do you know
that?
B-161 (KDZ446): It was told by people who were in the
headquarters.
[…]
MILOSEVIC: And did you see,
since you referred to these interrogations in those headquarters and people
being killed, were you present at any one of those interrogations? Did you see
anyone being killed there?
B-161 (KDZ446): No. I couldn't reach that place, but I had
many friends who told me about these things. And I know that some people have
not been traced to this day. I had a friend, a Muslim, who was in the police,
and he went there and never returned. He told a high-ranking position.
MILOSEVIC: But you did not
attend any of those interrogations. You didn't see anyone being killed, but you
heard about it from people who were recounting these events.
B-161 (KDZ446): Yes, that is true. But I couldn't reach that
place. Not just me, but no civilian could.
MILOSEVIC: I'm just talking
about your testimony. You're not testifying about something that you know from
your own knowledge but on the basis of what you heard.
B-161 (KDZ446): Yes.
[…]
MILOSEVIC: And during those
three days of fighting in Bijeljina, did you see any
bodies then?
B-161 (KDZ446): No, I didn't see any then, but I heard that
they had been buried close to the Drina.
[…]
MILOSEVIC: In your testimony you said that you went there for the first time on
the day Abdic came to Bijeljina;
is that right?
B-161 (KDZ446): We're talking about the centre
of Bijeljina. That was the first time I could reach
the centre of Bijeljina,
when Abdic and Biljana Plavsic arrived.
Abdic and Plavsic did not arrive in Bijeljina
until April 4, 1992, two to three days after April 1-2, 1992.
None of the witnesses whose testimony is cited by the
chamber as proof of the specific allegation that 48 civilians were killed in Bijeljina on April 1-2, 1992 are testifying on the basis of
their direct knowledge. In fact, none of these witnesses were even in town when
the killings were alleged to have happened. They’re all testifying about rumors
they heard from other people after the fact.
Finally, we have the evidence of the Prosecution’s expert witness Amor Masovic, and he wasn’t a direct witness to the events
either. He testified as an expert.
In paragraph 619 of the judgment, the Trial Chamber relies on the evidence of Masovic to establish that “A total of 55 individuals who
went missing from Bijeljina between 1 April 1992 and
15 September 1993 were exhumed from individual or mass graves in the area.
However, of these 55 exhumed bodies, only five are linked to this scheduled
incident. The Chamber will not make a finding with respect to the remaining 50
exhumed bodies.”
Just to recap, the allegation is that 48 civilians were
killed by Serbian paramilitaries in Bijeljina on
April 1-2, 1992, but the only publicly accessible evidence that the trial
chamber cites in support of that allegation is hearsay evidence from witnesses who
claim to have received their information second-hand from other people.
With that in mind, let’s look at
paragraph 620 of the judgment, which reads: “The Accused disputed (i) the number of Bosnian Muslim victims; (ii) their status
as civilians; (iii) the circumstances in which they were killed; and (iv) the identity of the perpetrators, and tendered evidence
in support. However, the Chamber does not find the Accused’s arguments to be
convincing or the evidence adduced by the Accused on these issues to be
reliable. In reaching this conclusion the Chamber considered that the evidence
of the witnesses was either based on speculation or hearsay information and
when cross-examined the source of the information was unclear.”
As proof that civilians were targeted and killed the chamber makes reference to,
“An article dated 10 April 1992 [which] referred to the killing of 40
individuals in Bijeljina whose bodies were buried
without religious rites.” That article is exhibit P6185, and it’s the exact
same Slobodna Bosna article written by Sejo Omeragic that was mentioned
earlier with regard to the adjudicated facts. In order to bolster the
credibility of the exhibit, the chamber observes in footnote 1998 that “The 39
named individuals in this article correspond to the names of listed victims.
Prosecution Final Brief, Appendix, G.”
Kacanovic was the director of the hospital in Bijeljina. According to his witness statement [exhibit D3089]
“The Muslims were the ones who fired on 31 March 1992, but the Serbs did not
return fire.” [D3089, Para 23] He said, “On 31 March 1992, I was driving in my
car along the street in front of the municipality building in Bijeljina. When I came to the crossroads with Njegoseva Street, in front of the aforementioned building,
where the SDA [Muslim Party of Democratic Action] had its headquarters, I saw a
large group of people most of whom were armed with various types of side arms.
After seeing that I had slowed down and that I was looking in their direction,
some of the people from the group, to my great astonishment, opened fire on me
without any warning.” [D3089, Para 12] According to the witness, “None of the
men who fired shots at me on 31 March 1992 were in uniform.” [D3089, Para 24]
The trial record contains the testimony of the 434
witnesses who testified before the chamber, the 153 witnesses whose testimony
was given in writing, and the 11,469 exhibits representing 191,040 pages that
were tendered during the trial. The sheer volume of the trial record is unprecedented:
the trial transcript ran to more than 48,000 pages, and an additional 94,917
pages of filings were submitted to the chamber.
If Radovan Karadzic is really the monster that he’s made out to be, then the trial should have focused on specific incidents in which his guilt could be conclusively proven with direct evidence. They should have picked two or three really heinous crimes and proven that he was responsible for them. Instead we’re treated to this elaborate tapestry of stupidity where every rumor that went around Bosnia during the war gets recorded in the trial record, and the conclusions reached by the judgment aren’t supported by the underlying footnotes.
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