War commanders meet in Hague

War commanders meet in Hague

General Karavelić, who commanded units deployed in the Sarajevo theatre, is a prosecution witness.

The statements that Karavelić gave to the OTP investigators were admitted into evidence together with the transcripts of evidence he gave previously, at the trials of Stanislav Galić and Enver Hadžihasanović.

Prosecutor Carolyn Edgerton asked the witness to mark the front lines on the war maps and to indicate the sniper nests and artillery positions used by the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps.

Karavelić identified the key sniper positions held by the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps: on Debeli Brijeg, Špicasta Stijena, on the four Grbavica skyscrapers and on some other sites.

He told the court that civilians in Sarajevo were targeted from those positions throughout the war, adding that “special units from other places were often brought there; they were heavily armed, equipped and trained”.

In General Karavelić’s view, although these units were not a regular part of the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps, “they had to be part of its chain of command”.

The witness was then showed a map with the SRK operations plan and he marked the four key artillery positions around Sarajevo: Hreša and Borije to the east, Blagovac on the north, Paljevo to the west and Toplik to the south.

The prosecutor then showed a map for Lukavica 95, a military operation carried out by the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps. The operation had been authorized by General Ratko Mladić, Chief of Main Staff, and the map itself had been signed by the accused Milošević.

The prosecutor drew the court’s attention to the legend on the map, showing the respective strength of the SRK and the BH Army 1st Corps in personnel, arms and ammunition. Item 10 specifies that the SRK has two modified air bomb launchers and that the enemy side- the BH Army 1st Corps – does not have any launchers at its disposal.

Karavelić gave credit to the planners from the opposite side. “Their assessment was right,” he said, “we didn’t have any air bomb launchers”.

Defense counsel Tapušković began his cross-examination by announcing he would “stick strictly” to the time frame relevant for the indictment – between August 1994 and November 1995, but then went on to ask Karavelić about his military service in the JNA in 1991, the attacks of the Slovenian Territorial Defense and the witness’s joining the Patriot league in early 1992.

Vahid Karavelić’s cross-examination continues today.