Prosecution case on Sarajevo terror campaign

Prosecution case on Sarajevo terror campaign

Last week, the prosecution delivered its opening statement at the trial of General Dragomir Milošević, former commander of the VRS Sarajevo-Romanija Corps. On Monday, it will begin building its case about the artillery and sniping campaign to terrorize Sarajevo and its inhabitants between August 1994 and the end of the Bosnian war in November 1995.

The first prosecution witness, as indicated, will be David Harland. He was a high-ranking UN official in Sarajevo during the war. Harland testified about his experience in this period in 2003 at the trial of Slobodan Milošević, who was charged with providing logistical support – funds, materiel, personnel – to the forces terrorizing Sarajevo for 44 months.

The trial of six former Bosnian Croat leaders facing charges for the crimes in the so-called Herceg Bosna resumed last week and will continue on Monday. The trial of seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with Srebrenica crimes also recommenced last week but will continue on Tuesday.

The six former political, military and police officials from Serbia will also return to the courtroom on Tuesday. They are charged with the crimes in Kosovo in the first half of 1999. The prosecution is presenting its case in all three mega trials.

The trial stage of the Vukovar Three –former JNA officers charged with the Ovčara massacre in November 1991 – will draw to a close this week after the prosecution completes its evidence in rebuttal of the case presented by the defense counsel of Mile Mrkšić, Miroslav Radić and Veselin Šljivančanin. The parties will present their closing arguments in late February and early March 2007.

Two hearings have been scheduled for next week on the prosecution’s applications for the referral of two cases to Bosnian courts. On Monday, the court will hear arguments in the case of Milorad Trbić, former security officer in the VRS Zvornik Brigade charged with the crimes in Srebrenica.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, it will do so in the Dragan Zelenović case. Zelenović has been charged with rapes of Bosniak women and girls in Foca. There will also be a status conference in the case against Mico Stanišić, former interior minister in the Bosnian Serb government charged with crimes in Bosnia in 1992. Stanišić has been released pending trial.