Karadzic Judges Allow Mladic Notebooks as Exhibits

Rachel Irwin

Senior Reporter

Friday, 23 July, 2010

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Judges in the trial of former Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic decided this week to admit 15 of the18 so-called Mladic notebooks as prosecution exhibits.

The prosecution must first present the exhibits at trial, after which they will ask the judges to admit them as evidence. The threshold of authenticity and relevance for exhibits is lower than that for evidence.

The diaries, which consist of more than 3,000 handwritten pages, are believed to have been written by the former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic between June 1991 and November 1996.

The Serbian authorities seized the notebooks from Mladic’s wife’s Belgrade apartment in February this year and handed them over to the Hague tribunal in late March.

Mladic was the highest authority in the Bosnian Serb army during the war and has been wanted by the tribunal for years. Prosecutors in the Karadzic trial and several others have moved to add the notebooks as exhibits.

In their July 22 decision, the judges agreed that 15 of the 18 notebooks could be submitted as exhibits in the trial, but stressed that they were not yet evidence.

The judges said they need not assess their “authenticity, relevance, and probative value in the same way as [they] would when determining [their] admission [as evidence] at trial”.

They also stated they were “disappointed” that Karadzic had so far chosen not to submit a “substantive response” to the prosecution’s motion to add the notebooks as exhibits.

Karadzic has repeatedly said he hasn’t had sufficient time to review the material, and on July 5 he said if judges were “in a hurry” to make a decision, they would have to do without his opinion on the matter.

This week, the judges said that they had already given him several extensions and “it is in the interests of all parties for [judges] to determine the motion expeditiously, so that they can organise their ongoing trial preparations accordingly”.

They also note that the accused has been in possession of the diaries since April 12 of this year.

As for the notebooks themselves, the judges stated that the first three, ranging from June 1991 to December 1991, deal mainly with developments in Croatia and are not directly applicable to the Karadzic indictment.

The judges found the 15 remaining notebooks relevant to the Karadzic proceedings and will allow the prosecution to use them as exhibits.

The fourth notebook also focuses on Croatia and the time period – December 30 1991 to February 14 1992 – predates the Karadzic indictment, but judges found that it “presents detailed information about the period leading up” to the conflict in Bosnia, including “municipalities that are named in the indictment as crime-sites”.

In the fifth notebook, which spans February 14 to May 25 1992, there is mention of “some crimes being committed in Foca” (a town in eastern Bosnia) as well as the presence of the Serbian paramilitary leader known as Arkan in the town of Bijelina.

Arkan is named in the Karadzic indictment as taking part in a joint criminal enterprise with the accused, Mladic and other Bosnian Serb leaders. He was indicted by the tribunal but assassinated in Belgrade before he could be arrested.

In the sixth notebook, the judges say “there is description of the accuser’s account to Bosnian Serb military commanders of the international negotiations and agreement reached in Lisbon, the views he expressed about the political and military situation, and his concerns about crimes being committed in various municipalities” in Bosnia. It covers from May 27 to June 31, 1992.

In the seventh notebook, which spans July 16 to September 9, 1992, many topics are discussed including the “challenges posed by paramilitary units, exchange of prisoners, and the movement of refugees”, the judges say.

Some of the same issues are raised in the eighth notebook, which covers September 10 to 30, 1992. According to the judges, it also “records meetings with Bosnian Serb political leaders, including the accused, during which the division of [Bosnia] and the international negotiations to end the conflict were discussed”.

The ninth notebook mentions “the allegations of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and the international response to the conflict” as well as meetings with United Nations commanders and international negotiators. It covers October 5 to December 27, 1992.

The tenth notebook, which covers January 1992, “records in detail the lead up to and content of negotiations in Geneva, which General Mladic participated in, including discussions among senior Bosnian Serb and Serbian officials concerning their strategy during the international negotiations”, the judges say.

In the eleventh and twelfth notebooks, spanning April 2, 1993 to January 1994, the issues discussed include “military order and discipline and troop movements” as well as “the provision of humanitarian aid and the challenges posed by paramilitary units operating” in Bosnia.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth notebooks, various meetings with Bosnian Serb and UN officials are noted, as well as discussions on military strategy.

The fifteenth notebook also recounts various meetings, while the sixteenth notebook only has three entries, on July 14 and 15 and September 18, 1995. According to the judges, the first two entries “detail two meetings that took place between [ex-Serbian president] Slobodan Milosevic, General Mladic and certain international personnel about matters relating to events at Srebrenica and Zepa”.

The third entry from this notebook “records a discussion concerning the purchase and supply of weapons and support from individuals in the Russian Federation”, the judges say.

The judges write that “in light of the fact that the accused is alleged to have participated in a JCE (joint criminal enterprise) to eliminate Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica, and that Mladic is named as a member of that JCE, and that the notebooks contains entries that relate specifically to events taking place in Srebrenica and Zepa during the time period in the indictment, the chamber is of the view that this notebook is prima facie relevant to the present proceedings”.

The seventeenth notebook spans August 28 ,1995 to January 15, 1996, and discusses the “progress of the negotiations in the lead up to the end of the conflict”. It also contains references to “acts of violence and ‘undisciplined behaviour’ by various individuals and forces, including paramilitaries, during the conflict”, the judges say.

The final notebook covers January 16 to November 28, 1996, and discusses meetings between senior Bosnian Serb military and political leaders, including the accused, and leaders from Serbia.

The Karadzic trial will resume on August 17, after the tribunal’s summer recess.

Rachel Irwin is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.