Mladic Witness Denies Knowledge of Sanski Most Killings
Wartime company commander said he only learnt of crimes in area after the conflict ended.
Mladic Witness Denies Knowledge of Sanski Most Killings
Wartime company commander said he only learnt of crimes in area after the conflict ended.
A defence witness in the trial of former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic told judges this week that he only learned of mass killings in the area of Sanski Most after the end of the war.
Ranko Kolar, a former officer in the 6th Sana Brigade of the Bosnian Serb army, was stationed in and around Sanski Most in northwestern Bosnia for most of the war.
In his witness statement, he described how, from May 30, 1992, he served with his unit in the village of Krkojevci, a few kilometres away from Sanski Most. At that time he was a company commander, although by the end of the war he had risen to be chief of staff in the brigade.
Kolar described a number of ambushes by Bosnian Muslim soldiers in which some of his men were killed, and stated, “None of the soldiers in my company did anything illegal.”
Cross-examining, prosecutor Edward Jeremy focused on crimes carried out in Sanski Most during the time that the witness was serving there.
“This trial chamber has received evidence that on May 31, 1992… Serb soldiers killed 27 unarmed non-Serb civilians including children and a pregnant woman who were sheltering in a garage in Hrustovo,” he said. “Are you aware of these deaths of these non-Serb civilians?”
The witness said that he had only learnt about these events from media reports after the war.
“So you were facing this village on June 3 1992, you were commanding a company of men, yet you have no knowledge of the massacre of these people in the garage a few days before your arrival in the same area – is that correct?” the prosecutor asked.
The witness repeated that he had not known what was happening at that time.
Jeremy went on to discuss the witness’s role in operations to disarm enemy combatants in Sanksi Most in June 1992.
“Now you are aware, are you not, that some of the Muslims disarmed during these mop-up operations were taken to various locations in Sanski Most – yes?” he asked.
“I came to Sanski Most on May 30, and I just heard that the unit took part in disarming the armed formations.… I did not hear about anybody being taken away and my deputy did not tell me about them,” Kolar replied.
The prosecutor went on to discuss “collection and investigation centres” set up in the municipality, one in the sports hall, another in Betonirka hall, and a third in the Krings factory.
Asked if he was familiar with these locations, Kolar said he had heard of them but did not know about any civilians being taken there.
“There is evidence in this case that on or about the 7 July 1992, Muslim detainees died of suffocation while being transported from Betonirka to the Manjaca detention camp. Do you have any information about this incident?”
Kolar said he did not, and later said he never met the man found guilty of killing 19 people in that incident. Nikola Kovacevic – previously known as Danilusko Kajtaz – was sentenced by the Bosnian State Court in November 2006.
The witness stressed that Kovacevic was one of 4,000 men in his brigade, and only learned of his crimes from media reports after the war.
Kolar was then questioned about a mass grave found near the junction of the Sava and Dabar rivers.
“It is the position of the prosecution that this mass grave, in which 19 persons were found, was created on or shortly after July 7, 1992. We see here that this grave was created near the village of Krkojevci where you yourself were located in July,” Jeremy said. “And I put it you that you must have been aware of the creation of this mass grave at that time.”
The witness responded that this was the first time he had ever heard of this mass grave.
Prosecutors allege that Mladic was responsible for crimes of genocide, persecution, extermination, murder and forcible population transfer. He is accused of the massacre of more than 7,000 men and boys at Srebrenica in July 1995, and of planning and overseeing the siege of Sarajevo that left nearly 12,000 people dead.
Daniella Peled is an IWPR editor in London.
