Prosecution Demands Tough Sentence for Trbic
Says crimes warrant maximum 45-year jail term.
Prosecution Demands Tough Sentence for Trbic
Says crimes warrant maximum 45-year jail term.
Prosecutors in a Sarajevo court called this week for a 45-year jail term for Milorad Trbic, a Bosnian Serb indicted for the 1995 Srebrenica genocide in former Yugoslavia.
Prosecutor Kwai Hong Ip in his closing arguments called on judges to accept “as true, the fact that the accused knowingly participated in the forcible transfer of the Bosniak [Bosnian Muslim] population from the Srebrenica enclave, as well as in the summary executions and burial of able-bodied Bosniak men from Srebrenica”.
He added that “sentencing Trbic to 45 years’ imprisonment would be the only ... way to convey the horrific nature of his crimes and confirm the international judgment of his actions”.
Trbic, whose case was transferred to the Bosnian War Crimes Chamber from the Hague tribunal in June 2007, is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecutions and forcible transfer.
In July 1995, some 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed after the United Nations-protected enclave of Srebrenica fell to Bosnian Serb forces.
At that time, Trbic was the assistant commander of security in the Zvornik Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS.
The indictment against Trbic said some members of his brigade collaborated with other members of the VRS and the Bosnian Serb police in the mass execution, as well as in the forcible transfer of the Bosniak population from Srebrenica.
It said he personally participated in the execution of Bosniak men, and also tried to conceal killings in the Zvornik and Bratunac areas by overseeing and facilitating a major operation to rebury corpses.
Trbic was originally charged at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, under the same indictment as former senior Bosnian Serb police and army officers Vinko Pandurevic, Ljubisa Beara, Ljubomir Borovcanin, Milan Gvero, Radivoje Miletic, Drago Nikolic and Vujadin Popovic.
The seven men are indicted for murder, persecutions, forcible transfer and deportations committed in the Srebrenica enclave in July 1995, while all but Miletic and Gvero are also accused of extermination and genocide-related charges. Their trial is still under way.
Continuing his closing arguments in the Trbic trial this week, Prosecutor Ip said, “Despite the fact that the indictee is a family man, the prosecution considers there to be no mitigating circumstances when awarding a sentence in the event of a conviction. The fact is that he has not done anything to help the people who suffer from the consequences [of the events at Srebrenica] since the fall of the... enclave in 1995.”
To support its argument, the prosecution referred to statements that Trbic gave while still a suspect detained by the Hague tribunal.
In these statements, Trbic admitted taking part in executions, the prosecutor said.
“Milorad Trbic personally admitted having committed executions, which means that he committed crimes against Bosniaks from Srebrenica. While committing those crimes, he knew that his acts would lead to destruction of a group of people,” Prosecutor Ip said.
He also said that Trbic’s defence team had “never denied the statements given during the course of the investigation”.
Prosecutors say in their indictment, “Trbic personally shot at least 10 detained Bosniaks [with] an automatic rifle” at a stadium in Bratunac. The stadium is mentioned in the indictment as a place where between 1,000 and 1,500 Bosniak detainees were held and later executed.
Addressing the matter of whether or not Trbic possessed genocidal intent – the existence of which must be proved in order to secure a genocide conviction – the prosecutor argued that “the intention to commit genocide emanates from the consequences of an accused's actions”.
Prosecutor Ip then stressed the effects that the killings at Srebrenica – which have been found to be genocide in rulings at both the ICTY and the International Court of Justice, ICJ – have had on the Bosniak community there.
“We must review the importance of the crime for the group of people who were destroyed, and its relation to the entire group. We are talking about patriarchal relations and an unimaginable loss on the side of Bosniak families. The court can determine by looking at the indictee’s intentions that he knew what the consequences of his acts would be,” Ip said.
The prosecution accuses Trbic of having worked as a duty officer for the Zvornik Brigade's advance command post on July 16 and 17, 1995.
Prosecutor Ip insisted on “considering this as a key factor for proving his responsibility”.
“On those days, Trbic had a complete insight in what was going on because those were the days when mass murders were committed. This duty gave him a broader insight in what was done and the enormity of the crime,” he said.
“By coordinating the activities related to the transport of captured Bosniaks, as well as guarding and shooting those men and cleaning the area, he did all he could to help the execution of the plan,” the prosecutor said.
The Bosnian court confirmed the indictment against Trbic on July 27, 2007. On August 9, 2007, he failed to appear to enter a plea and the court recorded a plea of not guilty on his behalf. The trial began in November 2007.
The next hearing is due to take place next week, when the defence and Trbic will present their closing arguments.
Velma Saric is an IWPR-trained journalist in Sarajevo.
