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Klickovic et al: A minor consequence of a great cause

Klickovic i ostali 120

08 May 2008  The trial begins of senior officials who are charged with crimes in Bosanska Krupa.

At the beginning of the trial of Gojko Klickovic, Jovan Ostojic and Mladen Drljaca the Prosecution said that the crimes committed in the Bosanska Krupa area were done in a planned way, with the indictees' support. Klickovic's Defence said that the indictment was "a farce."

The indictments against Klickovic, Ostojic and Drljaca were merged, as per a motion filed by the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, in April 2008. After Prosecutor Philip Alcock had read the three indictments, indictee Gojko Klickovic said he did not understand his indictment.

"Should you include genocide and apartheid in it, the indictment would become an indictment against all Serbs. I do not think that its authors understand it either. Nobody can understand this farce," said Klickovic, while Ostojic and Drljaca confirmed they understood the indictment.

The Prosecution charges Klickovic, former senior official of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) and commander of the Crisis Committee in Bosanska Krupa, Ostojic, former commander of the 11^th Krupa Light Infantry Brigade with the Serbian Republic of BiH Army, and Drljaca, former member of the SDS municipal board and member of the Crisis Committee, with having participated in the persecution, murder and torture of non-Serbian civilians on the territory of this municipality.

In the Prosecution's introductory arguments, Alcock spoke about the situation in Bosanska Krupa in the course of 1991 and 1992, where "the violence was obvious, frequent and clear to the three indictees." He also said that there were "two joint criminal enterprises" in this municipality - "one was conducted with Gojko Klickovic's colleagues at the local level, while the other one was conducted at the state level."

"Imagine the amazing arrogance of the plans to join the municipalities and to clear them of all their former residents. The Serbian municipality of Bosanska Krupa was indeed cleared of all Bosniaks, step by step, going from one stage to another – by conducting murders, detentions and torture," said Alcock, adding that the civilians, who were deported from Bosanska Krupa, were helpless and they did not represent any kind of a threat.

The Prosecutor also said that the indictees must have been aware of "the stage," where all these abuses happened in the municipality.

"How could they not know about the murders in the prisons, if there were more people who entered those prisons than the ones who left them. How could you not hear the screams of non-swimmers, who were forced, by the guards, to jump into the water.

The SDS conducted all events, and Gojko Klickovic was in the centre of the events. At the same time, he was just a string puppet, who executed orders received from top officials," said Alcock.

Although he initially said that he would not present his introductory arguments, Klickovic's Defence attorney Dusan Tomic addressed the Court by saying that the fewest crimes were committed in Bosanska Krupa and that the Serbs became "the biggest losers of the tragedy that happened there." He also informed the Court that the indictee decided to participate in his defence.

"We agreed that, from now on, Gojko Klickovic must be present in this courtroom in order to reveal the great truth and to avoid being found guilty of all the happenings in Bosanska Krupa. Klickovic is just a minor consequence of a great cause. Radovan Karadzic, a great evil magician, is still at large. Had this not been the case, this indictment would have never been filed. Now, Klickovic is going to be tried for the crimes committed by that man," Tomic said.

Indictee Klickovic addressed the Trial Chamber, by saying that he was a puppet of his people, while the Prosecutor was "a puppet of some dirty games."

The Defence of Jovan Ostojic considers that the indictee was just "collateral damage," because they needed "someone who was in the military structure". He also said that he hoped the Prosecution would give up on the indictment in the course of the process.