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Trbic: Verdict due on October 16

Milorad Trbic

28 September 2009  Following the presentation of closing arguments by both parties, the Trial Chamber announces that, "due to the voluminous and complex work" involved, the verdict in the case of Milorad Trbic will not be handed down until October 16, 2009.

In its closing arguments the Defence called for an acquittal, claiming that the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina had not proved the participation of Milorad Trbic in the capture, execution and burial of Srebrenica residents in July 1995.

"I hope that you will determine the truth on the basis of the presented evidence. I am not afraid of the truth. I believe it is on my side. I know, and the Trial Chamber should also have found out that I performed my duties in line with the regulations. I believe in the judges' honour. I expect you to render a fair verdict based on the evidence," Trbic said during closing arguments.

The State Prosecution charges Trbic, former Assistant Commander for Security with the Zvornik Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, with having committed genocide in the protected zone of Srebrenica, acting in collaboration with members of the Army and Police of Republika Srpska.

Milan Trbojevic, Defence attorney of Trbic, said that there was no evidence to prove that the indictee participated in "the long-term policy and goal" of making the Republika Srpska an ethnically homogenous Serbian territory. The Defence argued that the Prosecution's allegation that the indictee played a key role in this was not based on valid and lawful evidence.

"The Prosecution neglects the fact that many of those people did not know of any goals. This presumption is fabricated in an office and it is formalistic. (...) The file does not contain evidence that anyone was aware of an order to "capture or kill" on July 11, 1995," Trbojevic said.

Trbic is charged with having "participated in the execution of more than 7,000 men", who were detained and then killed at various locations in the Srebrenica, Bratunac and Zvornik area in July 1995.

"The indictment states that 3,737 victims have been identified, but nobody has tried to determine the time and cause of death of these people. The allegation that 7,000 people were killed is not correct," Trbojevic said.

The Defence attorney reminded the Trial Chamber of witnesses' statements about the difficult situation in Srebrenica in 1995, adding that the forcible resettlement of the local population, as alleged in the indictment, could not necessarily be considered as ethnic cleansing, but rather as "humanitarian evacuation".

Analyzing individual counts contained in the indictment, Trbojevic said that there was no evidence to prove them. He said that the indictment contained numerous allegations about events in which the indictee did not participate, and he added that certain counts "do not contain elements of a crime".

"Why would someone consider the search for accommodation for prisoners a crime, knowing that Trbic was an officer with a security organ?" the Defence attorney asked.

In a large part of his closing arguments, Trbojevic focused on the period from 2002 to 2005, when Trbic was held in custody in the USA due to "violation of an immigration law". He was then transferred to The Hague. The Defence considers that the indictee's human rights were violated by the way he was treated during this period.

"Trbic was exposed to numerous pressures, blackmail and threats. Most examinations were done while he was held in unknown conditions, actually under some kind of house detention at The Hague," the Defence attorney said, adding that this lasted for 17 months, i.e. until Trbic's "official arrest" in April 2005.

Trbic was originally indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY. However, at the request by the Hague Prosecution, he was transferred to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for further processing in June 2007.

In its closing arguments the State Prosecution called on the Court to find Trbic guilty of genocide and sentence him to 45 years in prison.