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Pelemis and Peric: Amateur Radio Operators

Pelemis i Peric

08 February 2010  Protected Prosecution witnesses describe how they listened to, recorded and made transcripts of conversations between members of the Drina Corps with the Republika Srpska Army, VRS.

P25, testifying for the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the trial of Momir Pelemis and Slavko Peric, who are charged with genocide committed in Srebrenica, said he was Commander of the unit that recorded the conversations among the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, members in July 1995. He said that a few days prior to "the offensive in Srebrenica" his Unit was tasked with following the conversations among Drina Corps members.

"This is what an amateur radio operator would normally do. When the recording device finds a frequency at which a conversation is underway, we start recording the conversation immediately. We recorded the conversations on audio tapes, and then wrote them down, typed them and saved them on our computer before sending it to the Command," P25 said.

Witness P25 said that about 13 individuals were involved in intercepting conversations. Those people made notes in a joint notebook.

"When we made those notes, we would write down the date, the frequency, the duration of the conversation and the participants. It is true that people used codes in their conversations, but, when you follow someone over the years, you find out what each code means. For instance, they always used the word 'panorama' when they spoke about the Drina Corps Headquarters," the witness said.   

The State Prosecution charges Pelemis and Peric, former members of the Zvornik Brigade with the Drina Corp, with having "planned, ordered and supported"
the murder of about 1,200 Srebrenica residents, who were originally detained in "Kula" school building in Pilica, and about 600 men detained in Pilica Center, in Zvornik municipality, on July 15 and 16, 1995.

The second Prosecution witness, P26, who was involved in intercepting phone conversations in July 1995, said the tapes containing recordings of those conversations were taken to the Command. The Command used to send them new or erased old tapes.

"We did not know what they did with those tapes afterwards. I really do not know whether they kept some of them or not. The fact is we used old tapes for several recordings," the witness said.

During cross-examination the witnesses confirmed that the written transcripts of the tapes were authentic, adding that the conversations were not fictive or "made up".

"For example, whatever I heard during a conversation, I had to write down. It happened that some parts of the conversations could not be heard or one participant could not be heard as well as the other. In those cases, I would write down an omission mark, so this part of the conversation was not transcribed. But, I am sure nobody invented topics or conversations," P26 said.

The next hearing is due to take place on February 15, when three more Prosecution witnesses will testify.