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Ivanovic: A Story of Potocari

Munira Subasic

11 March 2010  Prosecution witness Munira Subasic recalls what happened in Potocari in July 1995, when she saw her husband and son for the last time.

"An UNPROFOR transporter was patrolling through Srebrenica the whole day. They told us, over a megaphone, to move towards Potocari, where the UN base was located and we were supposed to be safe there. This happened on July 11. This was the first time I heard about the fall of Srebrenica," the witness said, adding that several tens of thousands of people arrived at the base in Potocari on that day.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina charges Zeljko Ivanovic, known as Arkan, with genocide committed in Srebrenica in July 1995. He is charged, as a member of the Second Special Police Squad from Sekovici, with having participated in a joint criminal enterprise with the aim of "exterminating a group of Bosniaks" by forcible resettlement, capture and execution of men and boys.

As stated by the witness, members of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS, arrived at the base during the night on July 11. They allegedly said that "the situation would calm down" the following day, because General Ratko Mladic was coming.

"Mladic indeed appeared in Potocari on July 12. He was accompanied by two cameramen. He comforted us, telling us he would save us. We were hungry and thirsty, and the children were crying. He gathered them and gave them candy and chocolate bars. As soon as the cameras were turned off, many children were killed," Subasic said.

Mladic, Commander of the VRS General Headquarters, is charged before the Hague Tribunal with crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the course of the war. He is still on the run.

Subasic said she last saw her son in Potocari on July 12.

"Mladic approached me and brought my son, as per my request. I held him by a sleeve, and a Serb soldier held him by the other sleeve. I wanted to keep him with me, so they would not take him away. He told me not to worry and everything would be fine...I have never seen him again. I have not found his
remains. He was 18," Subasic said.

During questioning the witness said she was transferred by bus, together with other women and children, to Tuzla on July 13. She said that, as they were leaving Srebrenica, she saw a group of detainees on a meadow, near Sandici. She told the Court that Serb soldiers stopped the buses, got on them and asked the passengers to give them money.

The indictment charges Ivanovic with having participated in escorting a column of more than 1,000 captured Bosniaks from Sandici village to Kravica Agricultural Cooperative warehouse and having participated in shooting them.

At the end of her testimony Trial Chamber Chairman Darko Samardzic asked the witness if she had to leave Srebrenica in 1995. Subasic answered affirmatively. She then wanted to give an additional explanation, but Samardzic interrupted her and thanked her for her testimony, not allowing her to finish.

For this reason Subasic did not want to leave the court. She stayed until the end of the hearing.

The next hearing is due to take place on March 18, 2010.