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Karadzic: Witness Damaging Serbian People

Milan Mandilovic

19 July 2010  A Sarajevo doctor said Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina were responsible for shelling the city Military Hospital and its surroundings during the war.

Milan Mandilovic, who worked at the hospital from 1992 to 1995, denied allegations from Radovan Karadzic that "Muslim artillery positions" were located in front of the hospital, saying it was shelled from Serbian positions on Mount Trebevic.

"You are well aware of the Military Hospital configuration and the fact that it is surrounded by streets. I certainly exclude the possibility that the Serbian positions were shot at from positions around the hospital", Mandilovic said.

He began his testimony on July 16.

Karadzic, who is on trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, for genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war, accused the witness of "improvising and presenting impressions which caused damage to the Serbian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina".

"The witness is saying that Serbs intentionally shelled the hospital from Mount Trebevic, but he does not even know who was there. He said it was horrible to live in Sarajevo and claims that Sarajevo residents suffered, but who was to blame for that? You cannot everything to Serbs", said Karadzic, the former President of Republika Srpska, RS.
 
Prosecutors allege that from April 1992 to the end of 1995 Karadzic significantly contributed to achieving the goal of spreading terror among civilians in Sarajevo by executing a sniper and shelling campaign.
 
The examination of prosecution witness Hussein Ali Abdel Razek, commander of UNPROFOR in the Sarajevo Sector in 1992 and 1993, also began at this hearing.
 
The witness said the civilian population in the city was in despair because of the shelling by Serbian forces and the lack of water.

"Everybody was in despair, because the city was under the siege, shelled and kept under sniper fire, barricades were placed and people were killed", he said.

Ali Abdel Razek said the sniper activities in Sarajevo took place as per a plan made by a higher command, adding the snipers were selected among highly-qualified personnel.

He said he had meetings with Karadzic at which he presented protests and complaints by United Nations members about the way in which the RS Army members behaved, adding the indictee was "the head of Bosnian Serbs and a top decision maker".

On July 19 the Appellate Chamber rejected Karadzic appeal of the decision to hold hearings four times a week. Despite the fact that Karadzic said the decision violated his right to self defence and caused damage to his health, judges said it "does not violate his right to a fair trial".

The examination of Ali Abdel Razek will continue on July 20.

D.Dž.