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Trbic: First Prosecution Witness

28 November 2007  A former Hague tribunal investigator speaks of the examination of Milorad Trbic, and of visits to locations in the vicinity of Srebrenica.

The first Prosecution witness has appeared at the trial of Milorad Trbic, who is indicted for genocide committed against Bosniaks in the Srebrenica area in 1995.

The indictment alleges that Trbic was assistant commander for security of the Zvornik Brigade with the Republika Srpska Army (VRS) and that he participated, together with other army and police members, in the execution of more than 7,000 men in July 1995.

Originally, Trbic was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), together with seven other Republika Srpska military and police officers, who are currently tried in The Hague. On the basis of a motion filed by the ICTY prosecution, the tribunal rendered a decision, in June 2007, to refer this case to the Court of BiH for further processing.

First prosecution witness Alistair Graham is a ICTY senior investigator in the team examining crimes committed in Srebrenica and its surroundings, who later became a leader of that team. He said that he met Trbic in North Carolina, USA, where FBI agents discovered the suspect in August 2002.

At that time, the investigator had three interviews with Trbic, which were also attended by FBI agents and a senior representative of the ICTY prosecution.

"I think he understood his rights and he wanted to answer our questions," Graham said. Following those interviews, Graham prepared reports, which were presented as material evidence by the Prosecution of BiH at the hearing.

Apart from these documents, Graham also identified the locations shown on the photographs presented by the prosecutor. He said he and Trbic had visited, in summer 2004, the locations "mentioned in the talks"
related to the events in Srebrenica and its surroundings, in Bratunac, Potocari, Kravica, Zvornik, Orahovac, Kozluk, Pilici and so on. Graham said, in some of those locations, mass graves were discovered and that Trbic informed ICTY investigators about them.

On the occasion of the visit to Bratunac, Trbic showed the investigators one section of the wall surrounding the football stadium where he "participated in execution of a large number of Muslim men".
The witness claims that, during the visits, the indictee showed the investigators other locations where executions had been carried out, and where the victims had been buried.

Cross-examination has been scheduled on November 28. On the same day, two more prosecution witnesses are due to be examined.