UN Official: Mladic was Confident but Frustrated :: Balkan Insight

The trial of the Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic continued on Tuesday with the cross examination of the first witness, Elvedin Pasic, who testified on Monday, and the testimony of the former UN official David Harland.

Mladic?s defence lawyer Branko Lukic argued that Pasic?s testimony cannot be taken into account because the witness did not see any of the killing himself, or see any bodies.

"The witness was not at the crime scene, and if the killing did take place then the local villagers are responsible and not the accused as it is listed in the indictment,? says Lukic.

During his testimony Pasic claimed that the Serbian forces were responsible for the killing of at least 150 Bosniak men in the village of Grabovica in 1992.

The defence also asked for the upcoming hearings to be postponed since the prosecution had again failed to follow the procedure for presenting and delivering written evidence.

The Trial Chamber said that it would decide later this week on the defence's latest motion to suspend the trial, and would continue with the proceedings in the meantime.

David Harland, a former political advisor to the UN Protection Forces in Bosnia, who participated in the negotiations with the Serbian authorities over freedom of movement during the siege of Sarajevo, said that the flow of water, food and electricity in the city was controlled by the Serb forces, which were under the complete control of Ratko Mladic.

Harland met Mladic at least 20 times during the war, and described the accused as a confident man who frequently resorted to threats in his communications with UN officials. He saw him as a frustrated commander who blamed the political leaders of the Bosnian Serbs for military setbacks.

He explained that during the siege a large number of shells were fired on Sarajevo each day.

?On average, we counted about a thousand heavy weapon impacts each day. On a normal day, most of the shells, or the better half of them, were just designed to terrorise people, they were not aimed at anything specific," adds Harland.

Mladic's trial was due to resume on 25 June after it was halted in May.? The examination of the first witnesses was delayed twice, due to problems over the disclosure of evidence to the defence.

Mladic, who was arrested in May last year, has pleaded not guilty to charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war during the Bosnian conflict between 1992 and 1995.

The trial will continue on July 11.

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Source: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/un-saw-mladic-confident-but-frustrated

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