¹⁴⁷⁶³

Monday, 31 March 2003

(Open session)

[The accused entered court]

--- Upon commencing at 9.12 a.m.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Good morning. Please be seated to this rather early meeting at 9.00 mid-European summertime.

Can we please hear the case.

THE REGISTRAR: Good morning. This is Case Number IT-97-24-T, the Prosecutor versus Milomir Stakic.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: May I already ask the usher to escort the witness into the courtroom while I'll ask for the appearances. Prosecution, please.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Good morning, Your Honours. Nicholas Koumjian, Ann Sutherland, and Ruth Karper.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. And for the Defence, please.

MR. LUKIC: Good morning, Your Honours. Branko Lukic and Danilo Cirkovic for the Defence.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. The schedule for today and for tomorrow is clear. I hope that we can continue this way. Mr. Koumjian, please, you wanted --

MR. KOUMJIAN: Sorry, I was just going to alert the Registrar -- sorry.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Only that you know, having reviewed the transcript, I have to come back with some questions under Rule - I think it's - 96. ¹⁴⁷⁶⁴

[The witness entered court]

WITNESS: SLOBODAN KURUZOVIC [Resumed]

[Witness answered through interpreter] Further questions by the Court:

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Good morning, Mr. Kuruzovic.

A. Good morning. Good morning.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Before we start, there was a long weekend in between. I just want to recall that you are always aware of your rights. First of all, I have to make it quite clear once again, you are not the accused in this case. You are here as a witness. You arrived without any subpoena. But nevertheless, you have the right to be assisted by counsel. You have the right to remain silent, also to remain silent on those questions where the answer could tend to be of self-incriminatory nature. And this right is an ongoing one. At any point in time, you may make use of this right.

But let us go for a moment, please, in private session.

(Private session)

(8 lines redacted) ¹⁴⁷⁶⁵

(page redacted) ¹⁴⁷⁶⁶

(Open session)

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Let's turn first to the question of the municipal -- the Serbian Municipal Assembly or as you called it the Serbian Assembly of the Municipality of Prijedor. On page 15, 16, of Day 143, you testified straightforward and without any hesitation that it was the 7th of January that the Serbian Assembly of the Municipality of Prijedor was formed, on the 7th of January. This is page 15 following lines 17 until page 16, line 4, Day 143.

Then you told us the development until the 29th, when you had a meeting in the barracks. Then during the line of questions put to you by the Defence, being confronted with some documents, that in general, the name of the Assembly should be replaced and the word "Serbian" should appear. And a document showing that in a meeting, I think it was the fifth meeting of the Serbian Assembly, you were together with others elected; whereas in the beginning, you testified that you were already elected the 7th of January.

Let me now hear first, what is, to the best of your recollection, the truth? Have you been already elected or maybe only provisionally elected already the 7th, or was it only Dr. Stakic and others, the president and vice-president, who were elected this 7th of December [sic], a remarkable day, the day of Orthodox Christmas. Can it be or may it be that during this meeting, mid-April 1992, the declaration or the election, as we can see it on the basis of the document, this is more or less a declaration, or was it only then that you yourself were elected?

A. I've understood your question. I have been thinking while I was ¹⁴⁷⁶⁷ in the hotel, and I'm sure I must have made a mistake. As regards the establishment of the assembly, it took place on the 7th of January, and the president and the vice-president were elected on that day. And since this indeed was a remarkable day, I thought that everything was over on the 7th of January. But later on, there were ballots, and that was in mid-April. And on those ballots, the delegates voted for other people. I still have that ballot. I've remembered I've made a mistake, and I apologise once again for the mistake that I've made.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Then next question would be the 7th of January. This was apparently the first meeting. Mid-April, this was apparently the fifth meeting of this Serbian Assembly. Did you attend one of the meetings, the second, the third, or the fourth meeting of the Serbian Assembly?

A. I don't remember having attended other meetings. But I must have remembered the one in April, and there's a good reason for that. At that time, I was doing my military obligation. That was in January. And in February, I was in Sarajevo sometime around the 2nd. I don't remember exactly when. Sometime around the 2nd, I got news that my daughter was ill, and that's when I went to Sarajevo with my daughter -- with my wife and my son. And I spent there almost a whole month while my daughter was awaiting surgery. And she has survived, thank God. And on the 4th March, I returned home from Sarajevo.

So I really don't know when these sessions took place, and I don't remember having attended them.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. Then let's come to the second issue, ^{14768BLANK PAGE 14769} and this is the establishment of the Crisis Staff. I have to recall that straightforward and more than one hour, you testified on this, also the 143rd day of this case. You were asked: "When was the first meeting of the Crisis Staff in Prijedor?" My question, page 36, starting line 1 was: "Was it one, two, three, or five days after the takeover?" You said: "Perhaps three days. I don't recall exactly." And then on page 35, line 1, you stated: "It was two or three days after the takeover of power. I don't know who ordered this formation." And the same page, 35, line 22, I asked you: "When did you attend for the first time a meeting of the Crisis Staff"? You answered: "A few after the 30th of April. I can't remember exactly."

Then later on, you were more concrete, told us that "The meetings were held in the basement of the Municipal Assembly where the canteen was," absolutely in line with the testimony of other witnesses. Then you went on, went on with the same testimony. I asked you on page 46, line 6: "It is correct that in conclusion with your previous testimony, this was more or less a declaration of that what already existed some days after the takeover? Would this be correct?" You answered: "Yes, yes." And then you continued on line 13: "Well, at that time the disposition was signed on the 17th that I was being relieved of my duty as the commander of the staff and was to attach myself to the brigade, to the army." So I think this simply confirms something that was already in existence and that it was simply legalised in this way because you know how it is with documents. They are always late. But this composition probably reflects what's there." This was when you were confronted with ¹⁴⁷⁷⁰ this document S180.

Before I ask you, maybe it assists you that we for a moment listen what Mr. Miskovic has to tell us and told us in the past during the same reportage in Prijedor Municipality on this matter. Let me just see. This would be Document Number -- yes, once again, S91. You recall that we heard the clip when you gave an interview, but also Mr. Miskovic gave an interview that same day.

Could the audiotape please be played now from that point where we have it.

[Audiotape played]

[Please refer to Exhibit S91A for audiotranscript]

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Stop. Here we can read "you are well aware and we have heard you are well aware of the events that ensued. However, as president of the party and the chairman of the Crisis Staff at that moment..." So Mr. Miskovic apparently speaks about the existence of a Crisis Staff already the 29th of April, 1992. How is this possible that when being asked by Mr. Lukic and being confronted with the document on the composition of the Crisis Staff and the establishment of the Crisis Staff in the Prijedor Municipality, you mentioned that "apparently I was wrong". It reads: "It was only the 20th of May." Previously when I confronted you with the same document, you state, as typical for paperwork, it's always late, and it was established already previously immediately after the takeover.

Mr. Miskovic in this interview states that he was at that time or at that moment, to be more correct, the chairman of the Crisis Staff. ¹⁴⁷⁷¹ Could you please try to explain us these different testimonies both from your side and from Mr. Miskovic.

A. Mr. Miskovic liked to show off a bit, you know. Usually, he would introduce himself in the following way: Simo Miskovic -- just let me take a while to remember -- commander of the Crisis Staff for the Bosanska Krajina region. That's how he would always introduce himself. The staff that he was talking about, that was the party staff as the Crisis Staff of the SDS, the party. It was not a government staff, a government body. That was different, and this only came to being after two or perhaps three days after the takeover. That was later. These are two completely different things.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Before you continue, may we hear Mr. Miskovic what he has to say later. Please continue with the tape.

[Audiotape played]

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Stop. Stop. So you have heard that the Crisis Staff was mentioned twice related to the night from the 29th of April to the 30th of April. Once Mr. Miskovic stated: "Then I scheduled a meeting of the Crisis Staff for 2.00 a.m. and ordered Mr. Kuruzovic and Simo Drljaca to do the job with the army as we had agreed at the said meeting and that they were going to submit the report by 2.00 a.m."

And then later on, after we have heard that immediately in the barracks, Mr. Kuruzovic, Mr. Kovacevic, and Stakic, Mr. Jankovic, Cado and others attended, and from the military side, Arsic and Zeka, then there was a discussion on the meeting, where to meet in the Hotel, and then ¹⁴⁷⁷² finally at 2.00, I attended the session of the Crisis Staff and the reports were submitted and it was decided by the Crisis Staff that the takeover will commence at 4.00 hours a.m. and that's how it started." Could you please comment on this.

A. Again, this is about what he called Crisis Staff, but that's the party Crisis Staff because he was the president of the municipal board of the SDS. The rest of it is correct and truthful. As far as the military aspect is concerned, which refers to me, there was no special army there because I was the commander of the regional staff of the Territorial Defence at that time, and we simply informed the people who were outside the town across the local communes that should there be any shooting or any major problems arising, they should be prepared to defend the people. As for the other part concerning the takeover, that was carried out by the police in its entirety, and that was organised by Simo Drljaca, Jankovic, Cadzo, Marko Dzenadija and so on and so forth.

So if you want me to repeat this, this is not the same Crisis Staff.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Yes, so when was this SDS as you call it, SDS Crisis Staff, when was this Crisis Staff established?

A. I don't really know. I was not aware of the existence of any such thing officially. But Simo knows this. I told you that in March, I was not in Prijedor at all. Whether the party set this up earlier on someone's orders and on whose orders, well, yeah, I should assume so. As far as I remember, there was a Crisis Staff, and there was the imminent threat of war that had been proclaimed on the level of the whole party. ¹⁴⁷⁷³ So he said that this should be official. I'm sorry to say this, but I think he was merely showing off, even what we just heard, the interview. He was a show-off in general.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: But it is still your testimony that at that time, something else existed, and this would be the SDS Crisis Staff. Correct? Opposed to the Crisis Staff established then later based on the documents both me and later Mr. Lukic has shown to you. Correct?

A. Yes, yes. The election, the voting at the assembly, that's when this one was set up. The Executive Board and the president of the Assembly, that was there. And as soon as the takeover occurred two or three days later, I can't remember accurately, then someone ordered someone from the Krajina, Autonomous Region, I suppose, Karadzic probably, said that Crisis Staffs should be established from the Executive Boards and said who the members should be of these Crisis Staffs. Whether this was actually ordered by the president of the republic or the presidency or the Crisis Staff of the Krajina Autonomous Region from Banja Luka, I really don't know.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: And then to be quite concrete, when it reads here, there was a meeting, and this is absolutely in line with what you told us beforehand, "I went up to the barracks where Kuruzovic, Mico Kovacevic, and Stakic, Simo Jankovic, Cadzo and others were," what was this? Was this a meeting of the SDS Crisis Staff or was it a meeting of that what was called by others shadow government or option 2, that what was elected mid-April 1992?

Was it already a meeting of those people who should form the ^{14774BLANK PAGE 14775} Serbian Municipal Assembly as of the takeover, recall the document shown to you by Mr. Koumjian, that it was ordinary in the past planned for the 1st of May, and then a decision was taken to implement this already the -- during the night from the 29th to the 30th of April? So what was this meeting in the barracks, a meeting of the upcoming Municipal Assembly and those persons replacing others in the municipality, or was it a meeting of the SDS Crisis Staff?

A. Well, probably a mix between the two. This was not a wholly official body. I was then the commander of the regional staff in Urije and Prijedor too, so that's probably why they wanted me to be there, too. Only later when I remember, when I thought about April, the proposal, the municipal elections for commander. This was a meeting of a group of people, certainly party representatives, who when Mr. Stakic found out about the telegram and brought it there and when it was read out, as I said, I did not hear it in its entirety. A while before Mr. Miskovic came, I arrived, too, but I understood -- because there was no reason for me to believe it wasn't that way, but now I've had an opportunity to actually see and become familiar with the content of that document, and a decision was taken and an agreement was reached there. About what later happened at 4.00 in the morning, when the police, in an organised manner, left and took over the facilities. And then at 6.00, the officials went to their positions.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: To the best of your recollection, did you attend a meeting of the SDS Crisis Staff prior to the 29th of April, 1992?

A. Not that I remember. I had not even heard up to that point that ¹⁴⁷⁷⁶ it was referred to as the Crisis Staff. I don't remember attending any such meetings. And it was a long time ago. I think not, but I can't be positive about this.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you for this assisting which indeed helped to clarify things a little bit more. Let me now come to the third point and let us hear what Dr. Stakic has to say on this.

May we please play Exhibit Number S187. This is a video.

[Videotape played]

[Please refer to Exhibit S187A for videotranscript]

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Stop. Stop. Is this assessment of Dr. Stakic correct, that Trnopolje was mainly filled with Muslims from Kozarac, a good part of those extremists were from Kozarac and they went to Trnopolje?

A. This first part of Mr. Stakic's statement is true, most of those people were from Kozarac. As for the latter part of his statement, I don't know they were extremists or not. There were many men there who were military -- who were fit for military service, able-bodied men. I don't know the exact figures, but what he started saying when you interrupted the tape, 1.450, I'm not how many of them UNHCR later took to Karlovac. I don't know whether those men were healthy and able-bodied, whether they were extremists or not, but no one there acted in such a way as to create any special problems apart from the difficult conditions themselves.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: But can you understand why Dr. Stakic used the terms "Muslims" and "part of those being extremists"? ¹⁴⁷⁷⁷

A. Well, the people we referred to as Muslims, probably he believed that among those people, there were men who were extremists. Now why and what grounds, I really don't know. Probably on the basis of something that happened later. I don't know.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Would it be true that as it is stated here: "Trnopolje was mainly filled with Muslims from Kozarac"? Would this be true?

A. Well, yes, later people came from the town. They arrived by train, by cars, in cars from Hambarine. But most of them were from Kozarac, or at least I believe so.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: And then in order to save time, if you want, we can play also this part of the one and same interview. Previously Dr. Stakic said: "These places such as Omarska, Keraterm, and Trnopolje, were a necessity in a given moment and were formed according to a decision of the civilian authorities in Prijedor.

"Reporter: So these three camps, or how are they -- Dr. Stakic: Reception centres.

Reporter: "Reception centre, they were formed according to a decision of your civilian authorities.

Stakic: Yes, yes." To be continued. Who were those civilian authorities in Prijedor taking the decision to establish Omarska, Keraterm, and Trnopolje?

A. As for the latter two, I don't know, I can only assume about Trnopolje. I told you how it was established. If there was an agreement or a decision, I was not aware of it. I was simply surprised, and there ¹⁴⁷⁷⁸ was that request that was made, and I did say that. Whether the other thing was necessary, too, I don't know. Those were investigation services as far as I knew. Only the public security centre had the authority to establish those on the orders of someone from the government or the Ministry of the Interior. Now, whether there was any agreement with the municipal leaders from other segments, I really don't know, believe me. I can only speak about Trnopolje. Whatever else I said, I simply stated what I believed.

If there were extremists, if it was necessary to look into their actions, for them to give statements, then that's what it was for. But Trnopolje was not a camp; it was something quite different. It was a gathering of unfortunate people at the time, a refuge for people to go to, as we called it. People fled from combat operations to save their necks, elderly people, women, that kind of thing.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: May the witness please be shown the document tendered by the Defence, 65 ter number 414. Once again, the English version, please, on the ELMO and B/C/S to the witness. Would this be correct that this is a, as we can read at the top of the page, a decision or a document issued by the 1st Krajina Corps command, confidential number 621, from 2 September, 1992? And then please look what we can see under number 2. And would you please be so kind and read in B/C/S the entire number 2.

A. "The following was agreed in reference to the closure of Manjaca and Trnopolje prisoner of war camps. First, to evacuate 79 sick detainees from the Manjaca and Trnopolje camps; to secure their unobstructed ¹⁴⁷⁷⁹ transport to the Mahovljani airport in Banja Luka; on that day, to open the airport for the landing of ICRC aircraft that would transport the sick prisoners of war abroad for treatment.

"After their requests have been met and we accepted our obligations, they were advised to seek authorisation from the Croatian authorities for landing the aircraft because Mahovljani airport was under Croatian fire.

"Taking note of this, they gave a clear commitment to notify us about the operation of transporting prisoners of war at least 24 hours before so that could secure the landing and take-off of the aircraft. At this point, they handed us a list of names of 65 prisoners of war who are either wanted or ill."

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Stop. You can see that the 1st Krajina Corps command apparently used totally different terms. It started already: "The following was agreed in reference to the closure of Manjaca and Trnopolje prisoners of war camps." And it ends, quoting a list of the names of 65 prisoners of war.

Then let's please continue. May the usher please show the Defence exhibit tendered by the Defence, 65 ter number 416. Once again, issued by the 1st Krajina Corps command, operational confidential number 655, 11 September, 1992. "Decision on granting amnesty from criminal prosecution. Article 1, the following prisoners of war in Manjaca and Trnopolje prisons are freed from criminal prosecution." And then it follows a list of 69 detainees.

So once again, prisoners of war in Trnopolje prison. Could you ^{14780BLANK PAGE 14781} please explain how it's possible that the 1st Krajina Corps command comes to a totally different assessment of what Trnopolje was at that time. Was it a prison as reflected in the last document? Was it a prisoner of war camp? And that there were prisoners of war in this camp?

A. I don't know where these names come from. I don't know what these -- who these people are. Maybe they are from Manjaca. I don't know. I've already said on several occasions that this name does not correspond to what Trnopolje was. And anybody who was there can confirm that. Regardless of how long they spent there, no Muslim was in uniform there, and I didn't see any Muslims arriving with weapons there. So I really don't know who the people referred to in this document are. I don't remember anybody leaving in this way from Trnopolje. I remember that only once the UNHCR came. I don't know when that was. I don't know exactly. It may have been in June or in July. I don't know exactly. And some 30 or 40 men were on their list. It was said that they were sick and that they were supposed to be transported by plane to London for treatment. I believe that the deputy minister of health also came, and they were checked by a doctor from Prijedor. I didn't interfere with all that because I didn't know who these people are and on what grounds they were taken away. But I believe that that was that one occasion when some of the people left.

As for the fact that they were prisoners of war, that is out of the question, and I can swear before God and I can claim that Trnopolje was not even a camp, let alone a prison as it is stated herein.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: You can see that the latter document, it ¹⁴⁷⁸² reads: "We received the following telegram from the presidency of the Serbian Republic," and then it starts with a quote, and it's finally signed by the president of the Presidency, Dr. Radovan Karadzic?

A. Yes, I can see that.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: So in his assessment apparently, it was granting amnesty in relation to Trnopolje prisons. And the other documents, speaking the same language "prisoner of war camps" and once again, "65 prisoners of war." So how can we bring your testimony together with the other testimony? Was it maybe a mix? Was there a separate unit within Trnopolje which could be called a, as it reads here, "prisoner of war camp" or, in the other document, "prison"?

A. No. Trnopolje was never any such thing. There were -- people were never interrogated there. There were no investigations carried out there, so I really don't know understand what this is all about. Was there maybe some other private agreement, I really don't know. I can see here that this was signed by the president. I see the term "prisoners of war". I see that both Manjaca and Trnopolje are being referred to as prisons. It doesn't say here how many of these people were in Trnopolje, among those who were taken away. I really don't remember. I just told you that at the very beginning, some people were indeed taken away from Trnopolje by somebody who came from the ministry. And they had a list on which it said that these people were sick and that they were being transported to London for treatment. That's the way I understood it. I could not influence that. I could not have a bearing on that, whether they would go or not go. There was a list signed by the Red Cross. I ¹⁴⁷⁸³ suppose the Red Cross was aware of that. I believe that there must have been a preliminary agreement with either the Red Cross or the UNHCR. Their representatives were in Trnopolje on a daily basis, and they themselves could see that this was not a camp or a prison, that people were not being brought in or taken away. If somebody had been a prisoner, they would have been tied, I suppose, but something like that never happened in Trnopolje.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Do you know Colonel Milutin Vukelic?

A. Vukelic, no, never heard of him. I can see here that that was signed by him in the corps command, but I don't know who that is.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: But I hope, Mr. Kuruzovic, that based on these documents and Dr. Stakic's own comments, we have some doubts on your testimony on the nature of Trnopolje. And maybe following now and answering the questions put to you by Mr. Koumjian, maybe it will assist you and maybe there will be a chance and a possibility for you to correct, in whole or in part, your previous testimony. Because I think you can agree that on the basis of these documents, a totally different impression is given of that what is the nature of Trnopolje. Would you agree? Would you please --

A. Yes, this is a big surprise for me. I've never heard any such thing. I've never seen any such thing. I don't know why Trnopolje would be made equal to Manjaca or some other camp. I don't know on what grounds. Maybe this was just a matter of red tape or administration. Maybe -- given the fact that people were gathered in several places, one term was given to all of these places just to facilitate things. ¹⁴⁷⁸⁴

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Would you agree that the list of names you can read here, the 69 names, that these are Muslim names?

A. I haven't read all of them, but I can see this guy, his name is Milomir Antunovic, he is not a Muslim. But the majority are Muslims.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Which was the number you just mentioned?

A. 58. Number 9 as well.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Milomir Antunovic. Do you know him in person?

A. No, no. I can tell by the first name and by the last name that he cannot be a Muslim.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: And the same would be true of number 9, Janko Antunovic.

A. Yes, yes.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: To be honest, for us it's extremely difficult to make a distinction between Muslims, Serbs, Croats, based on the name. In the past, we were never acquainted to do this exercise, but unfortunately in this period of time, we have to look very seriously on the question of the ethnic background of these persons. I hope we can overcome this distinction we have made in the past in the future.

For the moment, it remains for me only to do some technical exercise, and this would mean Document 65 ter number 414 was tendered by the Defence. Are there any objections by the Prosecution?

MR. KOUMJIAN: No, Your Honour.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Then it would be admitted into evidence as D126A and B correspondingly. And the other, 65 ter 416, the document from the 11th of September, 1992, this would be D127A and B correspondingly. ¹⁴⁷⁸⁵ Objections?

MR. KOUMJIAN: No objection, Your Honour.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Both documents are --

MR. LUKIC: No objection, Your Honour.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Both documents are admitted into evidence under these numbers.

May I then ask, please, Mr. Koumjian, to continue with your line of questions.

Questioned by Mr. Koumjian: [Continued]

Q. Mr. Kuruzovic, you've mentioned several times the Autonomous Region of Krajina. Did any leaders of the Autonomous Region of Krajina such as Radoslav Brdjanin or Dr. Vukic or the mayor Predrag Radic visit the Trnopolje camp, the Trnopolje reception centre, whatever name you want to use for it?

A. No. As for Brdjanin and who else, Predrag Radic, they were never there. And as for Vukelic, he's a doctor, no, I don't think so. I don't remember. I don't remember their names. But if they had been, they would have probably come together. Brdjanin, Radic were certainly not there. And as for Dr. Vukelic, I think that he wasn't there either.

Q. It's Dr. Vukic who I believe was the SDS president in Banja Luka, just to we're clear we're talking about the same person. You never saw a Dr. Vukic to your knowledge did not visit the Trnopolje camp?

A. I don't remember.

Q. How about Stojan Zupljanin or General Talic, did you ever see them at the camp? ^{14786BLANK PAGE 14787}

A. No, no.

Q. Were you aware of a visit by Mr. Brdjanin and Predrag Radic and others from Banja Luka, Stojan Zupljanin, to Prijedor in July?

A. I don't remember. They may have been there, but I don't remember. If they had been there, they probably talked to the president of the municipality and the president of the Executive Board, not with me. I don't know.

Q. Sir, you talked about the Crisis Staff of the SDS. To your knowledge, who were the members of the SDS Crisis Staff that existed prior to the takeover?

A. As I've already told you, I heard that only subsequently. These are the terms that Mr. Miskovic used. I was not in Prijedor at that time. But if there had been such a Crisis Staff, then its members should have been members of the presidency of the Serbian Democratic Party of Prijedor. As far as I can see, Mr. Simo Miskovic is talking about the party Crisis Staff at the time when this happened. This was before the war, during the imminent threat of war. I don't know what else to call that period.

Q. When you say the presidency of the SDS party in Prijedor, do you mean the president and the vice-president of the party for Prijedor?

A. Yes, president, vice-president, and probably some other people who were presidents of various standing committees and who helped with the work. And if there had been a Crisis Staff, then nobody else but these people could be its members.

Q. You were asked some questions by Mr. Lukic about Dr. Stakic, ¹⁴⁷⁸⁸ Dr. Stakic's party membership. It was clear in 1991 that Dr. Stakic was a member of the SDS, and in fact, he was the vice-president of the party. Isn't that correct?

A. I don't know whether he was the vice-president of the party. I know he was the vice-president of the Municipal Assembly. I hear -- I heard it only the other day that he was not a member of the SDS, but it is quite possible. Later on, he was. I know that for a fact, when he was the president of the Municipal Assembly. Whether he was even before that, really, I don't know.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Could the witness be shown S94, please.

Q. Just while that's being prepared, sir, what kind of car did you drive when you were working at the Trnopolje camp? Excuse me, Trnopolje centre.

A. It was a Renault given to me by the company called Borac from Prijedor, and I returned it after only a few days. And I returned it because a guy called Icic offered me to take a car that was in his garage. He took me there, gave me the keys. This car was a Golf.

Q. Sorry, what was the name of the gentleman that gave you his car?

A. I think his name was Icic, Fikret or something like that. Yes. And that car was then registered there and mobilised. And when I was demobilised on the 22nd August, 1993, that car was given to the brigade command, and I believe that the brigade command then gave it to the hospital. I believe that was the sequence of events with this car.

Q. Sir, why did Mr. Fikret Icic give you his car to use?

A. Because he was afraid that somebody else would take it, so nobody ¹⁴⁷⁸⁹ would know where that car was because such things happened. And if you remember, we were talking about the establishment -- actually, whether the Municipal Assembly was supposed to issue orders to the army and to the police to control these cars which were driven without a travel order. Unfortunately, a number of people from my ethnic group confiscated property from other people. This man offered me the car because he knew I would look after it, and once everything was rectified and once I was demobilised, that car would be returned to him. So that I believe if he really went there to ask for the car, that the car had indeed been returned to him.

Q. Was Mr. Icic in Trnopolje?

A. Yes.

Q. Sir, now, in front of you is S94.

A. I don't know what his name was. Yes, go ahead, please.

Q. We're now turning to S94. You'll see that these are some notes from the minutes -- excuse me, minutes of the assembly meeting of the Prijedor SDS party held on the 11th of September, 1991. There's an interjection, page 3 of the English. Sorry, I don't have the B/C/S in front of me. By someone named Kuruzovic. Sir, do you believe that that would be you, the person who indicated objected to Article 44, moving that the text "but must be a member of the SDS BH be included." Would that be you? Would that indicate to you that you were in attendance at this meeting?

A. Since this is my name, it could only be me.

Q. Thank you. Sir, do you see that in this document, there were ¹⁴⁷⁹⁰ elections for the party president and for the party vice-president. And that 139 individuals voted in the election for the vice-president, Milomir Stakic received 103 of the 139 votes. Does this remind you that Dr. Stakic was the vice-president of the SDS party as of the 11th of September, 1991?

A. I can't find it. But if this is how it reads, then it must be true.

I've located that. It says vice-president, Dragan Savanovic, Milomir Stakic, 103. And some Mirko Galamdzija or whatever his name is, 7 votes. So that means that Dr. Stakic became the vice-president of the party. I said that I knew that he was an SDS member, but I don't know at what period of time, from when up to when.

Q. Thank you.

MR. KOUMJIAN: I'd like the usher to please distribute another document that has not been entered into evidence. It's 65 ter 316 on the Prosecution 65 ter list. It has the ERN number in English beginning 03015836.

Q. You had testified, sir, about receiving a uniform. You said that was intended for Mr. Srdic. Is that correct?

A. That's what I was told. I was told that there was no uniform for me. Later on, I signed the receipt of that uniform.

Q. Now, according to your testimony, as I understand it, conflict broke out in Prijedor after the 22nd of May. Is that correct? Sometime after the Hambarine incident.

A. Yes. ¹⁴⁷⁹¹

Q. If you can take a look at this document, and perhaps the first page of the English could be put on the ELMO, or has it already? Thank you. And I believe Your Honours has copies.

Do you see that it indicates that the Prijedor Municipal Assembly acquired a certain quantity of material for sewing flags and green camouflage uniforms according to a delivery note dated the 3rd of May, 1992. And that the ordered goods were received on the 28th of May, 1992. Would this indicate to you, sir, that uniforms that were made for members of the Crisis Staff and others of prominence were ordered just after the takeover of power?

A. It is possible. If this is official, then I assume the answer would be yes. As far as I know, the uniform that I received and those who were members of the Crisis Staff, those uniforms were not green. They were light-brown with some yellow patches or spots. It was a very lightweight summer uniform.

Q. It was camouflage, when you say "spots"?

A. Yes. And I can tell you that this type of uniform was worn by every single manager of every company in town. Nobody forced them to wear those uniforms, but what do I know? Maybe they wanted to go with the flow. All managers wore such uniforms.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, I have another document I would like distributed. And that is -- has the ERN number 03074605 in English. It begins with that, and concludes with 03074610A. And the B/C/S begins P, as in Paul, 0008404, through 8410.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Not to lose control on the documents, the ^{14792BLANK PAGE 14793} previous one would be provisionally marked S432A and B respectively. And the now distributed would be S433A and B respectively.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Sir, this latest document is one of those I asked you to look at over the weekend. Perhaps before we begin with that and so I don't forget, I also asked you to look over that newspaper article that was marked S238, Kozarski Vjesnik. Excuse me, that's not the right number. I asked you to look over a newspaper article that we discussed yesterday -- Friday. And that was an interview with you from 1995. Was there anything else in that article -- or was there anything in the article that you wanted to comment on or dispute, the 1995 article?

A. Well, I'd prefer a more straightforward question if that's possible. This was a piece of coverage on the memorial day, the day when the takeover took place. I may have been trying to show off a little bit there myself. You know, everyone likes people to talk about them -- everyone likes people to see them as able persons. But I suppose I am about to receive some more specific questions from you regarding that.

Q. Well, sir, I'm trying to be specific. Is there anything false in that newspaper article?

A. Well, there are several things there that were not mentioned and are connected to this. This Mr. Grubor who came to request, well, -- the way is seems here is that he was under my command, that he had - I don't know how many people - both armed and unarmed. So perhaps I should clarify that a little bit. At that time, there was a war in Slovenia. ¹⁴⁷⁹⁴ I'd already returned home. I'd buried my daughter. But in 1991, in late September or early October, at the request of the people, a meeting was held at the local commune building in Prijedor. About a thousand people were there. A decision was made, which had been requested by the representatives of all parties. But that was not a party meeting for people to be listed, to draw up lists of people, people who were members of the JNA, because they believed that that was the only form of protection because all sorts of things were happening about town already and people were scared. So people signed up who were members of the TO and the police, too. Even those who had been members of the brigades, and sometimes not. They wanted to be counted on should there be an attack against the Serbian people. There were even women there, young men, young women. That's what it was about.

And there were TO men there who were armed. They probably thought that that was some sort of an army or some armed group. And this gentleman came there requesting -- well, you can imagine what it looked like if I released any lists to him. Anyway, I was not the one keeping the lists. Stevanovic was, what's his name? This is something that was public. As far as I remember, about 4.000 people signed up, women, young men, girls. So perhaps I could answer the question why this sort of thing happened. At that time, the 343rd Brigade was on the front in Western Slavonia, the 5th Kozara, the 6th Sana, and the 11th Dubica Brigade, including a lot of people from Prijedor, mostly Serbs, but there were Muslims there, Croats, throughout the war even at the commands of these brigades, Muslim citizens, Croatian citizens. And most of the Muslims who ¹⁴⁷⁹⁵ had served their military service were in Prijedor. It was the talk of the town how Muslims were arming themselves. And some of them were members of the reserve police forces, people were scared because a lot of men had left town. And these remained.

So that was a thing that happened of its own volition, simultaneously. That's how it happened. So he thought in the spring that this still existed and he was requesting people and that kind of thing and so on.

Q. Just for the record, I believe it's time for a break. But the document we were talking about, the one you read over the weekend was the one entitled "memories of April's events in 1992" and that was S430, just for the transcript.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Does Your Honour wish to take a break now before we begin with the next document?

THE INTERPRETER: Microphone, Your Honour, please.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I think we have to stay with this document for only one purpose. If you could please be so kind and have a look on the fifth-last paragraph, that's in English, the English version page 5, and there it's the fourth paragraph where it reads: "At the meeting of the Crisis Staff of the Serbian Municipality of Prijedor and the Garrison command held on 10th of June, 1992, and attended by Major Slobodan Kuruzovic" --

MR. KOUMJIAN: I'm sorry, I actually haven't begun. He was talking about the last document on Friday. It's my fault for confusing the two. ¹⁴⁷⁹⁶

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Okay. Of course. Then let's come back to this. It's then for you. The trial stays adjourned until 5 minutes past 11.00.

--- Recess taken at 10.36 a.m.

--- On resuming at 11.10 a.m.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Now once again, sorry that I already anticipated something you want to discuss. But please, Mr. Koumjian.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Mr. Kuruzovic, could you please explain to us what your role was in the logistics base at Cirkin Polje, and explain how it changed, if it did, over time.

A. At the beginning, it was a TO staff. Until the brigade commander's order came on the resubordination, and then the order was confirmed from the administration of the Municipal Assembly. There was a decision. And as I said, one of the main tasks was to provide food for all checkpoints throughout the municipal territory. After the 16th or the 17th, I can't remember the date, after that order, the staff was abolished, and it was transformed into a so-called logistics base which continued to work on the same tasks, providing food to all checkpoints, and then regional staffs in the whole town, or rather in the whole municipality, down to Ljubija, Brezicani, on to Omarska. That's where another regional TO staff was. It was all TO. And the army and the police, they all got their supplies from there.

Later, the chief of the logistics base was Mirko Mudrinic. I only occasional used the opportunity on my way to Trnopolje, because it was necessary for the children, and they would give me milk and fruit, fruit ¹⁴⁷⁹⁷ juice, bread, from the Zitopromet company and so on.

Q. So please explain, after the Territorial Defence was absorbed into the army, into the 43rd Brigade, by the order of Colonel Arsic and the order of the Crisis Staff of the 29th of May, signed by Dr. Stakic, did you continue to have any role in the Cirkin Polje logistics base other than stopping by to pick up food for children?

A. I did not have any particular role. I was not in a leading role of any kind certainly. Those other people who remained at the base were in charge. As far as the fuel supplies and the fuel distribution and the certificates was concerned, the municipal organ was in charge of that. I don't think it was even the logistics base. That's what I'd been in charge of, right at the beginning.

Q. I'm a bit confused when you say you didn't have any particular role or a leading role. Did you have any road in the logistics base, let's say, from June on?

A. Well, I said what I did. I would sometimes use the opportunity for them to give me and they did give me very often food, milk, cigarettes, that sort of thing.

Q. These are things for yourself, these are things for the persons in Trnopolje? Who was -- for the guards at Trnopolje? Who did you get these things for?

A. For the guards and for the people. Among those who came with their unit commanders, there were no women and children. At the Red Cross, there were. It was because of the small children. Because the children, there were lots of small children in the camp. The cigarettes ^{14798BLANK PAGE 14799} were for the guards.

Q. And this is items that you would carry yourself to the camp, to Trnopolje? Excuse me.

A. Yes. Yes, I put it into the boot of my car, and when I arrived, I would distribute it to the guards and to the people. But the people knew that I would always bring something, apples, milk, other kinds of fruit. Elderly people, Muslims, would be waiting for me most often in the morning when I arrived, and then they would take these things to the children over there.

Q. Now, did you originally -- your original work with the logistics base, in addition to food, part of your duties were to issue these certificates for fuel. Is that correct?

A. Yes, yes, that was right at the beginning. Before the Executive Board of the Municipal Assembly regulated the whole thing in a different way, and then it was done by a kiosk which was close to the logistics base, and then the municipal officials were in charge of issuing those certificates after that. Whatever was left, they took from us. The lists, the records. As to how many certificates had been issued, to which persons, to which companies, and then all the companies got their fuel from there. Some of those companies, that is, the car that they gave over there, they used them for their own needs. So when food was being taken or water to the checkpoints, there were cars and companies would be going and then come back the next morning and that kind of thing.

Q. Originally, were you based in the Municipal Assembly building?

A. No, no. I was at the logistics base. ¹⁴⁸⁰⁰

Q. Perhaps you could explain, on the transcript for the Day 143, that is, your testimony Wednesday, on page 19 of my LiveNote -- I notice my page numbers are never the same as Mr. Lukic's for some reason, line 7, you stated: "It was the Executive Board, the Executive Board which urged us to move out of the municipal hall and to undertake to issue - I mean the Territorial Defence staff - to issue vouchers to issue fuel, petrol vouchers, petrol coupons there so that companies and self-employed entrepreneurs, those who needed fuel, that to go there to be issued with some kind of voucher so they could get fuel."

So can you explain why you said on Wednesday that you were urged by the Executive Board to move out of the municipal building, municipal hall? Can you explain that?

A. Perhaps you misunderstood me. They asked for that job not to be done at the municipality building because that was an admin building. All the services serving citizens in any way since the takeover were there, so that would create a mess. So they wanted this to be done at the -- wherever the logistic base was. But this only lasted for about 10 days. I can't remember exactly. And then the Municipal Assembly service took over. They had set up a kiosk there, and that's where this was done.

Q. Are you saying that you never worked -- the Territorial Defence staff never worked out of the municipal hall?

A. Yes, never, never.

Q. Sir, where did you get the fuel from that you issue the vouchers for? There was not a refinery, I presume, in Prijedor. Where did the fuel come from? ¹⁴⁸⁰¹

A. We were not getting fuel. The fuel was being sold. Fuel in Prijedor was stored in Jugopetrol or Krajinapetrol, I can't remember exactly. The distance between the town was 6 kilometres, and this was their own service area or rather station, and they were selling it. The Municipal Assembly probably influenced the fact that not anyone was in a position to get as much as they would like. So a voucher would be issued and they would go there and get fuel from that petrol station. But not in unlimited quantities.

Q. Thank you. You've anticipated my next question. What guidelines did you receive as to who to give the vouchers to or the quantities allowed? Were you allowed to give the vouchers just to your friends as much as they wanted, or did you receive some guidelines, some rules, about that?

A. There were no special guidelines as to how much. Someone might have private needs, someone may have been ill, so these people would be given about 5 litres. If it was a more remote part of town, it would have been 10. And then companies could take up to 50, talking about oil. I hope that I did my job in an honest way. I did have complaints coming in from the municipal officials who thought that I would just let it go and let people have as much as they thought they needed, so they complained with the president of the Executive Board and the president of the municipality. They wanted me not to give away so much fuel. So that may have been one of the reasons why the municipal officials took over the job at a later stage. I may have made a mistake at some point and given someone 7 instead of 5 litres because the person had special reasons for ¹⁴⁸⁰² needing fuel, but I don't remember that. Maybe there were such cases, exceptionally.

Q. Did you provide fuel to the army and the police so that -- to ensure that they had sufficient fuel for their needs?

A. Yes.

Q. And this was -- you were issuing these again at the -- under the authority of the Executive Board or Municipal Assembly? They're the ones that authorised you to issue the certificates. Correct?

A. Yes. And the army and the police came with orders from the brigade commander stating -- or the secretariat of the interior. But not so often the secretariats. I think they got their fuel from the army and a certificate would be issued. Most of it was for the medical centre, because many people had to go to Banja Luka for kidney operations and dialysis. So every morning, there would be a person who was taking them there in all the ambulances for all the hospitals and the medical centre.

Q. Thank you. Now let's go to the report on mobilised motor vehicles in Cirkin Polje logistics base. That's in front of you dated the 17th of June. Sir, I'm a bit confused when you indicate that you had no role in the logistics base from June on when apparently this document indicates that you attended a meeting regarding the logistics base. I'm looking at page 9 of the English. On page 9 of the English, I don't have the B/C/S in front of me, but it would be -- it has the date the 10th of June, and it should be the fifth paragraph from the end.

Excuse me, I have the draft, and Ms. Karper has given me the final. I may have the wrong numbers. If you see the signature of ¹⁴⁸⁰³ Mr. Mudrinic, if you go up six paragraphs from the end, so six paragraphs from the end --

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Sorry, we would like to follow you. Our English version ends on page 7.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes, thank you. I was using a draft that we had last week, and Ms. Karper just gave it to me. So the English is now page 5. Thank you. And on the B/C/S, it would be the page ending 8408, the second paragraph on that page, the first full paragraph on that page.

Q. In that paragraph it states that "at the meeting of the Crisis Staff of the Serbian Municipality of Prijedor and the garrison command held on the 10th of June, 1992, and attended by Major Slobodan Kuruzovic, commander of the Serbian army staff as well as deputy commander for logistics, Mirko Mudrinic, and then also quartermaster Stevan Nikolic and all commanders of sector staffs, all instructions given by the garrison command and the Crisis Staff relating to the transformation of the Territorial Defence into the army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina were accepted."

Do you recall this meeting of the Crisis Staff and garrison command held on the 10th of June, 1992?

A. No, I don't. But probably it was held, and it says that I was in attendance. Yes.

Q. Can you explain in what role you would have attended that meeting?

A. This, as you can see, is the 17th of June, the time when the staff comes into existence. And this report dates to the beginning of the existence of a part of the logistics base. So this is a working report, ^{14804BLANK PAGE 14805} cars that were mobilised on the 2nd and 3rd of May. There are a number of those that were mobilised later when I was no longer there but I was supposed to attend because there were reports which pertained to the period when I was there at the staff.

Regardless of whether I was a member or not, it was my duty to be there and to confirm what they wrote here in this report. Among other things, they discussed about the transition of the Territorial Defence as a whole to the army of Republika Srpska. I am not only referring to the Serbian TO, the TO in its entirety. But you know what the times were like. There was a special name, but actually it was all the same because at that time, there were only Serbs that were members of the TO, except at the command. At the command, there were Muslims, and that other part over there in the town, there were also Muslims but that was a little bit divided already.

Q. The report indicates, if we go up a few paragraphs, going up two paragraphs: "We would like to point out that from the day of the takeover and the establishment of the logistics section in the Serbian army TO staff in Prijedor, up to the 10th of June, in addition to many sanitation and medical measures, we have also provided the weapons and ammunition for sector staffs and secured and delivered about a hundred thousand meals to members of the police and Serbian army TO units."

So was part of the duties of the logistics base to also distribute weapons and ammunition?

A. No, not weapons, ammunition. The weapons, they had. I said the TO, which was part of the town, but when there was the takeover, then ¹⁴⁸⁰⁶ everything was all the same thing, it was more under the command of Mr. Javoric than mine because anyway, I did not have any special military units. But this all went together, and I was in a lot of difficulty issuing certificates for fuel and all the other miracles. And then all the way until the incident that happened there, and then I had to go to Trnopolje. But, for example, this would be given to the police, the army units because you see they're referring to the TO and the Serbian army, too, because when the Serbian army existed, then there was no more TO. And the man who wrote this report -- well, you do understand what it's about. The food, the ammunition, and all of that. This was given all at once because as far as I remember, aside from that, it wasn't used very much because there were no ongoing operations in the town itself.

Q. Was it the Crisis Staff that directed the logistics support from this base?

A. Yes. Everything that the logistics base had, the orders had to be given from the secretary for the economy. For example, if somebody was to take bread, then an approval had to be given. And as far as I know, reports had to be written on the quantities of food that were taken. At the beginning, this was taken from a restaurant in town, and the food was taken to the checkpoints. Thereafter, this was prepared in the logistics base, and it was transported either by lorries or by cars, depending on how far away the checkpoints where the food was needed were.

Q. Sir, if we go up one paragraph, and that would be in English the bottom of page 4, it begins: "Since 1st of May, 1992, Cirkin Polje logistics base has been providing complete logistics support to all police ¹⁴⁸⁰⁷ officers in Centar, Prijedor II, and all members of" and it lists a number of local sector staffs. "Supplies have been delivered in accordance with the decision of the Crisis Staff of the Serbian Municipality of Prijedor on the basis of which a report has been compiled and sent to the Crisis Staff and garrison command." And I believe that's consistent with what you just told us. Is that correct?

A. Yes, reports so that it was known what was given to the military, how much food, how much of everything else, and the same applied to all the Territorial Defence, all the regional staffs across the town, and that is correct.

Q. Going back to the paragraph I began with, that's page 5, that begins: "At the meeting of the Crisis Staff held on 10 June, 1992... ," is it correct, sir, that the logistics centre also provided food to the Keraterm and Omarska prisons?

A. As far as I know, yes, but I don't know whether it was transported for here or was it the police that transported it? But whatever was within the purview of either the police or the army, the food was prepared there and transported from there. I don't know that the food would be taken from this logistic base to Omarska and Keraterm. I believe that this was first taken to the police, and then the police distributed it and transported it. But I can't be sure, I can't claim that for a fact.

MR. KOUMJIAN: If we could now have -- Ms. Karper prepared 65 ter 368.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Are you ready to leave this document?

MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes, I'm ready to leave this document if Your ¹⁴⁸⁰⁸ Honour has some questions.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Then please, in the same paragraph you just mentioned, it was said you participated in the meeting of the 10th of June. I already confronted you previously with the enactments passed this 10th of June, 1992, based on the document S250, and only to recall the first conclusion was requesting the municipal secretariat to report on the logistics base. Second, assigning the duty of providing security for the Trnopolje camp to the regional command.

Would it be correct to conclude that you in fact participated in this meeting of the Crisis Staff the 10th of June, and you were present when these two issues were dealt with?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I assume that I did, since this is what it says here. But not as a member of the Crisis Staff. This report covered a longer period of over a month. I was supposed to attend this meeting as somebody who had participated in the reorganisation of these tasks relative to the supply of food to the army and the police, the checkpoints, the supply of fuel and so on and so forth. Because here --

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: That's absolutely in line with that what we can read in Document S250. There was, for example, an order banning Krajina petrol company from issuing petrol without Crisis Staff permits. This would fall under your area - Correct? - of responsibility?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, I issued those permits or certificates and then people would go buy fuel. The Executive Board demanded a maximum savings or -- of energy and fuel.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: And then that we are not once again confusing ¹⁴⁸⁰⁹ the months, it's not a document of May 1992, but the document dated the 17th of June. And here it reads: "The decision" - in the first paragraph - "the decision of the Crisis Staff of the Serbian Municipality of Prijedor, and the orders of the commander of the Serbian army Territorial Defence staff of Prijedor Municipality, Major Slobodan Kuruzovic. Troops and equipment were mobilised in the logistical support staff." That would mean that, in fact, this 17th of June, 1992, you still were the commander of the Serbian army Territorial Defence staff of Prijedor Municipality. Correct, as it reads in paragraph 1?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, Your Honour. This is a report which was written on the 17th and covered everything that happened up to that date, including the things relative to the Territorial Defence staff, and the logistics base. Some of these cars were mobilised at the very beginning, and most of the people were drivers from these companies who would work in their companies in the afternoon, and then work other things in the morning. So this is submitted by Mudrinic, the chief of the logistics base. But whatever was carried over to that base prior to the 17th of June, I don't know whether anything else is mentioned here, so everything that was carried over up to the 17th of June, together in the logistics base and the territorial staff. I never submitted these reports before. I hope I've helped you to understand this. So this is a report that covers a long period. I can see the dates here, the 2nd of May, the 3rd of May, and after the 17th -- actually, the 29th, I no longer operated in the capacity of a commander of the staff, of the territorial staff, as per the decision that we saw. ^{14810BLANK PAGE 14811}

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: So repeat, you do not dispute that you attended the meeting of the Crisis Staff of the Serbian Municipality of Prijedor and the garrison command held on 10th of June, 1992, and attended by Major Slobodan Kuruzovic, commander of the Serbian army staff?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That is just the way he put it, because later on, I did not have any position or post. And prior to that, I had that one. I was in the brigade. It was just a habit. He had to mention some position that I had, but not the one that I had at that time, but the one that I had prior to that because he mentions things happening on the 2nd and the 3rd of May. So this is a report that covers a month and a half period.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: And then we have also a prologue in an addendum to the report. And there it reads: "On 15th of June, 1992, a number of members of the Territorial Defence staff of the Serbian army, members of Cirkin Polje logistics bases who are permanently involved in the securing of Trnopolje refugee centre addressed a request to the leadership of the command logistic base underscoring the problem of fuel shortage" and so on and so forth.

And then under 5, it reads: "Slobodan Kuruzovic took a diesel vehicle, Golf vehicle, registration number PD-630-02 from Fikret Icic. Slobodan Kuruzovic is working as commander of the territorial defence staff of the Serbian army of the Prijedor Municipality. Alongside other duties, he has been active in Trnopolje from the very first day when the refugee centre was set up as the Crisis Staff of the Serbian Municipality of Prijedor is well aware." Is this correct what we can read under number ¹⁴⁸¹² 5?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, this is correct. I am only not sure about the dates. I believe that I got this vehicle from this man earlier than that, but I'm not sure. Maybe five or six days earlier. I don't know exactly. All I know is that I asked for this vehicle to be accepted as mobilised but it was not done by the staff -- excuse me, by the logistics base. I registered this vehicle as a conscript's vehicle, as a vehicle that was mobilised by the secretariat of defence. I did it with Mr. Slavko Budimir. And as of that moment on, this vehicle became a soldier, just like I was a soldier. It was mobilised. When I was demobilised, I returned that vehicle, and I believe that that vehicle was then returned to its original owner.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: And the assessment is correct, as we can read it here, "he, that is Slobodan Kuruzovic, has been active in Trnopolje from the very first day when the refugee centre was set up." It was not loud enough. Interpreters apparently couldn't hear you. You said "da," yes, correct?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes. I apologise.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: And then the sentence starts: "Alongside many other duties, he has been active in Trnopolje." Could you please tell us which were these "many other duties"?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] That is exactly that. The person who drafted this report tied things to the whole month preceding this report, because these certificates had to be issued. I don't know what else he had in mind. There were no other duties or tasks. As you can ¹⁴⁸¹³ see, this is just a report of a person who wants to justify his work before his superiors and peppers it a little bit, as the popular saying goes. As far as my engagement in Trnopolje goes, this has been described correctly. I was there every day on a daily basis. And before the order was issued for me to be resubordinated to the brigade, before the decision was issued on the abolishment, I also looked after the vehicles, whether they were in good order, whether the food was being transported where it had to be transported. I checked the documents to avoid any abuse. I made sure that the food arrived and reached those that it was intended for.

Because the times were, as I've already said, odd. I believe that I have already mentioned this. There were people who thought it was their right to do all sorts of things, without any authorisation, just because they wore a uniform.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: And then finally, coming back to the mere fact that you attended the meeting the 10th of June, 1992, and one of the enactments passed this day was the conclusion assigning the duty of providing security for the Trnopolje camp to the regional command. First of all, we should be aware that it reads here not "centre," not "reception centre," but "camp". And then why is it necessary if people are there, as you explained it until now, more or less on a voluntary basis, why is it necessary to provide security and then to the regional command bearing in mind the previous documents where the language was "camp," "prisoners," "prisoners of war"?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I told you a little while ago with ¹⁴⁸¹⁴ regard to the materiel and goods, this was the only way. Somebody had to be subordinated to somebody else. It was not the civilian police because it was not a prison. And there were lots more troops. And since I was subordinated to the army as of the 17th onwards, and even before that, the Crisis Staff and I asked for the army to provide security for these people because that was the safest way. There was a clear line of subordination. There were officers who were in charge of the 20 men-strong units. They would be there all night. They would return in the morning. They would be replaced by others, and they would report to the regional command that everything was carried out in order. If security had been provided by some private individuals serving as guards, all sorts of things might have happened. As it was, nothing did.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. Let us now turn once again to the Prosecution. They tendered a document from -- dated Prijedor, the 30th of September, 1992. This would be provisionally marked S434A and B respectively. Please, Mr. Koumjian.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Sir, before we leave the report on mobilised motor vehicles, just a few questions. Fikret Icic, would I be correct in assuming that he was a Muslim?

A. Yes, yes.

Q. And now, if you turn to number 15 on the list of mobilised motor vehicles in the first part of the report, it indicates that on the 11th of May, 1992, a Zastava vehicle was mobilised and given to Vinko Kos of the SDS. I understand this to be a report that the only people that could ¹⁴⁸¹⁵ mobilise vehicles were the army. Is that correct? It had to be under the authority of the army or the secretariat of national defence to mobilise a vehicle. Is that correct?

A. Vehicles were mobilised by the secretariat for national defence, and this vehicle was taken from the company Bosna Montaza, probably returned in good working order. Now why did Vinko from the SDS used it, I don't know. Maybe this person didn't know what this Vinko was doing. As far as I know, I believe that he was in a company, in a timber industry or somewhere. I don't know. I've forgot.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Paragraph 13. Is this the same Vinko Kos?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Yes, yes. He was in Lamovita in the sector staff. As far as I remember, he worked in a construction company. It's the same man. In one place, it says "sector staff"; in other place, it says the SDS. I don't know why this gentleman Mudrinic drafted it this way.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Well, sir, these are two different -- From the plate numbers given, these are two different vehicles. First let me ask you --

A. Yes.

Q. When you talk about the secretariat for national defence, you're speaking of the office headed by Mr. Budimir at this time, in the spring of 1992. Correct?

A. Correct. If these vehicles are mobilised for the purpose of the army, then a mobilisation chart has to be issued. It is possible that some of the vehicles were mobilised by the staff, not for the military ^{14816BLANK PAGE 14817} purposes, then a certificate would be issued and would be taken to the Executive Board, and it would be the secretary for the economy who would deal with that. And then the vehicles, such vehicles, would be returned to those that they were taken from.

Those are -- were the vehicles which were mobilised for certain purposes and for no other purposes.

Q. Okay, sir. If we could now move to the next document --

MR. KOUMJIAN: Perhaps Your Honour wants to mark this one.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: It's already marked provisionally S434A, B respectively. Prijedor, 30th of September 1992 report.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Yes.

Q. Sir, looking at this document, it appears to be a report. It indicates in the introduction: Pursuant to the conclusion of the executive committee of the Prijedor Municipal Assembly of 5 May 1992, Dr. Srdjo Srdic is named as acting president of the Prijedor Red Cross. I'm summarising.

You mentioned in your testimony to estimate the number of people who passed through the Trnopolje camp, and you told us you thought there were maybe six or seven thousand. Turning to page 9 of the English, I'll try to find it on the B/C/S, it's under Section 8 "conclusion and comment." I'm having trouble finding it on the B/C/S because the numbering of the sections does not make sense. On the B/C/S, I believe it's page 6954.

MR. LUKIC: It's number 13 in Roman.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Thank you. It's number 13. Thank you. ¹⁴⁸¹⁸

Q. Do you see, sir, that in the last point under that number 13, there are several indented paragraphs with a dash. The last one indicates that "23.000 people have been housed through the reception centre at Trnopolje, of whom we in the International Red Cross have dispatched 1.561 to the Karlovac reception centre. On 29 September, 1992, a convoy was escorted to Karlovac in the presence of European observers".

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I think it would be appropriate also to read the next paragraph.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. "The problem of Trnopolje is becoming more complicated with the onset of autumn, so that there are those -- so that all those who have been left without homes are arriving in great numbers seeking accommodation. There are now more than 3.000 citizens there."

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Sir, first, would it be correct that at times, the Trnopolje facility held up to 3.000 individuals?

A. I don't know. People came and went. There may have been even more. I never made any assessments or estimates. If this information was provided by the Red Cross, I don't know what they base their information on. Either on the number of people or on the number of meals, because a lot of these people were accommodated in the houses around. I cannot either confirm or dispute this Red Cross report. I don't think it is incorrect because I believe it was drafted in consultation with the International Red Cross and the UNHCR. ¹⁴⁸¹⁹

Q. Sir, how many different convoys were there to Croatia, not just Karlovac, but to Croatia from Trnopolje?

A. I don't remember any. There were organised departures from town, from Prijedor. And those were organised by the Red Cross. Maybe those people who left from town, they considered to have been in Trnopolje. This sounds a bit exaggerated to me. Maybe they did it on purpose for administrative reasons. I really don't know. I only know that very often, buses would leave from town. Whether they went off towards Croatia, I wouldn't know for a fact. You've already asked me, I believe it was the day before yesterday, about people having to pay their bills first, the utilities, and then they would leave.

Q. Sir, the Trnopolje facility was located a hundred, 200 metres from the railway station. Correct?

A. Yes.

Q. How many organised convoys were there from the Trnopolje facility using trains?

A. I don't remember exactly, but I believe two or three, possibly. I don't know. This was organised by the Executive Board of the Municipal Assembly. Mr. Savanovic, I think, was the manager of the railroads, and he used the help of his colleagues in Zenica, and that's how people went. They were taken to Zenica. There were two or three-passenger vehicles at different time intervals.

Q. Sir, when you say "passenger vehicles," the people were put on to cattle cars. Isn't that correct?

A. I think one of the convoys, in addition to passenger wagons, had ¹⁴⁸²⁰ two or three other ones, but there were more things there. It was hot. Not a single one of the convoys consisted merely of cattle cars. But I think there were freight cars that were included.

Q. How many bus convoys were there out of the Trnopolje facility? Bus and truck convoys?

A. I don't know. Well, I never kept any records on that. There were at least three or four, I believe.

Q. Is it correct that at one point, the convoys were going to Croatia, and then later they went to Central Bosnia?

A. I don't remember any convoys going to Croatia. Central Bosnia, yes. That's why I'm saying, those who were going to Croatia, it's possible that they went by public transport organised by the Red Cross. They were going to Croatia. Except for what I mentioned about late 1991 and early 1992 when people were leaving the municipal territory with organised departures, mostly women, children, and the elderly, those who were men of military age and able-bodied men mostly remained in town. Now, what the reason was for that, I suppose they should know.

Q. Sir, I'd like to --

MR. KOUMJIAN: We're breaking at 12.30, Your Honour? It may affect the order I do things.

Q. Sir, you indicated -- let me ask you the following question: I'm going to ask you the same question I asked you in Banja Luka. Sir, in the times of conflict in Prijedor - I'm talking about May and June of 1992 - did the Crisis Staff and military work to coordinate their efforts?

A. It would be difficult for me to answer that question. I don't ¹⁴⁸²¹ believe that the Crisis Staff gave any orders to the army. As far as I can remember, the few meetings that I attended, two or three times there was Colonel Arsic or Zeljaja or Rajlic mainly with requests for meeting the needs of the army. If you actually meant that the Crisis Staff was ordering military operations, first of all, I don't remember any such thing. Secondly, I don't believe that that would have been possible. I don't know.

Q. Sir --

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Mr. Koumjian, could you please be so kind and make reference to the page number of the statement.

MR. KOUMJIAN: I'm referring to page 46, line 10 of the transcript of our conversation in Banja Luka. And I will read again the question and the answer as it's translated -- transcribed.

Q. "In those times of the appeal and conflict in Prijedor, and I'm talking about May and June of 1992, did the Crisis Staff and military work to coordinate their efforts?" And you answered: "Yes." What did you mean? Do you deny that you answered yes to that question no Banja Luka, and if you do not deny it, would you like to explain your answer?

A. Well, I believe I just have explained it. I don't mean to say there were no contacts between the civilian authorities and the military. But I assume that was your question, and that's perhaps why I said yes. It's not that the army didn't come to the Municipal Assembly, to the people in the leading positions because those were the people who were in a position to deal with the vital problems that the army was facing. So ^{14822BLANK PAGE 14823} accordingly, I do remember, although I was only there twice, perhaps three times, attending the meeting of the Crisis Staffs. And I know that they made certain requests at these meetings, but I can't remember any of the specifics, when, perhaps, the army had to go to the front, then lorries were to be secured because a lot of stuff had been destroyed. And what do I know? This is merely my assumption.

Q. Sir, in fact, your own work at that time was an example of the coordination and the overlap between the civilian and military authorities. On Wednesday, on page 26, line 6 of Wednesday's transcript, you described yourself at that time as "I wasn't a soldier, I wasn't an army officer, I wasn't the Red Cross, and I was all that at one and the same time."

So you were, yourself, both a municipal official, an army officer at the same time. Correct?

A. Well, it strikes me as a bit strange. I said it as a human being because there were great problems that we were facing. There was the camp at Trnopolje. Those people had to be taken care of. There were obligations related to the issuing of the vouchers and certificates. And then after about a fortnight, I received orders to join the army. So no wonder I referred to a number of different tasks and positions. I was not officially a member of the Red Cross, but, well, perhaps it's not a nice thing to say, but I took better care of those people over there than the Red Cross themselves.

Q. Sir, were you -- you were tasked by the Crisis Staff to provide security at the hospital. Is that correct? ¹⁴⁸²⁴

A. The hospital?

Q. Yes.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Could the witness be shown S21, please. S21.

Q. Sir, do you have it yet? Sir, the usher is handing you S21 which indicates that at a meeting on the 6th of June, 1992, the Crisis Staff of the Municipality of Prijedor issued the following conclusion: "The chief of the public security station, Simo Drljaca, and Slobodan Kuruzovic coordinate security of the Prijedor hospital. Which they will inform the Crisis Staff at the next meeting."

Do you recall this meeting from the Crisis Staff, sir?

A. I don't have the same thing, the one you've just given me. That's a different one. This is not the same document. This is on the blockade of the town, and then concerning the traffic.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Excuse me, I gave you the wrong number. 71.

Q. Sir, this document also indicates that copies were given to the public security station, Simo Drljaca, Slobodan Kuruzovic, and the cashier Zarko Zgonjanin. Do you recall receiving this order or being present when it was made?

A. I remember neither. But there is some logic to such a thing being done, because that's one of the most sensitive facilities in the town. But I was in no way related to that as far as I remember, unless he actually -- unless this was represented as a decision, so probably they thought that someone from the barracks would do it. And in that case, I should be responsible, but I've never seen a conclusion like this one, although I do believe that this was a necessary step to be taken, for ¹⁴⁸²⁵ security to be provided for the hospital to prevent possible accidents.

Q. Did you ever speak to Simo Drljaca about providing security at the hospital, or did you ever send -- arrange for any security for the hospital?

A. No, I didn't. Not I. Whether I talked to him, I don't remember. But organised in cooperation with the public security centre, no, I didn't. I don't know how this -- why this includes my name, but here you have it.

Q. Sir, I'd now like to ask you some questions about the conditions and things that happened in the Trnopolje camp. You told us Wednesday on page 27 and 28, you were asked some questions -- you talked about people entering the camp and committing crimes, the last paragraph of page 27. You said: "On one occasion, some villagers, some local people entered, and I think some women, I believe four of them, were raped. Otherwise in that centre, there were physicians all the time. I think two physicians, two Muslims, and there were also nurses there. And in daytime, a doctor and a male nurse would come whenever it was necessary for them to do something. From what I know, people were taken to the hospital in Prijedor. Those rapes, to try to establish -- and I think only one of them was actually raped."

Sir, how did you come to the conclusion that only one of the women was raped?

A. Well, I didn't come to any conclusion, but people talked over there. Those locals, because they were not inside any kind of fences. They were either outside in the street or at the Red Cross. They talked ¹⁴⁸²⁶ among themselves. I may have misheard, but I do know that those ladies, I'm not sure how old they were, they were taken to hospital. And now what was confirmed over there or not, and all the other things, I have no information.

Q. Well, sir --

A. I only know that that one was the lady of an advanced age.

Q. Well, how did you first learn that -- you originally said four women were raped by these villagers that came in. How did you first learn of this?

A. When I came in the morning from the town, they told me that there had been such an incident, that the guards then intervened, and that doctors took care of those ladies and took them to hospital. That's what I found out when I came. But it was before the noon. It was not early in the morning. It was before the noon, and that's when I heard about that. I did not hear any of the details, though. The people from the Red Cross were talking about it because they had come before me and they said that women had been assailed. Well, that, and they referred to Cavic, but I don't know for sure. I don't know whether if it was that man or whether there was another man with him. I don't know.

Q. When you say "they told you" do you mean the people from the Red Cross, from the Serbian Red Cross?

A. Yes, because they, too, apparently heard about it.

Q. What made you believe that only one of the women was raped, if you heard that they were -- the guards had intervened and four women had been raped? ¹⁴⁸²⁷

A. Well, I don't know whether I referred or that one specially. I probably thought that because there was one woman who said something different. It wasn't a very decent thing to say. I wouldn't like to say it now. She said it was okay, that she wasn't -- and the rest she didn't know. But it seems that only one woman had sexual intercourse. I don't know about those others. The doctors' later official reports, I didn't get any official reports or anything. It was, you know, within the purview of the Red Cross, and they never told me anything about how the whole thing ended up.

Q. You never followed up to see what happened, who was arrested and what happened to the women?

A. As far as I know, I believe those women then came back to the open centre. Cavic was then arrested, and another man whose name escapes me now, another colleague who was there with them often. But how the whole thing ended, I don't know. I know that they were in prison. Now whether anyone else was taken away, I don't know. But I think that they told me the women actually went back to the centre and that they were fine. That's to the best of my recollection.

Q. Sir, didn't you tell us that Cavic was arrested for killing a policeman?

A. That was at a later stage, much later actually, when the policeman was killed. That was a year later, more perhaps. I can't remember. Recently, something -- there was something about that in Kozarski Vjesnik remembering those people. But a long time has passed. That was after the centre at Trnopolje ceased to exist, maybe the next year. I don't know, ^{14828BLANK PAGE 14829} but there was only the police station then and they had a drunken brawl there, and then Cavic killed the police officers.

Q. Sir, a few moments ago, I asked you how it was you determined it was one woman. You said it's ugly, but she said it was okay. Do you mean the woman who was raped said it was okay? Can you explain your comment?

A. Well, that's what I was told, that's what I heard. She was probably joking, because she is a very serious lady. Otherwise, how much at all, I think I heard they said thing about four women, but I don't know for sure, and I don't know what was ascertained at the hospital later and what the Red Cross reported about that.

Q. Sir, on page 35 of the interview in Banja Luka, beginning on line 10, you were talking about rapes in the camp. And you said: "Perhaps it's not nice to say it now because it's an ugly situation, but the older Muslims that were in there were also making jokes on that because we are that kind of people. How the older lady said that she had a nice time. It's not nice to say, but that's what I heard, like, two days after." So is that what you were repeating here, that you heard that the older woman indicated she had a nice time when she was raped?

A. Yes. Well, something along these lines, yes, what I said before, and now mainly I don't believe that. But yeah, that's how it was probably, some sort of a prank. I don't think anyone was seriously physically injured, otherwise people would have had a different reaction. You can't hide a thing like this from the people, because sooner or later, people learn about everything.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Mr. Koumjian, could you please continue that we ¹⁴⁸³⁰ have it in the context the following lines of the statement on page 35.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Mr. Malik then asked you: "You mean the person who was raped, she said how nice it was?" And you answered: "Yes. Whether, she was raped now, but I don't know. Well anyway, there were no test results of any real defloration or any real defloration or anything because I just had other things to take care of in my mind. Those women later came to Trnopolje. No, I don't remember if it was one, two, or three. I don't remember exactly." I asked, "one, two, or three women?" And you said, "I'm not a man who lies, not even to my children or anyone else. I could have said that, I don't know, but I didn't hear. There were lots of stories about rapes, so if there was any, but not only in Trnopolje, but generally." And then you were asked by Mr. Malik, "what kinds of stories about rapes?" And you said, "stories you would read about all over the country, in newspapers all over the country that happened, regardless of whether it's Muslims to Serbs, Serbs to Muslims, or Croats to other two." Mr. Malik asked: "In fact, isn't it true that girls as young as 12, 13, and 14 were being raped in Trnopolje? You answered: "I never heard about that, except it's possible that the Muslims did that to themselves because there were many young people of both sexes, and perhaps later it has been said that it was something else. But as much as I know, the army did not go in there."

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Sir, when you talk about stories all over the country, isn't it ¹⁴⁸³¹ true that there was a lot of publicity in Prijedor about Serbian women being raped in camps in places like Bosanski Brod, in Celebici, in Dretelj, which a Croat-HVO camp that one of our witnesses Mr. Vulliamy visited. And that there was a lot of publicity about what was being done to Serbian women around Bosnia by Muslim and Croat forces?

A. I believe you're right, and vice versa. The publicity, these are things that one should not keep silent about, no matter who the people in question are. The other side said the same. And the third side said the same. They still speak about it and I don't think one should stop speaking about these things. Military activity is one thing, and this is an altogether different thing. I am sorry that I was not fully informed about all these things, how many women and whatever.

As for this statement of yours, yes, you are right. And this goes for all the different ethnic groups and for all the information, and for all the reports and for all the media.

Q. Sir, at the camp during the night, you had young army recruits guarding the camp. Is that correct?

A. Well, I wasn't looking at their age, but there were few young people there. Mostly elderly, from town. Elderly people from town, many people knew each other. The Muslims and those who were the guards then, but yeah, it's possible there were young people there, too. I was not considering their age.

Q. These men that were guarding the camp, whether they were younger or older, they had heard these stories. They had also heard the statement in Kozarski Vjesnik and the media that the Muslims had a plan to commit ¹⁴⁸³² genocide on the Serbs. And they were indoctrinated by these reports to fear and to hate the Muslims. Isn't that true?

MR. LUKIC: Objection, Your Honour.

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] These are difficult questions.

MR. LUKIC: Asks for speculation.

[Trial Chamber confers]

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Objection dismissed.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Isn't that true, sir?

A. I think you are jumping at conclusions, jumping to conclusions. I think you're saying this was indoctrination, and just because those people were actually watching TV and this was an act of revenge and that they were trying to get back on the others, this is not something I find myself inclined to believe. Because this is not what happened in Prijedor at the time. Then on the other hand, you could expect, for example, that in the centre at Trnopolje or down there in town, on a massive scale, hundreds of them, this would have been psychological pressure, indoctrination, but nothing like that ever occurred.

Q. Sir, most of the people in the Trnopolje camp were women and children. Correct?

A. At one period, yes; at one period, no. In the camp, in the open centre, not the camp, the open centre, there were women there, children, elderly people, young people, depending on the period of time. Sometimes those prevailed and sometimes the other group prevailed. There were young people there, too, Muslims and, yes. ¹⁴⁸³³

Q. There were young women there, young girls. Correct?

A. Well, as long as women were there, that means there would have been young and somewhat older children, too.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Sorry to interrupt at this moment, but could you please explain what you just said on page 59, line 19: You made a distinction between in the camp, in the open centre, not the camp. Could you please explain the distinction between Trnopolje camp and the open centre?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] Your Honour, I was convinced that I have already explained this on several occasions. You've noticed that in this report, this logistics man from the logistics base says a refugee centre. This -- or shelter. This is a word used in our area which means "to take refuge from a problem," to take shelter. That's why it's not a camp. A camp is a place where people are being brought in an organised fashion, such as in World War II, for example.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Sorry to interrupt. They were your own words. "In the camp, in the open centre, not the camp. The open centre, there were women there, children, elderly people." So when was you making now the distinction now between the open centre and the camp.

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] No, no, Your Honour. I addressed Mr. Koumjian, and I told him not to use the word "camp." That's why I've repeated it several times. Normally, I never use this word. But the whole thing altogether, it was called the open centre. There were no particular sections. And it really was open. It remained open the whole time. You can translate it as "open centre." But our people, not the ^{14834BLANK PAGE 14835} Serbs only, but all the people over there, they refer to these places as shelters, a place where people take shelter.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. Mr. Koumjian, do you want to continue now or --

MR. KOUMJIAN: I'll just ask one more question.

Q. Sir, what did you do to protect the women and girls in Trnopolje from being raped?

A. Well, there was nothing special I could do, except all those people who were bringing their own security units over there, I warned them against entering the school building if possible, the warehouse that was there, the storage where people were being kept in order to keep strange things from happening. And this was a successful measure, nothing ever happened except that once. I warned them to stay outside to keep the same things from happening. When those people came from Petrov Gaj, those paramilitaries, and do stupid things. Not only these serious things, but I wanted to make sure no contact was possible between the locals and those people coming in and wreaking havoc. That was the only thing I was in a position to do.

Q. And did you yourself set an example for gentlemanly behaviour towards the women in the camp?

A. Well, I certainly hope so. I don't recall any complaints. A delegation came once, an international delegation containing a congressman. He asked me to meet me specially to tell me that he had heard everyone was happy there with my behaviour and my treatment of them.

MR. KOUMJIAN: This is an appropriate time. ¹⁴⁸³⁶

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: The trial stays adjourned until 2.00 sharp.

--- Luncheon recess taken at 12.35 p.m.

--- On resuming at 2.09 p.m.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, I don't know if anyone's in the public gallery now. Could we begin in private session.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I think to be on the safe side, we have -- it's your intention to play a video now?

MR. KOUMJIAN: I'm going to ask a few questions, but related to the witness from the video before I play it.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: I think then to be on the safe side, we have to go into closed session.

(Closed session)

(13 lines redacted) ¹⁴⁸³⁷

(22 pages redacted) ¹⁴⁸⁵⁹

(17 lines redacted)

(Open session)

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: We are already in open session.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Sir, the video that you saw, you saw the young man whose back was covered, his whole body, with black and blue marks. Did you see men like that, boys like that in the camp?

A. In the open centre Trnopolje, I never saw anybody like that. I remember when those people came, a C group from Omarska, that's what they ¹⁴⁸⁶⁰ called them, I believe. Some of them were a bit thin. I never saw anybody injured, nor did anybody tell me about that. People would have told me because a lot of these people knew me and they would have complained to me. And a number of them were really glad to find me there because they knew me and they knew that there wouldn't be any problems because we helped them there to recover. There was just one person who was sick. I believe his nickname or his family name was Hadzalija. He was brought on a stretcher because he was ill, and he was seen by a doctor that we provided for him, and he also was glad to see me. Some six months ago, he died in Prijedor. He had returned to Prijedor. He had lived there with his family, and I would see him very often. Sometimes we would play preference, a card game together. And I saw that picture with -- depicting that person with scars and marks, but I never saw any such person in Trnopolje. Believe me.

Q. You saw on the video a young doctor, Idriz Merdzanic. Do you recall him being in the camp -- excuse me, in the open reception centre of Trnopolje?

A. Of course. That is the name -- the man whose name I didn't know when you talked to me. I believe that he was an amateur pilot, a sports pilot. There was him and another doctor, and a male nurse and two female nurses or maybe one. I can't remember exactly. In addition to this doctor and the male nurse, who would come from Prijedor -- again I don't --

Q. Was Dr. Merdzanic and the other doctor, who I believe you know as Jusuf Pasic -- ¹⁴⁸⁶¹

A. Yes, Dr. Pasic, correct. I don't know his name. I didn't know about the other guy, that his name was Merdzanic. I forgot. And there was also this guy Pasic, together with him, yes.

Q. Were they free to leave the camp whenever they wanted to?

A. Yes, they went to Prijedor. I don't know which one of them and when they went. I believe they went to fetch some medicines from the surgery in Kozarac, and they brought some drugs and some dressing and other things. I don't know when that was, but I know that they went there.

Q. So Dr. Merdzanic was another one of the refugees that you assisted in the open reception centre at Trnopolje. Is that correct?

A. Yes.

Q. Would he have any reason to mislead this Court about the conditions under which he was there and the fact that he says he was not free to leave?

A. I don't know. What do I know? Again, there may be God knows what agenda behind that. He didn't want to leave. I understood that he was from Kozarac, and if he was to go to Prijedor, he would have had to stay with somebody, or maybe he would have been attacked by somebody. But I never heard it from him that he wanted to leave and was not allowed to leave. Why does he now want to state differently I really don't know.

Q. Actually, Dr. Merdzanic was from Prijedor but was caught in Kozarac during the attack during the one day of the week that he held a clinic there. Dr. Jusuf Pasic was taken from Trnopolje and taken to Omarska and killed. Isn't that correct? ¹⁴⁸⁶²

A. Honest to God, I don't know that. I believe that once the police came, and they took him for an interview. Where he was taken to, I don't know. I heard it only subsequently. I heard that he was taken to Omarska. And what his lot was, I don't know. I didn't know about Merdzanic, that he was from Prijedor and that he was forced to come to Trnopolje from Kozarac. As far as I remember, the majority of the people there came of their own will. When I arrived there, people were already there. And after that, they kept coming and coming.

Q. And they would -- many of them came in buses escorted by police and army. Correct? For example, in the late July, when the Brdo area was cleansed, buses arrived carrying men from Brdo. Correct?

A. Yes, men and women with their families. But that was to remove them from the area where combat activities were taking place. Yes, now you've reminded me. I believe there were either one or two buses, but I don't remember exactly.

Q. Were you told that those buses came to Trnopolje because Omarska was full?

A. How am I to remember that, I really don't know. According to what I heard and according to what was going on in Omarska, I heard that there were investigations, there were judges there, that there were interrogations going on. That has nothing whatsoever to do with Trnopolje, it's a totally different thing. So now I don't know what you mean when you say there was no place in Omarska. People who took refuge from combat activities came to Trnopolje. As for the others and for what grounds they were taken elsewhere, I don't know. Maybe they have killed ¹⁴⁸⁶³ somebody or something else. I really don't know why people were taken to other places.

Q. Sir, you were shown by the Judge S12 which was a certificate signed by you and Pero Curguz indicating that someone had the authority to leave the Autonomous Region of Krajina. And on page 40 of Friday's transcript, Mr. Lukic was asking you about the fact that people had to get approval, even Serbs, from the Ministry of Defence to leave the territory or the secretariat for national defence. Sir, you were not a representative of the Ministry of Defence or secretariat for national defence, were you?

A. No, of course not. A conscript had to get an approval to be able to leave town.

Q. Okay, thank you --

A. -- Because it was during the war.

Q. Since neither you or Mr. Curguz knew or had records of people's mobilisation or military service, then why was it that you and Mr. Curguz signed this certificate allowing this person to leave Trnopolje and the Autonomous Region of Krajina?

A. I haven't a clue to be honest. I really don't remember this document. I saw it here. It was sitting in front of me. I saw that Pero signed it. I saw the number and the Autonomous Region of Krajina, but I really don't know what this could have referred to. Maybe it could have been something along these lines, people were filling out when they arrived there. Then the Red Cross representatives had to take the personal details of these people according to the Geneva Conventions. ^{14864BLANK PAGE 14865} Maybe I have signed such a blank form. Maybe not one but even more of them. And maybe these blank forms were to be filled in at a later date, and maybe somebody abused that. I'm not saying that for a fact. I'm not allowed to say something that is not correct. But I really don't know what this is all about, who these people are.

MR. KOUMJIAN: For the purpose -- for the benefit of counsel for the Defence and for Your Honours, I'm referring to page 9518 of the testimony, prior transcript of Witness DD.

Q. Sir, in order for someone to be released from the Trnopolje reception centre, did they have to get a guarantee from a Serb? Did you ever hear about that procedure, where Serbs had to give a guarantee to have friends or relatives released from the camp?

A. No. I don't remember ever having seen or heard anything like that. I only know that there were some officers who came for their families or relatives. There was a JNA officer who was a Muslim who came to fetch his family, and then these families could be certain that nothing would happen to them. But as for those guarantees, that you mentioned I don't remember any such thing.

Q. Sir, would members of the intervention squad bring people to the camp, to Trnopolje? Excuse me. Let me rephrase the question. Did you see members of the intervention squad bringing people to the Trnopolje reception centre, the intervention squad of the Prijedor police?

A. I don't remember that. I know that there was fighting at one point, and that was in Kozarac. And people who lived in Suvi Brod close to the road, maybe two families came, and they said there were some ¹⁴⁸⁶⁶ specials up there. But nobody of that sort brought people to Trnopolje. I don't remember that.

Q. Did you, sir, give permission to a group of people to go or instructions to go bury a family that was killed close to the camp, the Foric family?

A. I don't remember any such thing. I don't know that family. That may have been somebody from the Red Cross. I don't remember -- I remember one Foric. He was the trade union representative in town, or a member of the socialist union. He was a young, very, very nice man. But I don't remember this particular incident. Nothing similar to that happened in the centre. Maybe it was something that happened far away from the centre, but then it would have been the Red Cross who would have dealt with that, not me. I don't remember anything like that.

MR. KOUMJIAN: This would be an appropriate time.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: The trial stays adjourned until half past 3.00.

--- Recess taken at 3.16 p.m.

--- On resuming at 3.43 p.m.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Please continue. Sorry for the delay.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Sir, I'll try to ask direct questions, and if you keep your answers short, hopefully we can finish this afternoon. You indicated you're not sure whether you were present when the foreign journalists first came to the camp. Sir, I'm putting it to you that the foreign journalists that made the video that you saw, Penny Marshall, Ed Vulliamy, and Mr. Williams, came on the 5th of August. Isn't it true that following ¹⁴⁸⁶⁷ that visit, there then were a great number of journalists from all over the world coming to Prijedor and to the Trnopolje camp to report on what was happening in Prijedor?

A. I don't remember whether this was the first visit, but if you say so, I'm sure you're right. Many journalists came.

Q. Sir, isn't it a fact that the International Red Cross, as opposed to the local Red Cross, which was headed by Srdjo Srdic, the International Red Cross did not have access to the Trnopolje camp until after the foreign journalists had visited the camp in August of 1992?

A. I don't think that this was the case. I believe that they came much earlier, both them and the -- as well as the UNHCR. I can't claim that to be a fact, but I believe that they came much earlier.

Q. Well, sir, you would certainly know when the International Red Cross showed up at the Trnopolje centre, I would assume.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Could the witness be shown Exhibit S238, please.

Q. Isn't it a fact that the authorities in Prijedor and the Crisis Staff had denied the International Red Cross access to the camp until the foreign journalists came there on the 5th of August and after the reporting in the world press?

A. I wouldn't know that. If I said something, I don't know. I would be lying. It is possible, but I don't recall those events in any particular sequence. I don't remember the dates.

Q. Okay. And Ms. Karper has another document to be distributed now. Sir, going to Exhibit S238, I'm going to read to you the last sentence which is a quote from Predrag Radic, the mayor of Banja Luka, ¹⁴⁸⁶⁸ following a visit of officials from Banja Luka to the camp -- excuse me, to Prijedor. And it indicates "to the collection centres." Mr. Radic is quoted as saying, in the last sentence: "The International Red Cross has been trying for days to reach Prijedor, but as we have stated, we will make it possible for them only after they personally acknowledge the situation of Serbian refugees and captives in Odzak, Rascani, Travnik, Zenica, Sarajevo, Konjic, and many other places."

Now, sir I'd also like you -- there's another document which we have only in English which I will read to you.

MR. KOUMJIAN: And Your Honour, this bears the ERN number 00317985.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: This would be provisionally marked D435A.

MR. KOUMJIAN: S435A?

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: S435A.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Thank you.

Q. This is dated, sir, this is a press release, the 2nd of October, 1992. "ICRC evacuates 1.560 people from Trnopolje camp." Paragraph it indicates on the first sentence: "The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmation having evacuated on 1st of October 1.560 people from Trnopolje camp near Prijedor in northwestern Bosnia-Herzegovina to a reception centre in Karlovac southwest of Zagreb where they were handed over to staff of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The evacuation started in the early morning and was completed during the night. The people concerned are civilian victims of the ongoing hostilities in northern Bosnia and had all been visited and provided with ¹⁴⁸⁶⁹ assistance by ICRC delegates since the ICRC was first able to enter the camp on 10 August."

Sir, reminding you that you are under oath, isn't it a fact that the International Red Cross was not permitted into the camp, did not come to the camp until after the foreign journalists' visit in August 1992?

A. I don't know. Again, you've taken me by surprise with these dates, like the Defence counsel before you. I don't remember that it was so late, unless it was something unofficial. This now shows me again -- because it was not just the UNHCR and the Red Cross from Prijedor that came, but also representatives of the International Red Cross, and I don't believe that it happened as late as you claim it did. I really don't know.

Q. Can you explain, sir, why Predrag Radic would say that we're not going to allow the ICRC to reach Prijedor until camps that Serbs are held in are first inspected?

A. I don't know. He was a political leader in Banja Luka. I don't remember what he was exactly. I think he was a mayor. I don't know what he was before that, so I cannot provide any comment about his words. I don't think that he could impose any conditions. What the Red Cross is doing has nothing whatsoever to do with politics or fighting. He should have allowed them because what the Red Cross is doing is providing better conditions for everybody.

Q. Can you explain why the Red Cross press release would indicate that they were first able to enter the camp on the 10th of August?

A. Again camp, okay, very well then. This means that officially, ^{14870BLANK PAGE 14871} they were not allowed. I don't think that I've gotten that old and forgetful. Maybe this was official because Mr. Mignon came at that time, and I believe that he held some talks there. I believe that the president of the Executive Board was also there. I did not participate in those talks. I did not voice any opinions because that was outside of the scope of my authorities and competencies.

Q. Well, the visit by Mr. Mignon that you're speaking of, he said that he spoke to others that are outside your authority. Who did he speak to?

A. I believe that Dr. Mico Kovacevic, the president of the Executive Board was there, as well as representatives of the Red Cross. Later on, I heard that he was angry that the International Red Cross wanted to organise their transportation. I believe that I've already said that.

Q. Sir, isn't it a fact that the persons in the Trnopolje reception centre were not registered by the Red Cross until after the 21st of August, in other words, that they were not registered yet when the convoy set off for Vlasic mountain in which over 200 men were killed at Koricanske Stijene?

A. I believe that the registers were open much earlier. I'm not sure, but this is what I believe. I've forgotten. It was a long time ago. However, I believe that it was much earlier. I remember there was a woman whose name was Angie. She was an interpreter. I remember her sitting under a tree and writing something down together with those people from the Red Cross. I believe that this must have been earlier on, but I don't know it for a fact. ¹⁴⁸⁷²

Q. Sir, I'm going to read to you from the testimony of Dr. Idriz Merdzanic. It's page 7789 of the trial transcript. He was asked: "I want to ask you about one particular convoy about which you later heard that the people had been killed. Did you see the loading of the people that eventually you heard from killed on Mount Vlasic?" And Dr. Merdzanic answered: "That was, I think, the last convoy to leave Trnopolje, and that was when the International Red Cross had already announced their arrival. I think in fact that the representatives of the International Red Cross had already arrived in Trnopolje, but the camp inmates had not been registered yet. So over the next two days, this convoy was organised, which could be joined freely by men, whoever could fit on to the lorries and buses. Up to that point, it was only on rare occasions that any of the men managed to smuggle themselves out, but this time, they could join."

Does this remind you that in fact the International Red Cross had not yet taken down the names of the men that were put on the convoy over Mount Vlasic?

A. I don't know. According to what you say, that is a possibility. Still, I'm convinced that it was earlier on and Dr. Merdzanic must have made a mistake. As far as I know, after that, there were one or two more transportations for people. I believe that every time, there were one or two buses leaving, and nothing happened to these people. Now, I'm so confused that I really can't remember things clearly. I believe that there were more --

Q. Sir, you were present that day at Trnopolje when the buses and ¹⁴⁸⁷³ trucks were loaded, the men that went over Mount Vlasic on the convoy where the massacre occurred at Koricanske Stijene, and you also were present that day in Tukovi when the trucks were loaded of persons wanting to join the convoy from a separate origin at Tukovi. Is that correct?

A. Yes. I don't believe that those were only men. It never happened that it would be only men leaving. Most often, it would be families, women and children leaving. And as for Tukovi, yes, I was asked to go down there by the Red Cross because these people down there only trusted me, and nobody else. Some of them even asked me to influence these people not to leave because by that time, the incidents had stopped in town and Trnopolje was very safe. It was the safest place in town, because there were no killings or looting there. Nobody could take anybody away from there.

Some people whom I know, for example, Mehto [phoen] who has returned to Prijedor and some others who lived there whom I've seen several times, and I saw his wife and I was asked to influence those people not to leave. Later on, it turned out that some people, members of my people for material gain have destroyed people's lives. And I'm sure that my people, my town, will be ashamed because of them for as long as they live. Because before that, nothing of that sort had ever happened. I apologise.

Q. You mentioned that Prijedor was safe at that time. In fact, it was safe because after the foreign journalists came and world attention focussed on Prijedor, the Omarska camp, the Keraterm camp were closed, and the killing had stopped inside the municipality. Correct? ¹⁴⁸⁷⁴

A. Honest to God, I don't know that.

Q. Who organised the buses, the trucks, the fuel and drivers for those buses and trucks, and the security for that convoy on the 21st of August over Vlasic mountain?

A. As far as the equipment was concerned, the materiel organisation, it was the Executive Board, Dr. Mico Kovacevic. As for the security, it was the public security centre or rather the SUP.

Q. Who was present providing the security on those buses? Who did you see at the Trnopolje camp and at Tukovi?

A. Well, at Tukovi, I didn't see anyone providing security. As far as Trnopolje, I really don't remember. Do you remember when we talked last year around the same time, those people were too young. I didn't know those people. Except now I heard that Mrdja had been arrested and brought to The Hague and he, too, had been escorting that particular convoy. Other than that, I don't remember those people. I was already 50 at that time, plus everything I had to go through, and the death of my daughter. I just wasn't paying attention. The only thing I really tried to do was to look after those people there.

Q. Can you describe what Dado Mrdja looked like at that time?

A. Well, that was a long time ago. I know what he's like. He's rather tall, dark hair. He was probably wearing uniform, if he was escorting. Then he must have been wearing police uniform. I believe he was wearing glasses for a while, but I can't really remember that. A small man whom they called Babin, also an ex-student of mine, was also escorting one of those convoys. But Dado, I don't remember his being ¹⁴⁸⁷⁵ there. And this other man, I did see him once because he gave me a jacket once when they set out. I think he's in a wheelchair now. I can't remember his name.

Q. Is that Zoran Babic, nicknamed Babin or Bakin?

A. Yes, yes, that's possible. I've forgotten, but that sounds possible.

Q. Isn't it a fact that Babin and Dado Mrdja were in the same unit, that you would see them together?

A. It's possible, it's possible that they were. But I don't remember seeing them. They were the police. I didn't have anything special to do with them. Whether they were together then or not, I don't know. But I do remember that the small man brought me an apple. But I can't remember seeing Dado there, and I didn't even know the rest of them.

Q. You worked every day with Pero Curguz. Do you know the name of his son?

A. Honest to God, I can't remember. But, yes, I do know his son.

Q. Is that Igor Curguz?

A. Igor, yes, yes.

Q. Was he a member of the police, the same unit?

A. I don't know. I don't think so. He was a student at the time in Banja Luka, I believe. He was pursuing his studies, and he only came to Prijedor occasionally, because Pero over there and me and there was his son and I don't know. I'm not sure if he was a member of that police unit or not.

Q. Did you know Dado Mrdja when you were fighting in Croatia? Did ^{14876BLANK PAGE 14877} you see him there in 1991?

A. I don't remember that either. I'm sorry.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, I have a document, draft translation L0099217. And the B/C/S is 01190801. It's a response to a request for assistance to the Republika Srpska.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: This would be provisionally marked S436A and B respectively.

MR. KOUMJIAN:

Q. Sir, this short document, as you can see, is a response to an inquiry regarding the service of Darko Mrdja. If you turn to the bottom, look at the bottom of that document, the second page of the English, would it be correct that Mr. Mrdja was in the army, served in the military, from September 19th, 1991, until April 29th, 1992, at which time he was then transferred to the police. And he was in the police until September the 9th, 1992, and then transferred back to the military. Can you tell us whether you find it significant or could explain why it was that someone would be transferred on the 29th of April from the military to the police? That would be the night before the takeover.

A. Well, I don't know. It may be that this indicates that there is a coincidence between these dates, but this is regular work for the Ministry of Defence. I see this is signed by Aleksic. I'm not sure. I can't comment on this. I don't know what it has to do with these dates. All I can see is he was transferred from the army to the police and vice versa.

Q. Sir, isn't it a fact that people were mentioned the name of Dado Mrdja as being one of the perpetrators of the massacre immediately ¹⁴⁸⁷⁸ following the massacre, in the next few days?

A. I don't know. I never heard his name or the name of any of the others. I did hear that, well, since we knew that the police was escorting, that this had happened. Now, whether they all participated in it, whether everyone was shooting those people over there, were they all perpetrators of this crime, I don't know. I don't even know if it was on that day, what I said about that young man once when he was escorting that people, he gave me that. Once, it was on a train, I believe. But I can't be sure really, the apple. At which time, which buses, I'm sorry really I don't know who meant.

Q. Sir, how is it that you mentioned you wrote a report and you learned about this two or three days after the massacre. How is it that you could not at that time remember the name of any of the people providing the escorts to the convoy? Is that what you're saying, that you did not at that time remember the name of any of the escorts?

A. No, not at that time, not now. Here, I know these names here, but I'm not sure these people were actually there then. I assume you are in a situation to check the statement. I don't even know myself how courts work. But in that statement, I didn't say who was there or who led them. They asked me to say on which day this happened, the transport was organised by the Autotransport Company through the Executive Board, and that security was provided by the public security centre. That was all I was asked to say in that statement. As for the other things that happened, I'm really sorry, I don't know, as for the other people. I did hear a lot of other things later on TV and so on and so forth at that ¹⁴⁸⁷⁹ time. For two days maybe, I heard about it, I think, that's unless I've forgotten.

Q. Sir, who would have had the record -- first, there were more than a thousand people probably in that convoy, correct, between the buses, the trucks in Tukovi, and the buses that came to Trnopolje?

A. Well, I don't believe it was that many. But there were quite a number, yes. You mean who might have the record as to who the people were who had joined the convoy, or who escorted the convoy? Now, as to who escorted them, that should still be at the public security centre, I suppose. I don't believe they just went like that without anyone knowing. That would have been impossible.

Q. How many police would have escorted a convoy of that size?

A. Well, as far as I know, there was always one police officer with a driver in the bus. And that's how they provided security for those people when travelling. I think that's the way it was.

Q. So there would have been one police escort on each of the vehicles, and there also would have been at least one police car leading the way. Correct?

A. Yes, yes, correct. That's one thing I forgot. There was a police vehicle, yes, excuse me. You see, I keep forgetting things.

Q. If a convoy left from Trnopolje and Tukovi, went to Travnik or the front line at Smetovi and returned in one day, at that time that would have been -- that would have taken all day, correct, that journey there and back?

A. Yes. Once back, the buses would go back to Autotransport. They ¹⁴⁸⁸⁰ were not reporting to me. So I don't know what exactly happened, but sometimes they would just phone me and tell me that they reached Travnik without any trouble and down at Trnopolje, the Red Cross, many people would call.

Q. So, sir, it would have been relatively easy to obtain the police records of who was escorting the convoy on that all-day journey. Correct?

A. Well, I don't know. If you went looking for those at the public security centre, well, probably. But this should have been done by the Executive Board. The order should have come from them to whoever was the organiser of those convoys, that is, the president of the Executive Board. I was only looking after the people, nothing else.

Q. Sir, the Executive Board followed the instructions or served under the Municipal Assembly. Correct?

A. Well, the Municipal Assembly was the legislative power, and the Executive Board was the executive power. And all jobs, no matter what the area, there would always be someone on the Executive Board appointed for those jobs.

Q. Isn't it correct that the top political position in the municipality was president of the Municipal Assembly as seen by the fact that Professor Cehajic was given that position when the SDA won the most seats in the 1990 election?

A. Yes. And later, Stakic took up that position. That's the highest legislative authority, or rather the highest representative of legislative authority.

Q. The highest political position, the position seen by the people of ¹⁴⁸⁸¹ Prijedor as being the top political representative of the people in the municipality. Correct?

A. Yes.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Thank you. No further questions.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: May I ask the Defence, do you have any questions in return?

MR. LUKIC: I would probably have only to clarify the functions of the president of the municipality, but I think that this witness already answered that he does not know what the functions of the bodies in the municipality are.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: So you would have no further questions?

MR. LUKIC: If Your Honours do not have any questions, I might finish in two, three minutes.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: So please. Further questions by Mr. Lukic:

Q. [Interpretation] Mr. Kuruzovic, just -- this will not take more than two minutes. Do you know which are the duties of the president of the Municipal Assembly?

A. Well, I believe we've answered this once already. He carries out the decisions of the Municipal Assembly. If the Municipal Assembly adopts a decision, that's actual -- actually, he doesn't carry them out, he signs them. But if these are implemented, then this is supposed to be done by the Executive Board of the Municipal Assembly. At least that's how I understand it.

Q. Do you know if any of the members of the Executive Board are ^{14882BLANK PAGE 14883} responsible to the president of the Municipal Assembly? Do they answer to the president of the Assembly?

A. No, they answer to the assembly, not to the president.

Q. To the best of your knowledge, the position of the president of the Municipal Assembly, was it more representational in character, or does it have any real actual power?

A. Well, probably the former, it's more ceremonial. That's the case with most presidents, when the assemblies meet, they preside over the sessions. But the true executive power lies with the Executive Board, and they report in writing to the assembly on their work.

MR. LUKIC: [Interpretation] Thank you very much, Mr. Kuruzovic. I've no further questions.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Thank you. Anybody else, any question? This is not the case. Then we have to discuss the admission into evidence of the documents tendered today.

S432, 17th of August. Objections?

MR. LUKIC: Your Honour, our position is that each and single document offered today in which the Crisis Staff is mentioned is late to be asked for the admission. So the OTP had the obligation to disclose to us all the documents dealing with the Prijedor Crisis Staff. And obviously, it has not been done until today. So yes, we object on these grounds, among others, to S432.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: So this is a general remark related to all the documents from S432 through S436. Correct?

MR. LUKIC: I'm just checking whether the Crisis Staff is ¹⁴⁸⁸⁴ mentioned in every and single one. S435 does not have mentioned the name of the Crisis Staff, so --

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: S435. Any other objections?

MR. LUKIC: Only there is no source for this document, for S435, there is no source. This is -- it's not known who composed the document or to whom it was sent. And the last one, S436, we do not have any objections.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: May I hear the submission by the Prosecution.

MR. KOUMJIAN: Your Honour, we believe that none of these fall under Rule 68. We're not obligated to disclose them. They all were in direct response to the testimony of this witness. Two of the documents counsel mentioned were previously disclosed in any event, and they are S432, which was disclosed on the 65 ter list as 316; and S434, which was disclosed on the 65 ter list as 368.

As for the source of the ICRC, we could have Mr. Inayat add that to his sourcing list, which is actually -- he has prepared it except for these new documents, and we could submit that to the Court.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Wouldn't it be correct to regard this as an official press release.

MR. KOUMJIAN: It is a press release. It's a public document.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: So it would be in the public domain and no doubt be accessible even on the internet.

But let's wait one minute, please.

[Trial Chamber confers]

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: All the documents mentioned are under the ¹⁴⁸⁸⁵ respective numbers admitted into evidence. It is true that S432 and S434 were already 65 ter as 316 and 368.

Document S433 was apparently not 65 terred, but it was a response, a clear response, to the question which Crisis Staff meetings Mr. Kuruzovic attended, especially the one of the 10th of June, 1992, and also on the question of the mobilisation of one or several cars. Then 435A, public domain. 436, nothing is mentioned about the Crisis Staff. It's only apparently related to this case that Mr. Mrdja seems, as it's written here, to have left the military post the 29th of April, 1992, and this would be a question of the evaluation of evidence. So therefore, these are the reasons why we decided to admit these documents into evidence.

Mr. Kuruzovic, this was a very long testimony of yours. It was -- whatever the content was, it was extremely difficult for you. Therefore, do you want to add anything from your side?

THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] I can only thank you. But yes, if I may, I would like to add a sentence or two. (redacted)

(2 lines redacted)

MR. KOUMJIAN: Could we go into private session, please.

JUDGE SCHOMBURG: Yes. Please in --

(Private session)

(3 lines redacted) ¹⁴⁸⁸⁶

(7 pages redacted) ¹⁴⁸⁹³ at 9.00 a.m.