THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Jan 27(Hina) - A Belgian officer, Reynaud Theunens, a prosecution witness and military expert on Tuesday wrapped up his two-day testimony at the trial of former Serbian and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
before the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Jan 27(Hina) - A Belgian officer, Reynaud Theunens, a
prosecution witness and military expert on Tuesday wrapped up his
two-day testimony at the trial of former Serbian and Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic before the Hague-based UN war crimes
tribunal.#L#
Theunens, analyst for the Balkans at the Belgian defence ministry,
served in UN peace missions in eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) and Sarajevo
(UNPROFOR), after which he started working for the Prosecution of the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The witness submitted an extensive report on the structure, chain of
command and organisation of the then Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and
its involvement in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Speaking about the JNA's role at the start of the war in Croatia, the
witness said the army's goal was "the liberation of Serb territories
in cooperation with the Serb authorities". In this context, he said
that all Serb volunteers and paramilitary troops were under the joint
command of the JNA, and corroborated his statement with orders issued
at the time by the JNA's General Command.
He testified about the logistic, personnel and operational connections
between the Army of Yugoslavia and the Serb forces in Croatia and
Bosnia after 1993.
Cross-examining the witness, Milosevic insisted that he was biased
being an employee of the ICTY's prosecution and active NATO officer,
which Theunens rebutted.
The trial resumes on Wednesday.
(Hina) ms sb