THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, May 23 (Hina) - A protected witness, registered as B-24, on Friday spoke at the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague about events prior to and during conflicts in Zvornik in 1992. At the
time, the witness was head of a police station and member of the Serb Crisis Centre.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, May 23 (Hina) - A protected witness, registered
as B-24, on Friday spoke at the trial of former Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague about events prior to and during
conflicts in Zvornik in 1992. At the time, the witness was head of a
police station and member of the Serb Crisis Centre. #L#
The witness spoke in detail about Serb preparations for the war in
Bosnia, co-ordinated from Belgrade and the Serb Democratic Party in
Sarajevo, as well as about the methods the ex-Yugoslav People's
Army (JNA) and the Serbian interior ministry started using in the
autumn of 1991 to secure weaponry, ammunition and other equipment
for Serb crisis centres in Bosnia.
"We got weapons from the JNA, while the Muslims bought theirs from
Croatia," he testified.
The witness also described about how members of his centre
transported weapons to Bosnia when the former federation still
existed, with the approval of Milosevic's close associate,
Interior Minister Radmilo Bogdanovic.
B-24 testified about the role of Zeljko Raznatovic aka Arkan and his
units in attacks on Bijeljina and Zvornik in eastern Bosnia. He said
Arkan had driven an official vehicle of the federal interior
ministry and was in the habit of slapping members of the crisis
centre and JNA senior officials on the face.
Milosevic's trial continues Monday when B-24 will complete his
testimony. A French media expert, Renaud de la Brasse, will give an
additional deposition.
Due to objections by amici curiae and technical difficulties, the
testimony of a Slovene expert on the constitution and legal issues,
Ivan Kristan, has been postponed for next week.
(hina) lml sb