Galbraith said that one of the reasons why former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic did not accept Plan Z4 was that the granting of autonomy to the self-proclaimed Republic of Srpska Krajina (RSK) would have set an unfavourable precedent regarding Kosovo, and make him ensure the same for Kosovo Albanians.
Martic's attorney Predrag Milovancevic today continued cross-examining Galbraith, who served as US Ambassador to Zagreb from 1993 to 1998.
Asked if he had seen the Serbian Constitution in which Kosovo in 1991 and 1995 had full autonomy in line with the highest European standards, Galbraith said that the reality was different.
There was cruel repression in Kosovo and it is not possible to speak about meaningful autonomy in Kosovo, the witness said.
Plan Z4 envisaged a high level of autonomy for the Croatian Serb rebel state, but also the full reintegration of the Serb-occupied Eastern Slavonia region into Croatia. It was not in Milosevic's interest to see the population of Krajina have autonomy, but rather to get Slavonia with wealthy farms and oil fields, Galbraith said.
The attorney then asked the witness why he referred to the RSK as the so-called RSK and whether the RSK had its territory before the arrival of UN peace forces in 1991. Galbraith said that the RSK did not exist and therefore could not have its territory. The territory was controlled by local Serb authorities and paramilitaries and it was not state territory, he stated.
By the end of 1991 that territory became exclusively populated by Serbs as a result of an ethnic cleansing campaign conducted by Martic, Galbraith said.
Trying to prove that some other interests rather that the interests of the Serb people were behind Plan Z4, Milovancevic asked the witness if the intentions of the people who had drawn up the plan were sincere given that Croatian authorities had "wiped out" the protected zone of western Slavonia without any consequences.
The United States, Russia, the EU and the UN - which co-sponsored the plan - were very sincere in their intention to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, so that the Serbs could have autonomy and displaced people return to their homes, Galbraith said reiterating that Martic had rejected peace talks and the plan in the spring of 1995, which made the ensuing conflict inevitable.
Asked if he had had any influence on the Croatian leadership, Galbraith said that the USA had exerted considerable influence on the Croatian authorities and managed to have the Croatian side refrain from action on several occasions.
The trial continued with the introduction of a new witness for the prosecution.
Martic is charged with war crimes against Croat civilians in the RSK, crimes against non-Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the 1995 shelling of Zagreb.