THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Oct 7 (Hina) - The trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic before the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague resumed on Tuesday with the testimony of a prosecution expert witness on the consequences of
ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Oct 7 (Hina) - The trial of former Yugoslav
president Slobodan Milosevic before the UN war crimes tribunal in
The Hague resumed on Tuesday with the testimony of a prosecution
expert witness on the consequences of ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs
during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. #L#
An analysis of demographic trends in 47 municipalities, which
roughly coincide with the territory of present-day Republika
Srpska, has shown that the number of adult Serbs has increased by 35
per cent, while that of Bosniaks and Croats has decreased
respectively by 21 per cent and 62 per cent since the 1991
population census. The research was carried out in 1997/98.
Expert witness Ewa Tabeau presented figures for the seven most
affected municipalities of eastern Bosnia, which revealed a
dramatic decline in the number of Bosniaks and a sharp rise in the
number of Serbs.
According to the 1991 census, 21,361 Bosniaks eligible to vote
lived in Srebrenica, while only seven remained in 1997. The
percentage of Bosniaks in Srebrenica's population was reduced from
73.2 to 0.11, while the percentage of Serbs increased from 25 to
96.
The same occurred in the municipalities of Bijeljina, Bratunac,
Visegrad, Zvornik, Brcko and Foca, where the number of Bosniaks was
reduced by 79 per cent, while the number of Serbs exceeded 95
percent.
Presenting figures from a report on the victims of the Serb siege of
Sarajevo, the witness said that from September 1992 to September
1994, Serb forces killed a total of 1,399 civilians, including 267
children, and wounded 5,093, of whom 1,150 were children.
During the cross-examination, Milosevic tried to discredit the
witness, saying that she had previously studied death rates rather
than population censuses.
Describing Tabeau's report as "a malicious manipulation of
statistics", Milosevic said she took the seven municipalities out
of context in order to "demonise the Serbs."
The trial continues on Wednesday when the prosecution will present
a protected witness from Croatia known as C-1225.
(hina) vm sb