DID YOU KNOW?  -- Three years before the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide, Serbs torched Bosniak villages and killed at least 3,166 Bosniaks around Srebrenica. In 1993, the UN described the besieged situation in Srebrenica as a "slow-motion process of genocide." In July 1995, Serbs forcibly expelled 25,000 Bosniaks, brutally raped many women and girls, and systematically killed 8,000+ men and boys (DNA confirmed).

29 June, 2009

SECOND SREBRENICA GENOCIDE TRIAL CONCLUDES IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

PHOTO: Ethnic cleansing of 30,000 Bosnian Muslims from Srebrenica was an integral part of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide which claimed lives of at least 8,372 victims (source: Federal Commission for Missing Persons).

After nearly two years, the second trial for genocide committed in Srebrenica in July 1995 has concluded before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina [www.sudbih.gov.ba], reports Balkan Insight. The State Prosecution will deliver its closing argument on August 24, while the defence will do the same two days later, on August 26.

Factual allegations in the indictment:

The indictment [download here] alleges that in the period between 11 July and 1 November 1995, as assistant to the Chief of Security of the Zvornik Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), and as the person responsible for the management of the Military Police Company of the same brigade, the Accused knowingly participated in the forcible transfer of the Bosniak population from the Srebrenica enclave, as well as in the summary executions and burial of able-bodied Bosniak men from Srebrenica.

The indictment further alleges that on 13 and 14 July 1995, Milorad Trbić controlled the movement of the Bosniak population as part of their forcible transfer out of the enclave. On this occasion, he allegedly participated in organizing the transportation, detention, and guarding of Bosniak men from Srebrenica, who were transported in buses and trucks from Bratunac to detention sites in schools in the Zvornik area.

According to the allegations laid out in the indictment, between 11 July and 1 November 1995, together with other members of VRS and the Ministry of interior affairs (MUP), Milorad Trbić perpetrated the killing of over 7,000 Bosniak men. The indictment alleges that on 13 July 1995, the Accused personally participated in the summary execution of at least 10 Bosniak men at the Bratunac stadium, where between 1,000 and 1,500 Bosniak men had been detained.

According to the indictment, on 12 July 1995, together with 12 members of the Bratunac Brigade Military Police platoon and the Chief of Security for Bratunac Brigade, Momir Nikolić, Milorad Trbić captured about fifteen Bosniak men on the road between Potočari and Srebrenica. These captives were than allegedly taken to a building known as the White House, across the road from the UNPROFOR Headquarters building in Potočari where the Accused allegedly interrogated them. The captured Bosniak men were allegedly executed by the members of the Bratunac Brigade Military platoon in the presence of Milorad Trbić who supervised and directed the execution.

The indictment alleges that on 14 July 1995, Milorad Trbić supervised the transportation of Bosniak males from the Grbavci School in Orahovac to a nearby field where approximately 1,000 captives were killed.

The indictment further alleges that on 14 July 1995, outside the Grbavci School, together with other members of the Zvornik Brigade Military Police Company, Trbić shot and killed up to twenty Bosniaks who were previously detained inside the School’s gymnasium.

On 16 July 1995, as duty officer at the Zvornik Brigade Command, Milorad Trbić allegedly provided and coordinated communication between and with other VRS officers carrying out the operation to capture, detain, transport, execute and bury able-bodied Bosniak men from Srebrenica who had been detained in schools in the zone of responsibility of the Zvornik Brigade.

According to the indictment, between 1 August and 1 November 1995, together with other individuals, Milorad Trbić supervised, facilitated, and oversaw the reburial of bodies exhumed from primary mass graves in the Zvornik and Bratunac Brigade zones of responsibility, and their transfer to secondary grave sites.

Charges in the indictment:

Milorad Trbić is charged with Genocide pursuant to Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC BiH) in conjunction with the following items:

a) killing members of the group
b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group all in conjunction with Articles 180(1), 21, and 29 of CC BiH.
Course of the proceedings:

The Court accepted/confirmed the indictment on 27 July 2007. On 9 August 2007, Milorad Trbić failed to appear at a plea hearing before the Court. The Court recorded a plea of not guilty in accordance with the law. The trial commenced on 8 November 2007, and the Prosecutor is currently presenting his evidence.

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