KINGORI: BOSNIAKS HAD NO ADEQUATE ARMS TO RESIST SERBIAN WAR CRIMES IN AND AROUND SREBRENICA

BIRN — At the trial of defendants charged with genocide in Srebrenica, a witness for the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina said that Muslims in Srebrenica did not have weapons which they could use to put up resistance to Bosnian Serbs in July 1995.

Joseph Kingori, former UN military observer in Srebrenica, said that Bosniaks in Srebrenica only had light firearms and because of that they were not able to put up meaningful resistance to the army of Bosnian Serbs.

“The weapons Muslims had could not have been used for resistance, because Bosnian Serbs during the attack used rockets and tanks. Bosnian Serbs attacked targets first with rockets and tanks and then ground troops came in to those territories. I think we cannot call that real resistance,” said the witness.

Kingori gave his statement at the trial of Franc Kos, Stanko Kojic, Vlastimir Golijan and Zoran Goronja, charged by the State Prosecution with genocide in Srebrenica, or, in other words, participation in the murder of over 800 men and boys in July 1995 at the Branjevo military academy.

According to the indictment, Kos was the commander of the First Platoon of the Tenth Commando Unit with the main headquarters of the Army of Republija Srpska, while Kojic, Golijan and Goronja were members of the same unit, and all together they executed prisoners, some of whose hands were tied and eyes blindfolded.

Witness Kingori said that members of UNPROFOR did not direct the population from the territory of Srebrenica to go towards Potocari, but that the civilians headed there because of the shelling.

”UNPROFOR never instructed civilians to go to Potocari. They had to leave the villages in which they lived because of the bombing and come to Srebrenica. When they realised it is not safe there either, they headed towards Potocari,” said the witness.

Kingori said that Srebrenica was shelled before July 11, 1995, and that during those several days in that territory there have been between 20 and 30 wounded persons, and five dead.

”In that period we could not reach some of the areas in the enclave because of the shelling. That is why in those areas we could not check whether there were dead or wounded,” said the witness.

Asked by Slobodan Peric, lawyer of the second defendant Kojic, whether upon arrival to Srebrenica he learned anything about the suffering of the Serb population [note: this is a common tactic of vicious Serbian propaganda], the witness said that he did not receive any reports on the suffering of Serbs in that area.

The next trial is scheduled for November 4 this year, when the examination of two witnesses for the defence of first defendant Kos is planned.