PROTECTED WITNESS HELPED LOCATE MASS GRAVES IN EASTERN BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (November 11,2007) - The trial of four Serbian war criminal indicted for war crimes committed in the eastern Bosnian town of Bratunac during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia continues before the Bosnian State Court. The Bosnian State Prosecutor has invited investigator Muris Brkic to testify.

Serbian war criminals Zdravko Bozic, Mladen Blagojevic, Zeljko Zaric and Zoran Zivanovic are charged, as members of the genocidal paramilitary formations of the Serbians living in Bosnia (VRS), with having participated in the mass murder of the Bosnian civilians detained by the genocidal Serbian aggressor in Bratunac.

On September 18, 2006 Muris Brkic and one protected prosecution witness visited the locations in Srebrenica municipality, which the witness identified as mass graves. The mentioned locations are: Glogova near Bratunac, two locations in the vicinity of Budak village, Vitlovac, Ljubisavic, i.e. Pusmolici, Zeleni jadar, Jasenovo and two more locations near Zeleni jadar.

After he had received the information from the witness, on March 22, 2007 Brkic made "preliminary visits" to these locations together with Murat Hurtic, head of the Missing Persons Office in Tuzla. An official note on the preliminary visit to potential mass graves locations in Srebrenica was made.

The prosecution ordered pilot excavations, which were undertaken from March 26 to March 28, 2007. Brkic said that human remains were discovered at the locations in Budak, Pusmolici and Zeleni jadar. No remains were found at the location in Vitlovac. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) undertook an exhumation at the location in Jasenova in 2005.

Human remains were discovered at four locations, of which witness told Brkic. Following the preliminary testing, exhumation was undertaken from two graves – Zeleni jadar and Budak. The prosecutor intended to present the exhumation reports, but this will have to be done at a later stage as the defence received those pieces of evidence just before the hearing. Other pieces of evidence shown to this witness, including the photographs of these locations, will be presented at the next hearing, when the witness will be cross-examined.

The prosecutor has announced that military observer Jozef Kingori will testify at one of the future hearings. He is the last prosecution witness who will testify in this phase of the proceeding. The Bosnian State Prosecutor does not intend to invite the remaining 20 witnesses, whose names were listed in an attachment to the indictment.

The trial of Serbian war criminals Zdravko Bozic, Mladen Blagojevic, Zeljko Zaric and Zoran Zivanovic is due to continue before the Bosnian State Court on November 21, 2007.