Mladić's Alibi for Srebrenica: He Was Best Man at a Wedding, Footage That Would Confirm It Stolen!?

Defence witnesses Biljana and Žarko Stojković confirmed before the Hague Tribunal that General Ratko Mladić was at their wedding in Belgrade on 16 July 1995.

This occurred at the time when, according to the indictment, Mladić's forces were shooting Bosniaks from Srebrenica, reports the Patria news agency.

The Stojković couple thus provided an alibi for the then commander of the VRS, accused of genocide against some 7,000 Srebrenica Bosniaks in the days after that army captured Srebrenica on 11 July 1995.

An alibi for Mladić for the days from 14 to 17 July 1995 - when, according to the indictment, most of the prisoners were killed - was recently also provided by his wife Bosiljka, testifying in The Hague that he was in Belgrade those days and did not issue any orders. 

In the course of the trial so far, the Prosecution has not disputed that General Mladić was in Belgrade at that time, among other things, at meetings with Serbian President Slobodan Milošević and international officials. The prosecutors, however, claim that even from Belgrade, Mladić had full control and command over the VRS. 

Biljana and Žarko Stojković testified today that Ratko and Bosiljka Mladić were their best man and matron of honour at their wedding on 16 July 1995. 

The witness specified that the Mladićs arrived at her apartment after nine in the morning, attended the church wedding, and then the lunch at a restaurant. The Mladićs left the celebration, the Stojkovićs said, around 5:30 PM that day. 

Asked by defence attorney Branko Lukić, the witnesses stated that Mladić did not use any means of communication while at the wedding. Biljana Stojković noted that she was "surprised" that the general was "completely devoted to the wedding" and to them. 

The prosecutor and presiding judge Alphons Orie were even interested in whether Mladić went to the toilet during the celebration. Biljana Stojković replied that she could not rule it out, but that she did not see him. 

The Stojković couple also said that the tapes with recordings of the wedding celebration disappeared from the house of Biljana's mother in Kruševac while they were officially abroad. According to the witnesses, the same happened with the wedding photos, as well as later pictures of their children with the Mladićs. 

"Were they stolen? I did not make that statement, nor would I dare to, I am not a competent authority," said Žarko Stojković. 

The defence presented Biljana Stojković as a "journalist from Belgrade" with a doctorate in "development and strategy" which she defended at the Military Academy of the University of Defence. Žarko Stojković said of himself that he is an active lieutenant colonel of the Serbian Army. 

The trial of General Mladić (73) - also charged with persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, which in six municipalities had the proportions of genocide; terrorising the population of Sarajevo through shelling and sniping; and taking members of UNPROFOR as hostages, 1992-95 – will continue tomorrow.