Ratko Mladić Trial Concludes, Verdict by November 2017

The defense for Ratko Mladić has once again called on the judges of the Hague Tribunal to acquit the accused on all counts of the indictment, rejecting the prosecution's claim that they have proven his guilt, writes Birn, reports Patria.

- In all aspects of this case, the prosecutors have failed to prove General Mladić's criminal responsibility - said Mladić's lawyer Dragan Ivetić at the end of his closing statement.

This concludes the Hague trial against Mladić, which began in May 2012. The judges will now work on the verdict, which is expected to be delivered by November 2017.

Mladić, as commander of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), is accused of genocide in Srebrenica, persecution of Muslims and Croats which in six municipalities reached the scale of genocide, terrorizing the population of Sarajevo through prolonged shelling and sniping, and taking UNPROFOR members hostage.

Responding to the Prosecution's arguments, defense counsel Ivetić stated that Mladić must be acquitted because "the defended cities were not only Sarajevo and Srebrenica but all locations in municipalities defended by armed forces, refusing to open these cities.".

Ivetić denied the Prosecution's claim that Mladić and his supreme commander Radovan Karadžić were "key partners" in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at creating a new Serb state through the permanent and violent removal of Muslims and Croats from a large part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- How could they have been when relations between them were sometimes not good... And how could they cooperate in a joint criminal enterprise when they did not have the same views... If it is claimed that they were key partners, why did Karadžić try to dismiss Mladić, as the evidence shows? - Ivetić asked.

Commenting on the Prosecution's submission of Mladić's order for the "cleansing of Podrinje" as evidence of persecution of non-Serbs, the Defense representative claimed that it referred to "a legitimate military operation to clear the terrain, which the prosecutors are giving a malicious meaning to.".

Regarding accusations that the VRS destroyed mosques in Foča, Mladić's lawyer claimed, citing witnesses, that they were used for military purposes.

Speaking about the charge of genocide in Srebrenica, the defense lawyer claimed that the prosecutors "do not know when the meeting took place" between Mladić and his associates "at which, as they claim, it was decided to kill Muslim prisoners.

"The prosecutors admit that before that meeting there was no joint criminal enterprise for killing. How can something be proven beyond a reasonable doubt when the Prosecution says it doesn't know?" Ivetić asked.

According to the Prosecution, this meeting took place on the night between July 11 and 12, 1995, and it was then that a decision "had to be made" about the killings.

The defense dismissed as unfounded the Prosecution's linking of the alleged decision to kill with Mladić's decision to conduct a triage among separated Muslim men to find perpetrators of crimes.

Citing the testimony of Dutch UNPROFOR officer Peter Boering, Mladić's lawyer asserted that the triage of prisoners was a "standard military procedure.".

- The announcement of the triage cannot in any way be cited as evidence of criminal intent - Ivetić assessed.

The defense sought to distance Mladić from an order in September 1995 approving the use of five tons of fuel for engineering works near Zvornik, which, according to the prosecution, was for moving mass graves in an attempt to conceal the crime in Srebrenica.

Denying that Mladić knew what was in that document, Ivetić said that "others could have used his signature even if he was unaware of the content.".