Pašalić: I am not Karadžić's witness, but a demographer expert engaged by the Court

(Patria) - Prof. Dr. Stevo Pašalić sent a reaction to the texts published regarding his lecture at the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We are publishing the reaction in its entirety:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

It was my pleasure to be one of the participants of that Symposium at the ASABiH. But, information immediately appeared in some media, portals, with the old story. As they say, 'the same Prof. Dr. Stevo Pašalić testified for war criminal Radovan Karadžić'. So, first of all, I was not a witness but a demographer expert, and there is a big difference between a witness and an expert.

Then they say, 'Pašalić was decorated for his work in Republika Srpska.' So, what is the problem. It is an honor for every citizen to be decorated in their country! But the media do not report which decoration? I was decorated with the Order of Njegoš First Class (which is for results in science, education...). Then it is stated, 'he came to dispute the findings of the prosecution expert Eva Tabo..' I did not come
voluntarily, the Court conducted a procedure (as a UN body) to determine if I had the qualifications of an expert, and after I successfully passed it, I became a demographer expert (in the Demography Section at the Court). Furthermore, Tabo did use incorrect data, I proved that to her face-to-face in court. For example, she wrote that a census of the population was conducted in Sarajevo from 1992-1994??? That did not happen and it was impossible under wartime conditions! Her data is incorrect because she used non-referential data sources, they are neither primary nor secondary sources (but data from various associations, etc.). Unlike her, my fundamental document was the 1991 Census of the Population in BiH, and the publication of that yearbook was in 1998 by the Federal Bureau of Statistics.

As for the number of victims in Srebrenica, I did not deal with that, it is within the scope of wartime events, and I am not competent. Nor did anyone in the Court ask me if there was genocide in Srebrenica. Why? We experts (not witnesses) are obliged to provide the results of research, of processes that occurred related to demographic changes, as they were, and regarding emigration, expulsions, ethnic cleansing, etc., the Court is competent, which qualifies where and what happened (ethnic cleansing, deportation, population transfers, persecution, etc.).

Regarding Srebrenica, there was a discussion about Eva's research, so-called data matching, and the voter lists from 1991 and 1997-98. I disputed her source of the voter roll, which was very disorganized at the time, so it was possible to vote in multiple places. And there, about 3,500 voters were found who did not live in Srebrenica, or the same names appeared multiple times, but that was not of any significant importance.
For example, I presented data that 24,000 Bosniaks were displaced (expelled, or exchanged, etc.) from Bijeljina, but at the same time, 39,000 Serbs were settled in Bijeljina from other parts of BiH. And that's where it ends, and it's up to the Court to qualify it.

Regarding disputing the results of the 2013 census in BiH, it is true, I was the president of the Census Commission in the municipality of Zvornik and personally witnessed numerous irregularities.

However, after the announcement of the initial results in 2013, the population was slightly over 3,700,000? And what happened? Under pressure from the European Commission, which was monitoring the census, that figure was reduced to 3,531,159. That is the official figure today.

However, objectively, it has been proven that a total of 196,000 non-residents were registered. Following that data, the Republican Institute of Statistics of RS reduced the population of Republika Srpska by 58,000 (these are more registered than those 196,000) and thus reduced the population of Republika Srpska to 1,170,342. The Agency for Statistics did not accept this, and today we have inconsistent data in our statistics.

So, if all of this means I am 'Karadžić's demographer', a denier of genocide, and whatever else..., then fine.

But I must disarm you with facts that this is not the case at all. I am no one's demographer, but a regular professor of demography, and it is known how that title is acquired.
And most importantly, why did the Court adopt my expert report in its entirety then?

Regarding textbooks for primary school (Nature and Society in Republika Srpska), it is true that I have been the author or co-author for almost 30 years. How? Anyone can apply for a competition, write a manuscript and submit it to the Textbook Institute, but under a code, so it is not known whose manuscripts they are. Now, the fact that my manuscripts are regularly chosen, I hope I am not to blame for that. There are reviewers who evaluate them.

At the same time, I ask the public to look at those textbooks and see for themselves if there is anything controversial in their content, there is not! In return, look at the same textbooks in the Federation of BiH, and you will notice a huge difference!!!