Karadzic trial set for new witnesses

Three new prosecution witnesses are expected to appear at the trial of Radovan Karadzic trial in The Hague which is set to continue after a three-week break.

The prosecution is set to call Richard Mole, Richard Higgs and Tomasz Blaszczyk when the trial restarts on Tuesday.

Mole, the United Nations Senior Military Observer for Sarajevo from September 16 to December 26 1992, is expected to give evidence about a “shelling and sniping campaign conducted by Bosnian Serb forces, as well as the command and control of the Sarajevo Romanija Corps of Army of Republika Srpska, VRS”.

Richard Mole testified in 2002 during the trial of Stanislav Galic, who was sentenced to life in 2006.

Galic was Sarajevo Romanija Corps commander from 1992 to 1994 and was found guilty for “acts of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population … murder and inhumane acts”, as well as for conducting “a campaign of sniping and shelling attacks on the city of Sarajevo” with the primary aim to spread terror among the city’s civilian population.

More than 10,000 people were killed during the Sarajevo siege – the longest siege in modern history, lasting from April 1992 to February 1996.

As a supreme commander of VRS, Radovan Karadzic is indicted for the same crimes as Galic.

In his previous testimony, Mole described the shellings as “terror” and said the destruction was not limited to the frontlines but affected the whole city.

The prosecution will also call Richard Higgs, a senior technical mortar advisor for the British army, who should give evidence relating to reports made by the Sarajevo police, UNPROFOR and UN military observers who conducted the on-site investigations of shelling incidents during the siege.

The prosecution will also call Tomasz Blaszczyk who works for the prosecution as an investigator, to provide testimony on diaries found in a search of the Belgrade home of Ratko Mladic, the war time commander of Army of Republika Srpska, VRS.

Prosecutors believe about 3,500 pages from the notebooks will provide crucial evidence in the trial of Karadzic.

Mladic is indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the war. He remains on the run and prosecutors believe he is hiding in Serbia.

Karadzic is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He was arrested in summer 2008 and his trial opened in October 2009 with the first prosecution witness being called in April.