Karadzic Trial: 'A Total Massacre' at Open-Air Market

15 Oct 2010 / 10:12

A ballistics expert continued his witness testimony at the war crimes trial of Radovan Karadzic on Thursday, recalling the "chaotic situation" following the shelling of the Markale marketplace in Sarajevo in February 1994.
Dragana Erjavec
During the course of cross-examination, prosecution witness Mirza Sabljica, a former ballistics expert with the Safety Services Center in Sarajevo, spoke about ballistics investigations into the shelling of the crowded open-air market, one of the most prominent incidents of the Bosnian war.
The witness said that, upon their arrival at the marketplace, investigators noticed “a chaotic situation and a lot of blood”.

“This was a total massacre. They were loading bodies onto trucks. Body parts could be seen all over the place, there was a lot of blood... During the course of our investigation we found a projectile stabilizer stuck in the asphalt,” Sabljica explained, adding the projectile could have exploded at that particular location only.

Sabljica has given testimony for four days at the trial of Radovan Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb leader who is indicted before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws and customs of war committed from 1992 to 1995.
Karadzic is charged with having participated in a sniping and shelling campaign conducted in Sarajevo during the war.

The prosecution considers him responsible for the shelling of the Markale marketplace in Sarajevo on February 5, 1994 and August 28, 1995, when dozens of civilians were killed and more than a hundred were wounded.

During the course of additional examination the witness spoke about the investigations conducted in the Grbavica district of Sarajevo in 1996, when fortified sniper nests were found in four skyscrapers in Lenjinova Street and the so-called “Metalka” building.

“According to this report, VRS [Republika Srpska Army] snipers covered Zmaja od Bosne Street, where the tramway was located. As the street was exposed to snipers placed in the four skyscrapers during the course of the war, people called it ‘the sniper alley’,” the witness explained.

The testimony of this witness was completed with Thursday's cross-examination. As Karadzic did not feel well, the hearing was brought to a close earlier than planned.

The trial is due to continue on October 15.

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