Milomir Soja, former VRS member, testified about his contribution to the modification of the electronic system on the air bomb launcher in the Ilidza Brigade. According to him, modified air bombs are inaccurate and unreliable projectiles that were positioned by the Serbian army on four positions near Sarajevo


In 1995, the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps had at its disposal four modified air bomb launchers. According to Milomir Soja, an electronics engineer, who testified today at the trial of General Dragomir Milosevic, they were deployed in Ilidza, Ilijas, Vogosca and most probably in Blazuj in Sarajevo,

In early 1995, Soja worked on modifying the air bomb launcher deployed in Ilidza Brigade. He was expected to find the solution that would improve the reliability of the unreliable launcher electronic systems and prevent the launch failures that were a frequent occurrence, according to the witness.

Soja was present at only one launching, and the bomb missed its target. Instead of hitting the cold storage plant in Stup, where the BH Army troops were allegedly stationed, the bomb exploded much earlier, above the last row of buildings in the Energoinvest complex where the witness worked at that time. Nobody was killed in the incident and a few persons suffered injuries, mostly from broken glass.

As it turned out in the cross-examination, Soja gave two statements describing his duties in 1995, one to the Sarajevo AID (Investigation and Documentation Agency) and the other to the OTP. The witness said that he had not been prosecuted. After he gave a statement to AID, he was taken to a court in Sarajevo the following day “as a witness”. After that he talked to OTP investigators.

The Trial Chamber interrupted a long line of questions on the technical details of the launching of modified air bombs suggesting to General Dragomir Milosevic’s defense counsel to start asking questions relevant to the defense. As Presiding Judge Robinson remarked, the trial was not a class on air bombs. General Milosevic’s defense counsel then went on to ask the witness about the accurateness of air bombs. She also asked the witness if he could describe the projectile. The defense suggests that he observed an ordinary projectile being launched, not an air bomb.

Another Sarajevo crime scene technician began his evidence after Soja. Vekaz Turkovic heard an air bomb being launched in Dobrinja and followed its course by the sound it made. Turkovic will continue his testimony tomorrow. Martin Bell will take the stand then. He was the BBC war correspondent from Sarajevo.

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