John Zametica, witness at the Radovan Karadzic trial

Radovan Karadzic’s defense case continued after three months with the evidence of his war-time foreign affairs advisor John Zametica. Zametica was born in Banja Luka, the son of a Muslim father and Slovak mother. His name at birth was Omer Zametica. During the war, Zametica was known as Jovan. He was educated in London, where he pursued a brief academic career. In October 1993, Zametica joined the Bosnian Serb leadership on Pale. In early 1994, Zametica was promoted to the post of Karadzic’s advisor and became his close associate.

Zametica said that the Bosnian Serb military officers didn’t like him because of his Muslim background. The wife and daughter of the accused were ‘suspicious’ and warned Karadzic that Zametica was not suited for the post. However, Karadzic ‘defied’ them and kept Zametica. According to Zametica, the fact that Karadzic had a Muslim and a Croat associate meant that Karadzic didn’t share the intent to expel non-Serbs from Republika Srpska, as the prosecution alleged.

Presenting himself as a person who was part of the leadership who was kept in the loop, Zametica tried to convince the Trial Chamber that in the Republika Srpska ‘political universe’ Karadzic was a ‘weak president’ whose powers ‘were not far-reaching’. First, the witness argued that the accused did not control the ‘disobedient army’ and the police at all, although he was the supreme commander of the armed forces. According to the witness, Karadzic had no control over the assembly, and over the municipal authorities, which were led by ‘local chieftains – masters of life and death’. ‘You couldn’t control your driver, your wife and least of all, your daughter. You had very little control in the chaos that was Republika Srpska’, Zametica said in a bid to stress just how powerless Karadzic was. Karadzic had very little influence, and only in foreign affairs.

Denying that Karadzic was ‘belligerent’, the witness said that Karadzic always said that sniper actions and ‘irresponsible shelling’ from the Bosnian Serb army positions were ‘stupid, pointless and unnecessary’. Presiding judge Kwon asked Zametica if that meant that Karadzic had been aware of the ‘irresponsible’ shelling and sniper attacks. Zametica replied that he didn’t mean any specific actions, but the president’s criticism of ‘stupid generals’ who were doing it.

As for Zametica, he thought it was irresponsible to capture UN members and place them around potential NATO targets in Republika Srpska in May 1995. It was irresponsible, but not unlawful, because the UN soldiers were no longer peacekeepers, Zametica argued, as UNPROFOR, allied to NATO, became a warring side. According to Zametica, the UN staff were treated as prisoners of war and were released unharmed.

Zametica presented his view of the war in BH: ‘We fought a defensive and just war, and we have nothing to be ashamed of…except for the Srebrenica episode’. He blamed the army for the ‘massacre’ of Srebrenica Muslims. According to Zametica, he and Karadzic had received no information about the killings. They knew only about the legitimate military part of the operation, Zametica claimed. Later, when they tried to verify the media reports about the mass murders of the prisoners and the deportations of civilians, Zametica and Karadzic learned that they had been treated ‘according to conventions’.

At the beginning of the cross-examination, prosecutor Edgerton contested Zametica’s claims.

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