Mladjen Kenjic, defence witness at Rako Mladic trial

Ratko Mladic's trial continued with the testimony of Mladjen Kenjic, Mladic's former driver. In his statement to the defense of the former VRS Main Staff commander, Kenjic recounted that he was Mladic’s driver from May 1992 to May 2002, including while Mladic was on the run after he was indicted by the Tribunal.

As he was questioned by defense counsel Miodrag Stojanovic, Kenjic confirmed that he drove Mladic from Crna Rijeka to Belgrade on 14 July 1995 in a Ford Taurus. The car was fitted with special communications equipment. After three nights in Belgrade, the witness drove Mladic back to Crna Rijeka. According to Kenjic, they returned around noon on 17 July 1995.

In his replies to prosecutor Peter MacCloskey, Kenjic confirmed that Mladic and he travelled to Belgrade via Vlasenica, Milici, Zvornik, Karakaj and Sabac. On 14 July 1995, a large number of Srebrenica civilians and soldiers were moving along that road heading toward the territory under the BH Army control, the prosecutor noted. Kenjic was adamant that he hadn’t seen anyone and that everything had seemed as usual. Kenjic saw no columns of buses and trucks transporting thousands of prisoners to the Zvornik area. The prosecutor went on to list all the events happening that day along Mladic’s and Kenjic’s travel route. There were killings in Konjevic Polje as well as mass executions in Kravica, on the Jadar river bank and in a field near Orahovac. Prisoners were detained in schools in Petkovci, Rocevic and Pilica, the prosecutor recalled. The witness said that he didn’t see or hear any of that.

In his statement to the defense and in his evidence before the judges, Kenjic claimed that on 16 July 1995 at around 6pm he took Mladic and his wife home from the wedding lunch. The accused and his wife changed and then Kenjic drove them to a meeting in the Military Medical Academy. The prosecution alleges that Mladic returned to the Main Staff in the evening of 16 July 1995 and not on 17 July 1995 at noon. Today the prosecutor quoted for the first time an intercepted conversation between Mladic and a man nicknamed Dule. The conversation took place in the morning of 16 July 1995. ‘Dule, see you tonight’, Mladic said in the intercept. According to the prosecutor, Dule was Dusan Maran, a helicopter pilot who was at Mladic's disposal. On 16 July 1995, Mladic flew from the Military Medical Academy heliport to Zvornik and took a car from there to Crna Rijeka, the prosecutor alleged. Kenjic denied the claims.

Kenjic was the last defense witness for this week. The trial of Ratko Mladic continues on Monday, 7 September 2015.

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