Zorica Subotic, defence witness at Rako Mladic trial

As ballistic expert Zorica Subotic continued her evidence Ratko Mladic's defense focused on three incidents. More than 10 people were killed and 100 were injured when a shell hit an area where people were watching a football match in Dobrinja on 1 June 1993. On 12 July 1994, 13 people were killed and 14 wounded in an attack on a water queue in Spasenije Cane Babovic Street in Dobrinja. On 22 January 1994, six children were killed when they went sleighing in Alipasino Polje; five adults were wounded.

The prosecution alleges that in all three incidents, the deadly shells were fired from the positions held by Mladic's forces. The rounds that fell among the football players and spectators were fired from the north-northwest while the projectiles that killed the children came in from the west. The defense contests these claims arguing that the investigations were carried out at wrong places using wrong methodology or were not carried out soon enough.

According to the defense expert, the investigation of the shelling at the football match in Dobrinja was conducted at the request of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, 'two years late', on 21 November 1995. Also, the investigation focused on the 'wrong location'. The incident happened in the playground near a parking lot, while the investigators examined the parking lot, Subotic argued. She referred to witness statements and to the physical evidence she had either seen at the crime scene or in the documents available to her.

The investigation of the shelling of the water queue in Spasenije Cane Babovic Street was conducted by the Sarajevo Security Services Center. In Zorica Subotic's opinion, the method used to determine the place of impact was 'non-existent'. Because the shell had hit a person who was thrown aside, one of the Security Services Center investigators determined the place of impact and the direction of the shell using the dispersion of the shrapnel. Subotic used the photos of the site to establish a different direction from which the projectile had come, concluding that it came from the area controlled by the BH Army.

Subotic analyzed the shelling in Alipasino Polje, too. In this case, her findings were similar to the conclusions of a UN team headed by Captain Verdi. The area was hit by 120-mm shells fired from the southwest. According to Subotic, the calculations produced by the UNPROFOR team were correct, but they presented their findings on wrong photos. When that mistake was corrected, it turned out that the shells had been fired from the territories under the BH Army control. The prosecution argues that the rounds came from the area controlled by the VRS.

Zorica Subotic continues her evidence on Monday, 28 September 2015.

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