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The Srebrenica Massacre - Nova Srpska Politicka Misao

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Securing Verdicts: <strong>The</strong> Misuse of Witness Testimony at <strong>The</strong> Hague<br />

Erdemovic, and according to Erdemovic issued orders in the massacre<br />

case. If Erdemovic had served time for crimes of war Pelemis was a likely<br />

candidate as well. And he should have been in a position to provide<br />

more details and name more names.<br />

<strong>The</strong>n there is the odd case of Marko Boskic, yet another Bosnian<br />

Croat member of the 10th Sabotage Detachment who took part in the<br />

Branjevo farm killings. ICTY “investigator” Jean-Rene Ruez had testified<br />

at <strong>The</strong> Hague on Nov. 19, 1996, that Erdemovic had named the<br />

members of the unit: “<strong>The</strong> officer in charge of the Unit who ordered the<br />

murder, <strong>Srebrenica</strong> is Lieutenant Pelemis who is in charge of the 10th<br />

Sabotage Unit. <strong>The</strong> members of the execution group who were involved…their<br />

names were also given by Mr. Erdemovic; the head of<br />

that group being Brano Gojkovic. <strong>The</strong> other members being Aleksandar<br />

Cvetkovic, Marko Boskic, Zoran Goranja, Stanko Savanovic, Vlastimir<br />

Golijan, Franc Kos.” 80<br />

So, in 1996 then, it was public knowledge that Marko Boskic had<br />

been named as one of the killers at Branjevo farm. Yet, in 2000, Boskic<br />

was able to enter the United States without any trouble at all. In May<br />

1996, the Boston Globe had even run an article on Boskic (at that time<br />

residing in Bosnia). 81 During his sojourn in the United States, Boskic<br />

had repeated run-ins with the law, which led to numerous arrests on<br />

charges of drunken driving and serious assaults. Finally, in August 2004,<br />

he was arrested and charged with having lied on his immigration application,<br />

specifically for having failed to disclose that he had been a<br />

member of the 10th Sabotage Detachment and a participant in the<br />

Branjevo farm massacre.<br />

<strong>The</strong> ICTY announced immediately that it had no interest in seeking<br />

Boskic’s extradition. A spokesman claimed that the tribunal only had resources<br />

to go after the big fish. “We are a small institution with a limited<br />

capacity,” said Anton Nikiforov, an adviser to Carla Del Ponte. “We<br />

go after the main players, those who planned and ordered the killings.” 82<br />

He didn’t explain how the ICTY could go after those who “planned and<br />

ordered the killings” without obtaining first the evidence and testimony<br />

of those who actually carried out the killings. In 2006, a Massachusetts<br />

federal court convicted Boskic on two counts of immigration document<br />

fraud and sentenced him to five years in prison. <strong>The</strong>re is nothing to indicate<br />

that the ICTY will seek his arrest when he comes out.<br />

194

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