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Writ of summons - Van Diepen Van der Kroef

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‘Prior to departing, he addressed a public gathering in Srebrenica, telling them thatthey were un<strong>der</strong> United Nations protection and that he would not abandon them.’15. The situation in the enclave deteriorated on 12 April 1993, when at least 56 personswere killed and 73 were seriously wounded during a bombardment by Bosnian Serbs,including 15 children playing football on a school playground. One eyewitness, a coworker<strong>of</strong> the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), wrote that theground was bathed in blood, that human remains were caught in the fence and that achild was decapitated (see page 1219 <strong>of</strong> the NIOD Report).16. By the middle <strong>of</strong> April 1993 the Bosnian Serbs had approached to some 1,800 metres <strong>of</strong>the city centre <strong>of</strong> Srebrenica and Srebrenica was on the point <strong>of</strong> falling into Bosnian-Serb hands. The generally-held opinion was that this would lead to a blood bath because<strong>of</strong> the feelings <strong>of</strong> revenge <strong>of</strong> the Serbs due in part to what had been done in the first year<strong>of</strong> the war by the Bosniacs. Even the then Serb President, Slobodan Milosevic, foresaw amass slaughtering <strong>of</strong> the Bosniacs should Srebrenica fall (see pages 1219 and 2891 <strong>of</strong>the NIOD Report). The Report <strong>of</strong> the French Parliament, Part I, page 19 states:‘le général Morillon rencontrait longuement Milosevic et lui indiquait que la chute theSrebrenica entraînerait des massacres épouvantables, compte tenu des lourdscontentieux entre les deux communautés dans la region. Milosevic semblait le savoirpuisque David Owen raconte que celui-ci a dit au cours d’une coversation téléphoniquetenue le 16 avril 1993 qu’il ne fallait pas que Srebrenica tombe car les massacres yseraient épouvantables, ceci soulignant le caractère spécifique the la situation danscette région.’[Lawyer’s translation:‘General Morillon had a lengthy meeting with Milosevic and pointed out to him that thefall <strong>of</strong> Srebrenica would lead to dreadful massacres given the great differences betweenthe two communities in the region. Milosevic appeared to know this, for David Owenrecalled that during a telephone conversation on 16 April 1993 he [Milosevic, lawyer’s© <strong>Van</strong> <strong>Diepen</strong> <strong>Van</strong> <strong>der</strong> <strong>Kroef</strong> Advocaten 2007www.vandiepen.com15

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