Gotovina et al Judgement Volume I - ICTY

38957destruction is Witness 82, an HV member who arrived in Donji Lapac in the lateafternoon or early evening of 7 August 1995, and testified that he saw HV soldiers andSpecial Police set fire to buildings in Donji Lapac. Having observed the demeanour ofWitness 82 in Court and considered his lapses of memory and significantinconsistencies that emerged during his testimony, 2734 the Trial Chamber relies on histestimony only where it is corroborated by other evidence. Witness 82’s testimony onthe burning of Donji Lapac is corroborated with regard to the timing of the destructionby the above-mentioned evidence of Pavlović, Čelić, and Herman. With regard toperpetrators, it is partly corroborated by Special Police reports D556 and P586,according to which units of the 118th Home Guard Regiment and of the 9th GuardsBrigade of the HV, but not Special Police units, began shooting infantry weapons,throwing bombs and torching houses upon their entrance in Donji Lapac, and continuedto do so overnight. Further corroboration of Witness 82’s testimony is provided byVitez, who testified that after having moved with his unit to the outskirts of Donji Lapacupon the arrival of the HV, he heard a lot of firing coming from the town, and early thenext morning he saw smoke rising from many buildings and houses in Donji Lapac. Inassessing the credibility of Witness 82, the Trial Chamber has also considered theevidence of Vitez and Čelić, who denied the involvement of the Special Police in theburning. However, the evidence does not indicate that these Special Police witnesseshad any solid factual basis for their affirmations. The evidence, in particular that ofVitez, Herman, Sačić, D556, and P586, indicates that the bulk of the Special Policeunits who remained in the area spent the night in the outskirts of Donji Lapac, withinclose range of where the destruction occurred. The evidence of Pavlović, Sačić, Repinć,and P586 furthermore indicates that some Special Police forces, in particular logisticsand communication personnel, remained in town. The evidence of Pavlović and Janićindicates that Janić’s unit, the last Special Police unit to leave town on 7 August 1995,left as late as at nightfall. This provides sufficient corroboration for the Trial Chamberto believe that Witness 82 observed members of the Special Police participating insetting houses on fire. On the basis of the above, the Trial Chamber finds that at somepoint after the late afternoon on 7 August and continuing on 8 August 1995, members ofthe HV and Special Police torched or otherwise destroyed a substantial part of Donji2733 P1099 (Maria Teresa Mauro, witness statement, 6 February 2008), para. 51; P1104 (HRAT dailyreport, 25 September 1995), p. 3.2734 See e.g. Witness 82, T. 16787-16790, 16801-16803.358Case No.: IT-06-90-T 15 April 2011 `