Peter Robinson - The Tribunal

“I would like to introduce my wife, Diane, to the Court,” Kevin continued. “She is also a lawyer, duly admitted to practice law in the United States. With the court’s permission, she is here to help me defend Mr. Zaric, and to show those who hold our daughter that we are doing everything humanly possible on Mr. Zaric’s behalf.”

Judge Orozco smiled at Diane. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Anderson. I am sorry it is under these circumstances.”

Diane gave a forced smile. Judge Orozco turned to the prosecution. “Is there any objection to Mrs. Anderson participating in the defense?”

Bradford Stone rose. “We’ve had no notice of this, Your Honor. But we continue to believe that it is inappropriate for Mr. Anderson to be representing Mr. Zaric given his emotional state and what has occurred this weekend. I hardly think that Mrs. Anderson’s emotional condition can be any better.”

Diane glared at Bradford Stone across the room.

“What a pompous ass,” she whispered under her breath.

Judge Orozco turned to Judge Davidson and then Judge Linares and had short conversations with each of them. Then she turned to Draga. “Mr. Zaric, do you have any objection to Mrs. Anderson participating in your defense?”

Kevin turned to look at Draga, wishing he had a chance to talk to Draga about this first. Draga looked handsome in a light gray suit. His client had turned into a clothes horse. Kevin wondered where he was getting the nice threads.

Draga stood up. “I would welcome her help,” he said gallantly.

Kevin smiled at Diane. The war criminal was turning into a prince.

“Very well then,” Judge Orozco said with a smile. “Welcome to the Tribunal, Mrs. Anderson.”

The prosecution’s next witness was another Muslim from the Prijedor area who had been stopped at the roadblock, taken to the school auditorium, and then to Omarska. He had not seen Draga, but had seen and experienced firsthand the beatings by Victor Vidic at Omarska.

Kevin’s cross-examination began as it had with Witness A. He elicited the facts about Vidic’s unkempt personal appearance and smoking and drinking habits, as contrasted with the men in black uniforms the witness had seen at the roadblock and auditorium. Then he tried to extend his gains a little further.

“Victor Vidic is a brutal human being isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is”

“Did he ever perform guard duty at the camp?”

“No.”

“Did he ever do anything at Omarska other than show up and beat people or try to extort them?”

“Not that I am aware of.”

“You knew him from before the war?”

“Yes.”

“He was in trouble with the police for violent crimes before the war started, correct?”

“Yes, he was.”

“He had been to jail?”

“I heard that he had.”

“In fact, he was in jail when the Serbs took over Prijedor, wasn’t he?”

“I’m not sure.”

Kevin turned to the judges. “Your Honors, at this time I would like to introduce a document, to be designated as Defense Exhibit 1. It is a certified copy of the records of the Prijedor jail for the months of March through May, 1992.”

Judge Orozco waited while the usher handed the document up to her and distributed copies for the other two judges and prosecutor. When she had reviewed the document, she turned to the prosecution. “Any objection?”

“Well, it’s our document,” Bradford Stone huffed. “He got it from us. We intend to offer this document into evidence ourselves.”

“Very well,” Judge Orozco said, ignoring Stone’s complaint, “Defense Exhibit 1 shall be received into evidence.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Kevin replied. “I would ask the usher to display the document on the screen.” The usher rose and placed the top piece of paper on a machine which projected the document on the computer screens in front of the trial participants and on the television screens in the visitors’ gallery.

Turning back to the witness, Kevin asked. “Would you agree that this shows that Victor Vidic was in jail in Prijedor on the day of the roadblock and had been in jail for the two months before that?”

“Yes, that’s what it looks like.”

“You’re not aware of any training that Vidic went through with the Black Dragons are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“He was about as untrained and undisciplined a man as you ever met, wasn’t he?”

“Yes.”

Kevin thought for an instant about stopping there. He had accomplished just about everything he had wanted in his cross-examination. Up to this point he had known the answers to the questions he had asked. From here on out, it would be a gamble.

“The prisoners talked among themselves about Victor Vidic, didn’t they?”

“Yes.”

“You had a lot of time on your hands.”

“Yes.”

“And Vidic was notorious at Omarska, especially after he slit that man’s throat.”

“Yes.”

“Victor Vidic always wore the uniform of the Black Dragons, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“But it was well known among the prisoners that he wasn’t really a Black Dragon, wasn’t it?”

Kevin held his breath waiting for the answer. Because hearsay was allowed at the Tribunal, he knew the prosecution could not object to Kevin’s question about what others had said out of court. He was guessing that the prisoners would have seen Vidic for what he was.

The witness appeared to be thinking about his answer. Then he spoke. Kevin waited for the translation. “There was a lot of talk that he was not really a Black Dragon.”

Kevin took a shallow breath and plunged further. His trial lawyer instincts told him there was more gold in the mine. “Did anyone talk about where he had gotten the Black Dragon uniform?”

“Yes.”

“Where had he gotten the uniform, from what you heard?”

“People said he had his Black Dragon uniform made by a sewing shop in Sokolaz.”

“In your opinion was Vidic under the control or command of Dragoljub Zaric, known as Draga?”

“Your Honors,” Bradford Stone was on his feet, interrupting. “We must object. There is no basis for this witness to give an opinion on that issue. He wasn’t privy to the chain of command.”

Judge Orozco looked at Kevin. “Mr. Anderson?”

“Madam President, this witness was in a position to make observations of Vidic’s behavior and to evaluate information he received from others. Because of that, his opinion would be of some assistance to the Court.”

“The objection is overruled. The witness may answer.”

Kevin wondered whether the witness would back off now that the prosecution had signaled its displeasure with the way the testimony was going. Kevin had taken control; he just needed to maintain it for these last few questions. He repeated the question. He hoped the man was as honest as he seemed.

“I don’t think Victor Vidic was under the command of Draga or anyone else. He just did what he pleased.”

“He was not a real Black Dragon, was he?”

“No.”

“Thank you. I have no further questions.” Kevin returned to his seat. Bradford Stone stood up quickly to try to repair the damage. He asked several questions in which he tried to show that his own witness didn’t really know what he had been talking about.

“You don’t really know what the relationship was between Vidic and Draga, do you?”

“No.”

“You don’t know with whom Vidic shared the property he stole from the prisoners, do you?”

“No.”

“And you don’t know whether Vidic was acting on his own or on orders from Draga, do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Thank you, I have no further questions.” Stone sat down, having neutralized his own witness. He looked annoyed.