The Tribunal

Kevin rose quickly when he heard the usher a

Kevin guessed that the African woman sitting in the middle was the President of the trial chamber. She turned toward the defense attorney. “You may begin, Mr. Krasnic.”

A distinguished, silver-haired man stood up and began speaking in BCS. The witness, who Kevin could not see from the visitors’ gallery, answered in that language as well.

Listening to the English translation on his headset, Kevin soon gleaned that this case was a prosecution of a Bosnian Serb general whose troops had participated in the invasion of the Bosnian city of Srebrenica. Near the end of the war in Bosnia, the Bosnian Serb Army had entered the U.N. protected area of Srebrenica and rounded up the Muslim men, killing some 7,000 of them.

The witness had been called by the defense, so Kevin assumed that the prosecution had finished presenting its evidence. The defense lawyer asked the witness a series of questions apparently based upon a detailed statement that the witness had already given.

The witness was a Muslim. During the war, he had been a city official in Zepa, another U.N. safe area. He testified that the General had been involved in negotiations at Zepa when the Srebrenica massacre occurred, and had treated the Muslims in Zepa fairly.

Kevin sca

When the defense lawyer finished questioning the witness, the presiding judge turned to the prosecutor. “You may begin your cross-examination, Mr. Stone.”

A ramrod-straight man with short black hair stood up and approached the podium.

“May it please the Court,” Stone began, with a clipped British accent that suggested aristocracy. He turned toward the witness, peering over small, rectangular wire-rimmed glasses perched on the end of his sharp nose. He appeared to study the man in the witness stand as if judging a type of fowl or perhaps selecting a cut of roast beef.

“How many times have you rehearsed this rather tawdry performance with the defense lawyers?” the Englishman finally asked.

Kevin was shocked at the confrontational nature of the question. He waited for an objection from the defense, but none was made.

“What do you mean?” the witness sputtered.

“You are here to answer questions, sir. Not to ask them.”

Kevin looked at the defense lawyers, expecting an objection for badgering the witness.

The lawyers, however, made no effort to intervene.

The prosecutor marched on. “The defense lawyers prepared your statement for you, did they not?”

“No.”

“You mean to tell us that you sat down entirely on your own and typed out this fifteen page statement covering all of the events that are relevant to this trial?” The prosecutor took off his glasses and leaned forward, challenging the witness.

“Yes, sir, I did.”

The prosecutor threw the glasses down. “I don’t believe that for a moment.”

Kevin eyes widened in surprise. A lawyer couldn’t express his personal opinion that a witness was lying! He knew if he ever tried that in federal court, there would be a thunderous objection from the defense, followed by a stern rebuke from the judge.

In Courtroom 2, neither the defense lawyers nor the judges said a word.

The prosecutor continued: “What do you think of what the Serbs did to your people in Srebrenica?”

“Well, um, I don’t know. I didn’t personally see anything happen.”

“Sir, you were a collaborator with the Serbs, weren’t you? A traitor to your people.” The glasses were back on the prosecutor’s nose but he seemed never to be looking through them as much as he was using them as a prop.

Kevin shifted in his seat. This prosecutor was pissing him off, and he was about ready to stand up and object himself.

The other man in the visitors’ booth was calmly taking notes.

The witness now sounded as if the prosecutor was getting under his skin. “I was not a traitor, sir,” he said emphatically. “That is a very unfair thing to say.”

The prosecutor continued undeterred. “Several people we’ve interviewed say you were particularly cruel to your own people.”

Kevin shifted in his chair. “I can’t believe this guy,” he said under his breath. It was improper to ask a witness to comment on what someone had said out of court, let alone face anonymous accusations. Still, there was no objection from the defense.

When the judge mercifully called for the regular morning recess, Kevin and the other man waited in the visitors’ booth until the accused was taken out of the courtroom. Then, the door was unlocked, and a guard told Kevin and the other man that they needed to go back to the lobby to wait out the recess.

Kevin sat on a bench, hoping that he might be summoned to Rupert Schmidt’s office. The lobby was empty except for Kevin and his fellow observer from Courtroom 2. Kevin decided to talk to the man, who was standing by the coffee machine.

“I’m Kevin Anderson,” he said extending his hand.

The man shook Kevin’s hand. “I’m Nihudian.”

“I’m a lawyer from the United States. This is sure a lot different than the courts in America.”

“Yes, I imagine so,” Nihudian replied haltingly.

Kevin suspected Nihudian’s reserve was due in large part to a language barrier. He decided to forge ahead anyway. “Are you a reporter?”

Nihudian shook his head. “No. I am from Bosnia. I am a teacher there. This summer I work for the Bosnian embassy. Every day, I come here to watch this case.”

“What do you think of the case, so far?”

Nihudian was silent for a long time. He was a handsome, dark-eyed man with a fresh, boyish look. He could have passed for a law clerk or young lawyer. “I think the prosecution is going to win,” he said finally. “They have a very strong case.”

Kevin decided not to comment on how unfair he thought the prosecutor had been. After all, Mr. Stone was a future colleague. “What did you do during the war, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“I was a policeman and a soldier. But now I am back to teaching high school.”

Just then, a guard approached Kevin. “Come with me,” he directed.

“I have never spoken English for so long,” Nihudian said, “Thank you for the opportunity.”

“Your English is excellent. I’m sorry that I don’t know your language. Maybe I’ll see you around here again.”

The guard led Kevin through the side doors leading to the Tribunal offices. After walking down a bare corridor, he pointed to an office and said, “Right in there, sir.”

Kevin entered the office. There were three people inside, each working behind a desk. The man behind the desk farthest from the door rose and said in English with a heavy German accent, “Mr. Anderson, I am Rupert Schmidt. What can I do for you?”

As he looked at the short, wiry, balding man in front of him, Kevin immediately sensed that Rupert Schmidt was going to be dismissive. So, he walked the length of the room to the man’s desk and extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Schmidt.”

Rupert Schmidt’s return handshake was limp.

Without waiting to be asked, Kevin sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk. When he saw Kevin making himself comfortable, Schmidt reluctantly sat down.