77
rational. 212 The use of such terms as “bare possibility”213 and “could suggest”214 indicates
the misapplication of the test of proof beyond reasonable doubt. 215
175.
As to the second error, the Prosecution submits that the gist of the common purpose
doctrine is that if a person knowingly participates in a criminal activity with others, he or
she will be liable for all illegal acts that are natural and probable consequences of that
common purpose. 216 The Trial Chamber found that the Appellant’s participation in the
attack on Sivci and Jaski}i was part of the armed conflict in the territory of Prijedor
municipality between May and December 1992. A central aspect of the attack was a policy
to rid the region of the non-Serb population by committing inhumane and violent acts
against them in order to achieve the creation of a Greater Serbia. According to the
Prosecution, the only conclusion reasonably open from all the evidence is that the killing of
the five victims was entirely predictable as part of the natural and probable consequences of
the attack on the villages of Sivci and Jaski}i on 14 June 1992. 217 It is the Prosecution’s
submission that this policy of ethnic cleansing was carried out throughout opština Prijedor
against non-Serbs by various illegal means, including killings. 218
In this regard, the
Appellant’s actions and presence did directly and substantially assist that policy. It follows
that, regardless of which member or members of the Serb forces actually killed the five
victims, the Appellant should have been found guilty under Article 7(1) of the Statute. 219
2. The Defence Case
176.
The Defence submits that, in light of its finding that nobody was killed in Sivci on
14 June 1992, the Trial Chamber correctly found that it was a possibility that the five
victims in Jaski}i were killed by another, distinct group of armed men, especially as nothing
212
Skeleton Argument of the Prosecution, para. 42.
Judgement, para. 373: “The bare possibility that the deaths of the Jaski}i villagers were the result of
encountering a part of that large force would be enough […] to prevent satisfaction beyond reasonable doubt
that the accused was involved in those deaths.”
214
Ibid., para. 373: “The fact that there was no killing at Sivci could suggest that the killing of villagers was
not a planned part of this particular episode of ethnic cleansing of the two villages, in which the accused took
part […].”
215
T. 172 (20 April 1999).
216
Cross-Appellant’s Brief, para. 3.19.
217
Ibid., paras. 3.24, 3.27.
218
Cross-Appellant’s Brief, paras. 3.27-3.29; T. 179-180 (20 April 1999).
213
Case No.: -94-1-A
15 July 1999