Posted on 06/23/2002 7:31:32 PM PDT by ABrit
WITNESS: IAN ROBERT HENDRIE
14 Examined by Mr. Ryneveld:
15 Q. Mr. Hendrie, could you tell the Court your full name, please.
16 A. Ian Robert Hendrie.
17 Q. And, Mr. Hendrie, do I understand correctly, sir, that you are
18 currently 42 years old?
19 A. I am.
20 Q. And you have a background as a detective in both the Royal Hong
21 Kong and the London Metropolitan Police forces; is that correct?
22 A. It is, yes.
23 Q. Now, sir, did there come a time in 1997 or 1998 when you served
24 one of the offices of the United Nations in the Balkans?
25 A. Between October 1997 to October 1998, I served in the
Page 6473
1 International Police Task Force in Bosnia.
2 Q. And later on, in December of 1998, were you involved with the
3 OSCE/KVM mission?
4 A. In November 1998, I joined the United Kingdom Diplomatic Observer
5 Mission and then joined the OSCE in December of 1998.
MR. RYNEVELD: Thank you. Your Honours, by way of a very brief summary: In his statements, the witness indicates that he was originally- initially shown the body of someone identified to him as Banush which reports in his statement at scene 1. Now, for benefit of the Court and in terms of some diagrams and I believe the large maps that were in these court proceedings taken by Mr. Kelly, those are referred to on those documents as CL1, that's location one, scene 1. I just thought I would relate the scenes in his statement to the other descriptors that you have. He was shown a uniformed KLA soldier -- by a KLA soldier, a courtyard where a man named Bidi Banush identified the headless body of Azem Banush, and later, at the morgue, this body was labelled as RA-1. Then he was at scene 2, which is location 2, scenes 2 and 3. A man maimed Ismail Beqiri informed him of the location of the bodies of three brothers, Arif, Sabri, and Haki Syla, who had all been shot.
A short distance from this location, he was shown the body of Hajriz Jakujsi, who had also been shot. At scene 3, which is location 2, scene 4, he was brought to a family compound consisting of two houses where the body of Ahmet Mustafa, who was apparently around 70 years old, was identified to him. He appeared to have been shot several times and was later identified with the morgue label RA-9.
At scene 4 in his statement, which is location 2, scene 5 in the other documents, he was shown the body of a male in his mid-30s, identified to him as Skender, who had part of his skull missing. He examined an axe that was nearby which appeared to have a small amount of blood on it. At the entrance gate to that compound, he found a skull fragment with some hair on it; and in the house, he found bone fragments that appeared consistent with the man's injuries. This house had suffered heavy gunfire damage. En route to the next location, he located and photographed a rifle grenade in the ground with a fintail protruding. At scene 5 in his statement, which is location 5, scene 10 in other documentation, he came across a freshly-dug trench which was about four feet deep and two feet wide which showed no evidence of recent use. He then came to a gully where he located a total of 22 bodies in two groups, one comprising 15 bodies and the second comprising seven bodies. There was a 23rd body located a short distance away but in the same vicinity. On the northern side of the gully, he found ammunition boxes labelled in Cyrillic, indicating 7.6 calibre ammunition.
Now, this witness, in his statement, indicates that there were no signs of drag marks or blood leading in or out of the gully. It was apparent, however, to him that some if not all of the bodies had been turned over. Bloodstaining indicated the location where death occurred. All the bodies were rigid and dressed in civilian clothing. There were no weapons near the bodies. The vast majority of injuries on all the bodies he saw in Racak that day were due, in his opinion, to gunshots. He then recorded the individual details of bodies at scene 5, 1 to 23, which you will find again referred to as location 5, scene 10. He moves on then to crime location 3, scene 7. From the gully, he walked into the village to a house with the number 30 on it where the body of Hanemshah Mehmeti was identified to him. Mehmeti was reportedly killed by a sniper while Mehmeti was going to the aid of someone already hit by a sniper. He was then taken to another location and shown the area where Bajram and Hanemshah Mehmeti were killed. The body of Bajram was identified to him. It was lying in a room of the family home. He did not photograph that body because he'd used up all his film, however, another OSCE member by the name of Michael Pedersen apparently videoed it. He then moves on to what was referred to in Mr. Kelly's documentation as location 4, scene 9, which is a family compound where the bodies of Riza, Halim, and Zenel Beqiri were lying in a room. Villagers told this witness that they were shot by the police from a hill about 60 metres away. He also did not photograph those bodies. Xhemzjl Beqiri, a survivor from that incident, told the witness what happened. He moved on then to location 3, scene 8.
He was brought to another location where he was shown a compound that had a ten-foot wall surrounding four houses. Ismet Bahimi pointed out the body and severed head of his brother Ajad Bahimi. Apparently he had been shot first and then, sometime later, his head was removed. He did not photograph this scene.
There was damage to the family tractors and it appeared that the house had been ransacked.
In his statement, he also talks about his dealings on the 17th of January, 1999, with Judge Marinkovic. He was at Stimlje when he saw a build-up of Serbian forces that were there apparently to assist the investigating Judge, Ms. Marinkovic. Her purpose was to enter Racak to investigate the incident. The witness indicates that there were sporadic firing aimed at and around the village. On the 18th of January, 1999, the witness spoke with Judge Marinkovic in relation to the investigation into Racak. She stated, inter alia, that the purpose of her visit was to show the world that the bodies were not of innocent peasants, as Walker had said, but that they were terrorists. She - and this is my paraphrasing - said that they found evidence that proves the villagers were terrorists because they found uniforms, trenches, machine-guns, and bombs.
He then, in his statement, goes on to indicate attending at the mortuary on the 19th and 20th of January, 1999, to observe the post-mortems of some of the deceased persons from Racak performed by the forensic pathologist from both Pristina and from Belorussia. He videoed some of those proceedings. Now, Your Honours, I propose at this point to show five photographs to assist the Trial Chamber with respect to evidence heard from witnesses concerning their observation of bodies and their conclusions that the bodies had been mutilated, shot at close range, or decapitated. You will recall that there's been extensive cross-examination about that, and in fairness and to assist the Trial Chamber to see whether or not there was any basis for those comments by the witnesses, I propose to show first of all photograph 00732320. And Mr. Usher, if you could put that on the ELMO.
This is a photograph showing an unusual eye injury. You will recall evidence about witnesses talking about mutilation and eyes.
22 Q. Witness, I'd like you to look at that photograph. Do you
23 recognise the scene depicted in that photograph?
24 A. I do.
25 Q. Yes. Now, is this one of the photographs you took or is this just
Page 6479
1 a photograph of a scene that you recall when you were there on the 16th of
2 January?
3 A. It's one of the photographs I took.
4 Q. All right. And -- all right. Thank you.
5 MR. RYNEVELD: The next photograph, please. Yes. Photograph
6 00732364. These are all in the Racak binder, in sequence, Your Honours.
7 Q. Again, Mr. Hendrie, is this one of the photographs you took?
8 A. It is, Your Honour.
9 Q. Below and behind the right ear, there appears to be a mark. Can
10 you describe what that mark looks like?
11 A. It appears to be an entry gunshot wound with scorching and
12 stippling around the wound.
13 Q. In your statement, sir, you indicated that they appeared to have
14 been shot at close range; is that correct?
15 A. Yes, Your Honour.
16 Q. Is this one of the factors that you considered in coming to that
17 conclusion?
18 A. It is, Your Honour.
19 Q. Thank you. Next photograph, 00732368. Again, sir, that's a
20 photograph you took?
21 A. Yes, Your Honour.
22 Q. And what, if anything, can you tell us about this photograph in
23 relation to the eye area?
24 A. It appears that a bullet has entered the skull and the passage of
25 the bullet has caused the eyes to be distorted.
Page 6480
1 Q. Thank you. Next photograph, 00732387. Again, sir, is this a
2 photograph that you took?
3 A. Yes, Your Honour.
4 Q. We've heard evidence, sir, about mutilation of bodies and gaping
5 holes in the chest area. What, if anything, did you note about this
6 particular body when you photographed it?
7 A. I observed that there were two or what appears to be two gunshot
8 wounds to the chest and fluids and remains of internal organs on the
9 chest.
10 Q. And this area that you noted that's shown in this photograph,
11 where is that wound in relation to where you would normally expect to find
12 the heart?
13 A. It was in the same vicinity.
14 MR. RYNEVELD: And finally, Your Honours, a photograph which has
15 not yet been marked as an exhibit in these proceedings. Oh, you've got it
16 there? Yes. Would you put that on the ELMO, please.
17 Q. That appears to be a headless torso, sir. You, in your report,
18 indicated you saw two of them. Did you take this photograph?
19 A. I can't recall just now.
20 Q. All right. Do you recall whether or not you saw any headless
21 bodies while you were being shown around Racak on the 16th of January,
22 1999?
23 A. There were two, Your Honour.
24 Q. Did you photograph one or two or any?
25 A. One.
Page 6481
1 Q. Thank you.
2 MR. RYNEVELD: Finally, Your Honours, I'd like to show a 30-second
3 clip of Exhibit 95. You've already seen certain portions of it.
4 Could the AV booth help us? Start the video. It's only about 30
5 seconds. This is at a part of the exhibit, Your Honours, 95, of the video
6 that was taken with Mr. Walker present.
7 Yes. Would you run the video, please.
8 [Videotape played]
9 "Okay. At the top of the hill. The first corpse is that of a
10 male, probably in his mid-to-late-30s. He appears to have been executed
11 by being shot at close range through the head. There are two indicators
12 of --
13 "One of the bullets --
14 "There are two indicators of exit wounds. The man appears to have
15 had his right ear severed. He has been shot at very close range in both
16 the face, and I can't see where the chest exit wound originated.
17 "There's a bullet. I just wanted to assess what kind it is.
18 "Okay.
19 "Because it's not fired. It's pretty big.
20 "Got me?
21 "Yeah.
22 "There are significant numbers of 7.62 cardboard boxes sprinkled
23 around the area, suggesting that those that undertook this calmly executed
24 their victims and reloaded in the same place."
25 MR. RYNEVELD: Stop the video there, please.
Page 6482
1 Q. Now, the photograph of the body that we see -- I'm sorry, the
2 image of the body that we see in the video, is that the same person that
3 you photographed?
4 A. It is, Your Honour.
5 Q. All right. And again, it showed the chest wound?
6 A. It did.
7 JUDGE MAY: Mr. Ryneveld, you --
8 MR. RYNEVELD: Thank you. We haven't marked yet -- we haven't
9 given a number to that last photograph.
10 JUDGE MAY: No, but I -- I want to know who that was.
11 MR. RYNEVELD: Sorry. That was a -- I can ask the witness, yes.
12 JUDGE MAY: Yes.
13 MR. RYNEVELD: Thank you.
14 Q. Witness, did you recognise that individual who was speaking on
15 camera as having been present on the 16th of January when you were there?
16 A. Your Honour, I didn't see the man there on the day in question.
17 However, I did recognise him as being a man named Brown, a British liaison
18 officer.
19 Q. And were you aware of his function as head of the medical team
20 there or were you aware of that?
21 JUDGE MAY: Well, it would be better if you called Mr. Brown.
22 MR. RYNEVELD: Yes. That's fine.
23 Thank you, Your Honour. Those are all the questions, other than
24 having that last photograph, which has not been entered, marked as an
25 exhibit, those are my questions.
Page 6483
1 Might that be given an exhibit number?
2 JUDGE MAY: Yes.
3 MR. RYNEVELD: Thank you.
4 THE REGISTRAR: Prosecution Exhibit 215.
5 JUDGE ROBINSON: Mr. Hendrie, a technical question: The images
6 that we saw were of apparently internal organs, some of them, spread out
7 over the bodies or elsewhere near to the bodies. All of that would have
8 resulted from shooting at close range or could have resulted from being
9 shot at such close range?
10 THE WITNESS: It could have, Your Honour, yes.
11 JUDGE ROBINSON: Because I must say that, looking at it, one would
12 have the impression that the organs were pulled, were taken out almost
13 manually, which is consistent with what some of the witnesses said. But
14 what you're saying is that that is also consistent with being shot at very
15 close range?
16 THE WITNESS: I believe so, Your Honour.
17 JUDGE ROBINSON: Thank you.
18 JUDGE MAY: Yes, Mr. Milosevic.
19 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, first of all, I have an
20 objection since here we heard comments on details which are considered to
21 be an exclusive domain of forensic analysis, and this witness here is not
22 a forensic expert. I think that --
23 JUDGE MAY: Why don't you ask him about his qualifications?
24 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] Well, I can see that he's a police
25 detective. He worked in the English police.
Page 6484
1 JUDGE MAY: Mr. Hendrie. Help us about your qualifications to
2 deal with this evidence. What is your background in forensic matters?
3 THE WITNESS: Your Honour, I served as a detective in the Royal
4 Hong Kong Police for six years, dealing with murders and rapes and other
5 serious crimes, and I've served in the Metropolitan Police Service in
6 London for some 13 years and the last few years as a detective. And I
7 served in Bosnia and in Kosovo where I've dealt with and seen numerous
8 gunshot wounds and have worked with forensic pathologists and scientists
9 on similar cases.
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