At a New Year’s Eve party with senior leaders of the VRS, Commander Tolimir’s boss, General Mladić, gave a speech that was recorded on camera. Here are several quotes from his speech: LAW Ladies, dear guests, colleagues, officers and generals. General Gvero asked me to say a few words. It was long ago, in 1992, a difficult year, when it was difficult to look at this area even on a map. Fortunately, there are witnesses. One of them is my wife, and several associates and comrades-in-arms….[B]ut I am saddened that the most important among them, General Tolimir and his wife are not with us tonight. As you know he is on assignment fighting the Serbian people in Vienna, battling the dragons of the world. The most important decisions were made by a group of five people. This was the inner core of the Main Staff, which, in addition to myself, included General Milovanovic as my right hand man, Generals Ðukic, Gvero, and General Tolimir. This was the inner core. From Bokganica, General Tolimir and Kucic fired on Ribioc.… I also want to thank the rest of my assistants and associates, General Dukic, General Gvero, General Tolimir. Video’s Role The importance of this speech as a source of evidence should be clear. Mladić clearly listed, by name, the main decision makers and thanked them for their assistance. Tolimir was one member of his staff whom he thanked personally. This helped prove that Tolimir was member of the inner core and participated in the decision making. In finding Tolimir guilty, the three-judge panel clearly stated that they relied, in part, on this videotaped speech to conclude that Tolimir was indeed a member of the inner circle of the command, or the collegium, making “the most important decisions.” Outcome On December 2012, Commander Tolimir was found guilty of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecutions, and forcible transfer. He was sentenced to life in prison. Tolimir died while in detention on February 8, 2016. KEY POINT SHOWN IN THIS CLIP To watch this twominute clip, go to bit.ly/VaE_Tolimir. The clip shows General Mladić speaking into a microphone at the New Year’s Eve party. He is addressing other members of the military and invited guests. The transcript of the key parts of this speech are to the left. This short clip does not show a crime in progress nor does it include any footage of the defendant, Commander Tolimir. The clip has little to no news value, whereas a clip showing Mladić and Tolimir participating in the execution of civilians would most certainly be shown on international news platforms. A video clip of a suspected war criminal giving a speech thanking his friends and colleagues isn’t something that captures the world’s attention. But, when we talk about bringing high-level commanders to justice — especially those who sit many steps away from the actual commission of the crimes — lawyers must prove many different elements, both to establish that the underlying crime was committed, and that there’s enough of a connection between the commander and the underlying crime that the commander should be held responsible for its occurrence. While this mundane footage seems unremarkable to most people, it can be invaluable in a courtroom. In this case, the innocuous footage of a New Year’s Eve speech helped to prove that Tolimir actively participated in the military decision-making process. This, in turn, helped put Tolimir behind bars. 37 VIDEO AS EVIDENCE: ANATOMY OF A CRIME V 1.0