A highly decorated Canadian soldier, touted as one of the possible successors to Gen. Rick Hillier, testified against a former top Croatian general at The Hague
Wednesday, saying the shelling of Serbian rebels in a small town in 1995 left mostly civilians dead.
Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, head of the Canadian army, served as part of the United Nations Protection Force as a colonel during the mid-1990s wars in former Yugoslavia.
On Wednesday, Leslie recalled details about the shelling of Knin, a small town in Croatia, in the early hours of August 4, 1995. Former Croatian general Ante Gotovina
was one of the key military commanders during the operation. The Croatian military had focused on three rebel targets, but Leslie said the operation killed dozens of civilians.
Defence lawyers have questioned Leslie's credibility on the matter, forcing the Canadian general to defend his observations. In early August 1995, Leslie told the BBC that,
"Essentially, every large urban centre in (the area) has been hit by shellfire." Defence lawyers said those comments were not true, noting that after the battle had ended,
United Nations inspectors concluded that "shelling was concentrated against military objectives." They also implied that Leslie could not accept that conclusion, so he
contacted two other Canadian soldiers to verify his account of the battle.
One of those soldiers, a captain, later said: "Col. Leslie asked if I would be willing to do him a favour, even though it was illegal, to find proof that the (Croatian military)
had committed war crimes." Leslie, however, completely dismissed that allegation. "I do not know why the good captain would imply that this was illegal. I do not
recognize the exact words as described by the good captain."
But in another effort to undermine his integrity, defence lawyers pointed out another incident stemming from Leslie's time in Afghanistan. In 2004, after years of what the
military called outstanding leadership, Leslie was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. The commendation cited several heroic actions in Croatia, including his role in
rescuing about 40 UN employees trapped in their residences. But on Wednesday, Leslie said that never happened -- he only learned of the military's statement as he was
about to receive his medal.
"I spoke to the vice-chief of defence staff and said, 'I think you've got it wrong,'" Leslie told the tribunal. "He told me, 'That's good enough, it's going to stay.'"
The defence is trying to show that Leslie exaggerated the events of 1995, to destroy his credibility and claims against Gotovina. But Leslie is under a court order not to
speak about his testimony, so has been unable to publicly defend himself.
