Captain Dragan Implicates Serbia in Croatian War
Day 150
Wednesday, 19 February, 2003
Captain Dragan Implicates Serbia in Croatian War
Day 150
Wednesday, 19 February, 2003
A resident of Australia, he flew his private plane from the U.S. to Rijeka, initially gaining some notoriety for that exploit. He got his education about the conflict in the Serbian Krajina in a Belgrade bar and was eventually asked to help. But it wasn't until his first trip to the Krajina that he felt he had something to offer. On the way, he passed a number of barricades manned by scruffy looking, ill-equipped, sometimes drunken men with weapons to match. His six years in the Australian armed forces gave him the idea that he could assist by training and organizing these men into a professional defense force. But the head of the Serbian Krajina fighting forces, Milan Martic, as top cop in the Krajina, wasn't interested.
Vasiljkovic returned to the U.S., but a March 9, 1991 news broadcast of army tanks rolling through the streets of Belgrade to disperse a demonstration called him back to his native country. His initial efforts to lend a hand met with a little more success when Franko Simatovic (aka 'Frenki'), head of the special operations unit of the State Security Division of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (SDB), asked him to write a training manual that could be used with forces in the Krajina. Simatovic cautioned him not to tell anyone of their discussion. 'He said if his bosses were to learn about it, he'd probably be arrested and dismissed.' This occurred at a time when Milosevic and Serbian authorities were being cautious about their support for the Krajina Serbs in their conflict with Croatia.
Eventually, Captain Dragan headed for the Krajina on his own, though Simatovic accompanied him when he learned he was going. According to his testimony, he cleaned up and organized a training camp, where he established a professional training program. Given his military background, he would not allow unprofessional conduct, such as slapping a prisoner. He testified to stopping a ragged group of Vojislav Seselj's volunteers coming to the Krajina, turning 20% back and incorporating the rest into existing disciplined units. He also arrested a group of armed Serbs who were reported to have engaged in a massacre and turned them over to Martic.
The witness said he adopted a firm position that any Serb fighting in the Krajina had to be under the control of the SDB, police or JNA. He testified that state of affairs continued until the present day and added, 'I am angry that today some people are trying to wash their hands of people who died believing they were serving [these institutions]. All people had to be under the command of the army or the police. No unit could have operated separately.'
This is important testimony. It refutes Milosevic's claim that any war crimes were committed by 'uncontrolled' individuals.
His testimony also showed that the SDB was involved in the Krajina fighting in a major way. He claimed that only four people were controlling actions in the Krajina throughout the war: Franko Simatovic, Dragan Filipovic, Milan Radonjic and Jovica Stanisic. All were members of the SDB, with Stanisic at the top and, allegedly, at Milosevic's right hand. On one occasion, Stanisic came to the Krajina and congratulated Captain Dragan on the success of his training. Later, in Belgrade he gave him a pistol in recognition of a successful military operation re-taking Glina from Croat forces.
Despite (or maybe because of) his success in professionalizing Serbian fighters in the Krajina, Captain Dragan ran into trouble with the politicians. He clashed with Babic, political head of the Krajina, over allowing unkempt, dirty, unshaven members of the local territorial defense (TO) into the Fortress at Knin, where his elite troops were trained. He was summoned to meet Stanisic in Belgrade. The SDB chief told him, 'almost apologetically,' that there was 'some very dirty business going on in the Krajina,' that he'd probably 'gotten unconsciously involved in politics and shouldn't go back.' He added that if he did go back, he, Stanisic, would have to stop him. The prosecutor, Dermot Groome, asked if he'd inquired who was forbidding him to return. Vasiljkovic replied he had and Stanisic answered, 'In principle, I can't tell you very much. This is coming from the top.' 'He either meant the Minister of the Interior or President Milosevic.'
Stanisic then sent him to one of Tito's villas in Bor, in the company of a couple SDB agents. After a week or more and after seeing Babic on TV telling an interviewer that he, Captain Dragan, was a mercenary who'd done his job and been sent on his way, Vasiljkovic realized he'd been decommissioned. He activated a prearranged signal with some friendly SDB officers who helped him return from exile. With assistance from friends, he gave a press conference where he 'stated publicly that he was working for the Serbian MUP,' according to the prosecution's pretrial brief.
After an attempt to put together a special unit with Simatovic failed, Vasiljkovic turned to work on Captain Dragan's Fund, which he'd created to help widows, orphans and others hurt by the war. Eventually, he was pulled into political affairs by Belgrade law students who had been threatened with a pistol by Vojislav Seselj, then a Member of Parliament. His attempt to help them resulted in a visit from two SDB agents, Dragan Filipovic and Milan Radonjic.
'They took me to a raft near the river and explained it was very difficult for them to say what they were going to say. I had entered waters I didn't understand. They told me to leave Yugoslavia. They had accepted the assignment because if someone else had, it would have been done differently. I understood this was a threat.' They offered to pay him to 'disappear' for five years and agreed to meet him the next day. When he asked where the directive came from, he was told it was 'coming from the top' and 'no one can have any influence in respect to that decision.' 'I had to leave the country.'
A journalist friend, however, convinced him to talk to the head of JNA counter intelligence, who cautioned that he might well end up dead in a mafia-style encounter if he went through with the SDB proposal. He advised Vasiljkovic to tape record the next conversation with the two SDB members. He did, gave the tapes to the JNA officer, who showed them to Stanisic as a threat that he would expose the SDB's involvement if anything happened to him. He remained in the country.
Captain Dragan's testimony was as important as it was dramatic. It tied the SDB to the war in Croatia, countering the essence of Milosevic's defense that Serbia was not involved. It established that all Serb fighting in the Krajina was organized, coordinated and under the control of the army, SDB and police. It all but tied Milosevic into attempts to remove a man who was perhaps too effective in professionalizing the Serb fighting forces in the Krajina. We should learn more about this as his testimony continues tomorrow.
The reasons Captain Dragan gave for testifying make an interesting end note. First, he said, his name was mentioned in the indictment against Milosevic, other witnesses have mentioned it, including some who have distorted the truth. He wants to have his say. While he shares skepticism about the Tribunal, he urged all who participated in the events at issue to come here to help make a record on which they will be able to rely. It is an interesting development that a critic of the Tribunal believes the Tribunal can serve a useful function -- whether he agrees that it metes out justice in the end or not. Given the insider status of recent witnesses, the amount of information presented, each from his own perspective, other insiders would do well to heed Captain Dragan's invitation to ensure their version of the truth is also recorded.
Captain Dragan added that he also came to the Tribunal because he wanted to be free to live a normal life without fear of an indictment against him. To date, the prosecutor has not issued a public indictment against Mr. Vasiljkovic.
