The Case Is Almost Proved: Insider Says Milosevic Was Responsible

A high level insider, who met with Milosevic on more than 30 occasions, testified that Milosevic was behind the war in Croatia. He controlled the armed forces of the Serbian Krajina and manipulated the people and the politicians. He created a war where a negotiated resolution might have been obtained. He oversaw cleansing of the Croatian Krajina of all non-Serb citizens through terror, military aggression, destruction of property and killing. He also controlled the peace process. No negotiated settlement was ever achieved without his approval.

Milosevic accomplished all this by collaborating with more than a dozen individuals, civilian and military, from Serbia, Montenegro, and the Serbian Krajina, as well as Serbs in Bosnia. His goal was to create a Serb-dominated state out of the remains of a disintegrated Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Despite his machinations in the Serbian Krajina, resulting in death, destruction and ethnic cleansing, he callously and cynically abandoned the Krajina Serbs to achieve the prize he wanted all along - an expanded Serbian state including Serbia, Montenegro and half of Bosnia. It was the deal he made with Franjo Tudjman in March 1991 - before a significant part of Croatia was set aflame.

This is what C-061 told the three Tribunal judges in more than five days of direct testimony and two days of cross examination. It more than justifies the prosecution's decision to forego the testimony of 14 other witnesses in exchange for additional time for C-061 to testify fully. It also shows that lead prosecutor Geoffrey Nice knew what he was talking about when he addressed the Court about insider witnesses during the OTP's case in chief on Kosovo.

'This is the largest case of its kind since the Second World War. Cases like this would be easy to prove if one member of the inner circle were able to come and give accurate evidence of what happened. [The case] could almost be proved with one witness.' While insider witnesses come with their own baggage, Witness C-061's direct testimony gives form and reality to Mr. Nice's words: The case can almost be proved with this one witness.

Despite numerous private sessions to protect the witness's identity, his public testimony was damning. It showed how Milosevic manipulated people and their fears to achieve his ends. As C-061 put it in response to a question from the accused, 'You sought to cheat, to trick the peoples of the Krajina . . . to achieve your plans . . . . You manipulated public opinion and the people of the Krajina.' In addition to propaganda, Milosevic established a parallel police and military structure in the Krajina under Milan Martic. 'You took over the armed forces in Krajina through Martic . . . .' Martic reported to Jovica Stanisic, Milosevic's Security Chief.

Also involved was Franko Simatovic (aka Frenki), head of the special operations unit of the Serbian State Security. When Milosevic asked C-061 why he was accusing Simatovic of participating in the parallel structure, the witness retorted, 'I am not accusing. I know he was subordinated to Stanisic and you advocated, requested, demanded that he be in Krajina. You said he was a good guy.'

Efforts made by the civilian government of Krajina to subordinate Martic to their control failed. Martic had force and Milosevic on his side and the politicians feared a civil war at a time when they were threatened by Croatia. The civilian authorities didn't achieve their goal 'because you supported those structures,' C-061 said to Milosevic.

As described in our earlier report on C-061's testimony, the Serb armed forces in Krajina were financed, trained and supplied by Belgrade. The witness described how Milosevic controlled the purse strings. More importantly, he testified that Milosevic had de facto control over the SFRY Presidency and the Yugoslav Army (JNA), as well as the military and police in the Krajina.

Witness C-061 also testified that ethnic cleansing was not spontaneous, but conformed to a pattern in both Croatia and Bosnia. In the Krajina, Martic's men would engage in provocative actions, such as opening fire on a village. When fire was returned, the Krajina Serb forces would respond with mortars and heavier fire. The JNA would bring in artillery under the pretext of separating the warring sides. Instead, they joined the Krajina Serb forces in pushing the Croats, military and civilian, out of the territory. This was followed by looting and torching property and killing individual Croats, mostly elderly, who remained. The pattern was repeated in village after village until the Croatian Krajina was effectively cleansed of its non-Serb population.

Asked whether Milosevic knew what was happening on the ground, C-061 replied, 'Milosevic must have known. His Service [DB or State Security Division of the Serbian Police] was present there and I met the head of his Secret Service there [Stanisic].'

One of 52 intercepted telephone conversations that the prosecution offered into evidence supports witness C-061's claim. A telephone call between Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic shows that Milosevic knew of the indiscriminate shelling of Gospic by Martic's forces. There was no indication that Milosevic took action to punish Martic for what was clearly a war crime, though he had control over him through Stanisic.

In other intercepted telephone conversations between Milosevic and Karadzic, the two discuss operations to secure land links between Serb territories in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. Milosevic expresses satisfaction at the secession of Slovenia and Croatia from the SFRY and says there should be no problem with Macedonia taking that route. Milosevic tells Karadzic, 'you see, they want to step out and are carrying out these things exactly the way we planned it.' Karadzic agrees and Milosevic repeats, 'Exactly the way we planned it.'

Martic's arrest by Croatian authorities in September 1991 was not according to plan, however. He was arrested for actions beginning in October 1990 designed to provoke armed conflict in Croatia, including attacks on police, shooting of civilians, destruction of shops, houses and vehicles with explosive devices and attacks on railroad tracks. The intercepts reveal his arrest was a crisis, but that Milosevic, once informed, resolved it quickly and Martic was released.

Milosevic was also in control of the international negotiating process, according to C-061. Whether the Carrington Plan, the Vance Plan or the Z-4 Proposal, it was Milosevic who decided when and whether to support them and how the Serb delegations should conduct themselves in the negotiations. When Milosevic opposed the Z-4 Plan (initiated by 4 ambassadors in Zagreb), Martic refused even to touch it when it was handed to him at an international conference.

Milosevic wanted the Vance Plan adopted. Though it was originally opposed by the Serb delegates, they embraced it under pressure from Milosevic. The Vance Plan sought to resolve the conflict in Croatia by demilitarizing all sides, withdrawing the JNA and introducing United Nations peacekeepers. Though accepted and UN forces came to the region, the rest of the Plan was never implemented. While the JNA formally withdrew, it left weapons, equipment and officers behind. Local Serb forces hid their weapons. Martic prevented Croat refugees from returning to their homes in the Krajina. This provides an example of the modus operandi Milosevic demonstrated throughout a decade of wars and international attempts to stop them. Promise and do nothing.

C-061 testified that Milosevic controlled negotiations between the Republika Srpska Krajina and Croatia in 1994, including matters concerning electricity, the oil pipeline, and railway. When the prosecutor asked him what would happen if someone took action without consulting Milosevic, C-061 replied, 'That couldn't have been done. They would have been sanctioned. There were instances of physical jeopardy.'

Even in his public testimony, Witness C-061 acknowledged that the source of his information is his own personal experience. For example, when asked how he knew that Milosevic decided which officers would command the Army of the Republika Srpska Krajina, the witness replied, 'I participated in the formalizing and legalizing of Milosevic's practical decisions.' On another occasion he explains how he knew Milosevic launched a campaign against Momir Bulatovic to get him to change his position in regard to the Carrington plan: 'I heard it personally from Milosevic.'

C-061 testified under protective measures which included voice and visual distortion and the assignment of a pseudonym (C-061). Nevertheless, for anyone familiar with the Yugoslav wars, his identity was obvious. It was certainly known to those from whom he would need protection. That he required protective measures in spite of this shows the degree of fear experienced by people from the region even today. It also explains why the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has had such difficulty securing insider testimony. In addition, the witness faces potential indictment himself, attested to by the presence of his attorney in court throughout his testimony.

Milosevic finished the second day's cross examination by asking the witness about this. 'In addition to the fact of your testifying against me are you also a suspect of this institution?' C-061 had the last word, before the Court declared a private session, 'I am not testifying against you. I am testifying to the truth.' Cross examination continues on December 2.