Super Tiger Testifies: Serbia trained paramilitaries to fight in Bosnia

One of Arkan's Super Tigers, an elite Serb paramilitary group, testified for the prosecution in the Milosevic trial. His identity was protected and he testified with facial and voice distortion. A large part of his testimony and much of the cross examination were in private session. Nevertheless, he provided an intriguing look into the role Serbian paramilitaries played in Croatia and Bosnia.

Conscripted into a Bosnian Serb territorial defense unit (TO), C-020 was sent to fight in Croatia in 1991. His TO received equipment and arms from Serbia, either from the Serbian TO or the Yugoslav Army (JNA). He also testified that all units, local and from outside, were subordinated to the JNA, which was not trying to separate local warring parties as Milosevic alleges, but was 'on our side.' In cross examination, however, he agreed with Milosevic that the JNA had intervened to protect Croats from the local TO. Much of the rest of C-020's testimony about Croatia was in private session.

It was while he was in Croatia, however, that the Super Tigers were formed in early 1993 from the ranks of Serbian paramilitaries. Though they saw no action at that time and were disbanded when fighting in Croatia ceased, they were remobilized in 1994 to fight in Bosnia. The organizer of the Super Tigers was Zelko Raznatovic, aka Arkan.

Though Serbian forces were prohibited from fighting in Bosnia under a UN mandate, witness C-020 testified that the Super Tigers were trained in Serbia and transported across the border to Bosnia. Colonel Legija, C-020's direct commander subordinated to Franko Simatovic (aka Frenkie), head of the special operations unit of the State Security Division of the Serbian MUP, gave strict instructions that they were not to wear insignia or to identify the unit they belonged to. If they were forced to, they could tell 'their people' they were members of the Special Police from Serbia. They were to say nothing to anyone else.

To cross the border into Bosnia, which was patrolled by UN troops, the paramilitaries waited for the Russian contingent to take over, then 'reached agreement' with them and crossed into Bosnia. They eventually arrived in Katinovac, a logistics base operated by Frenkie, where they were issued weapons. According to C-020, the base had stockpiles of fuel and weapons, a landing strip for helicopters, a hospital and a staff headquarters, showing extensive Serbian involvement in the Bosnian war. C-020 also testified that weapons and equipment were transported from Serbia into Bosnia, in violation of the UN arms embargo.

In Bosnia, the Super Tigers were ordered to assist Fikret Abdic, a renegade Muslim who presided over a fiefdom in Western Bosnia from which he fought the Bosnian Muslim army. C-020 testified that the Super Tigers trained Abdic's forces, likely armed them and participated in battles in the area of Velika Kladusa until it was 'liberated.' Further implicating official Serbia in the war in Bosnia, C-020 testified that he was paid partly in the combat area and the rest when he returned to Headquarters in Belgrade. Asked about the source of the funds, he speculated they came from the Serbian MUP and Arkan.

After the Super Tigers suffered several losses in Western Bosnia, an obituary of a high ranking Serbian police official appeared in a Belgrade newspaper. As a result, Frenki ordered them not to participate directly in further operations because Serbs from Serbia proper were not supposed to be engaged in the Bosnian battlefield. The unit continued to provide assistance through coordination, observation and training, however.

In the brief cross examination that was aired in public session, Milosevic obtained some concessions from the witness. In addition to agreeing that the JNA was merely separating two warring parties in Croatia, witness C-020 stated that the Serbian Volunteer Guard was placed under the command of Republic of Serb Krajina (i.e. the Croatian Serb forces), that his unit was the 'most disciplined unit in the theater of war,' the fighting took place on the front lines and he had no contact with civilians, nor was there any looting, burning and killing of civilians. Witness C-020 also conceded that neither the JNA nor Serbia was involved in the January - March 1993 fighting in Knin, and that his unit consisted of volunteers.

For clarification, it is important to remember that the witness discussed three distinct periods in open session: 1991 when he was conscripted into the Bosnian Serb TO; 1993 when he fought in the Serbian Volunteer Guard in the Knin theater in Croatia; and 1994 when he fought with the Super Tigers in Bosnia. It is impossible to tell from the public sessions alone whether he was involved in additional operations, though he stated fighters from Serbia would periodically go on home leave and return, indicating involvement in other theaters of war.

Milosevic also elicited the witness's agreement that he voluntarily re-joined the Super Tigers in 1994 for operations in Bosnia. However, a volunteer unit supplied, trained and sent by Serbian authorities does not break the link to Serbia, nor absolve Serbia from participation in the Bosnian war. Nor was Milosevic able to secure the witness's agreement that his unit did not engage in fighting in Bosnia and only provided training and indirect support. When witness C-020 answered 'Initially, we took part in operations,' then on further questioning reiterated, 'Later we learned we shouldn't have taken part in direct operations, but only indirectly,' Milosevic gave up and turned to another line of questioning. Indirect involvement is involvement nevertheless.

Milosevic's last question in open session elicited an intriguing answer. He asked witness C-020 whether the people in Western Bosnia were friendly to him, whether they were moderate and wanted a stable life. Milosevic appeared to be trying to support his earlier contention that the local Muslim population headed by Fikret Abdic was opposing the 'extremist Muslim wing of the army of Izetbegovic.' C-020, however, did not agree. He responded, 'My personal opinion of people whose conduct was proper and friendly -- I didn't meet anyone like that, even among Serbs.'

While witness C-020's testimony in public session was strong and provided important evidence of links between Serbia and fighting in Croatia and Bosnia, it is impossible to make an assessment of its effectiveness. He may have testified to additional incidents and implicated more senior Serbian authorities, or supplied even more details and specifics of Serbian involvement across its borders. Milosevic may have secured important concessions on cross examination, or brought his credibility into question (though there was no sign of that strategy in the brief public cross examination). Regardless of these unknowns, there seems little doubt of the significance of the first Serbian paramilitary to testify. In the end, of course, it is the Court's duty to evaluate the testimony and they will have been fully informed.