Defence Demands Djordjevic Acquittal

Velma Šarić

IWPR-trained journalist

Friday, 16 July, 2010

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The defence in the case of former Serbian security chief Vlastimir Djordjevic demanded an acquittal in closing statements this week, arguing that others had been responsible for crimes committed in Kosovo in 1999. The prosecution, however, called for between 35 years to life imprisonment for the accused.

Djordjevic, the former chief of the Public Security Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, MUP, of Serbia, was indicted for persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, murder, deportation and forcible transfer of civilians.

In the closing arguments of his trial, which began on January 27, 2009, the prosecution restated its view that Djordjevic played a key role in the cover-up of crimes committed in Kosovo in 1999. He is also alleged to have controlled police units which took part in the murder and deportation of ethnic Albanians.

“Although he knew of these crimes, the accused did nothing to have them prevented or investigated,” said prosecutor Chester Stamp.

Djordjevic was, according to the prosecution, a key actor in the joint criminal enterprise led by late Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic.

Milosevic was accused of masterminding attempts to ethnically cleanse non-Serbs from lands coveted by Belgrade but died in 2006, a few weeks before his case was due to end.

The prosecution also stated that there was a clearly visible pattern of crimes indicating that the ultimate goal of the plan was to expel ethnic Kosovar Albanians from Kosovo.

This pattern was described as consisting of a joint attack by army and police against an Albanian village, destruction of homes by uniformed Serb troops, murder of some civilians and deportation of the remainder.

The prosecutor argued that this pattern would not have been possible without the participation of Djordjevic and policemen subordinate to him.

“After they failed to solve the question of violent and non-violent separatism by Kosovo Albanians, and in order to establish conditions for keeping Serb rule in the region, the Yugoslav and Serbian leaderships devised a plan of changing the national balance in Kosovo in order to ensure that Serbs would still be in control in the territory,” Stamp said.

“This was an aim which couldn't have been implemented without using crimes, in particular, the expulsion of a large part of the Albanian populace in Kosovo.”

He also added that an estimated 800,000 Albanians were deported from Kosovo and thousands killed in less than three months, arguing that there was a clearly visible pattern based on evidence including statements from survivors.

It was the public security sector, which was headed by Djordjevic, which played the key role in this process, according to the prosecutor.

“During this trial, we have had the opportunity to hear what position Mr Djordjevic had held and what competence he held over the sector of public security,” Stamp said. “We also heard how he acted to support this plan.”

Stamp also restated that numerous witness statements confirmed how Djordjevic had ordered the transfer of some 800 Albanian corpses into mass graves in three sites in Serbia: Batajnica, Petrovo and Lake Perucac.

“These corpses were transferred to Serbia and interred there in order to cover up the crimes,” he said. “Nobody is disputing this evidence or the existence of these crimes, your honour. It is a conclusion which the trial chamber should make, that this evidence is indeed undisputed.”

These bodies, Stamp added, “were remains of murder victims, and those who organised the transport and burial must have known that these were murder victims, not combatants or people who randomly lost their lives in conflict”.

During the trial, the defence had argued that there was a conflict between the then minister, Vlajko Stoiljkovic, and Djordjevic, and that it was Stoiljkovic who was actually responsible for the crimes.

However, the prosecutor dismissed this claim, stating that “there was no conflict between them, but they worked shoulder to shoulder towards the same goal”.

To support this, the prosecution produced police orders issued in February of 1999, showing how Djordjevic and Stoiljkovic issued identical orders and referred to one another.

The prosecution ended by demanding a term of imprisonment for Djordjevic of between 35 years to life.

The defence then presented its closing arguments which sought to minimise Djordjevic's responsibility for - and role in - the murder and deportations of Kosovar Albanians and the transfer of corpses to Serbia.

His lawyer, Dragoljub Djordjevic, devoted a key part of the closing arguments alleging that it was others who were actually responsible for the crimes, including former MUP minister Vlajko Stoiljkovic and former MUP Kosovo chief of staff Sreten Lukic.

The defence said that there was no joint criminal enterprise aimed at the expulsion of Albanians from Kosovo. According to him, the murders were not planned, but were rather “isolated incidents by irresponsible policemen”.

The defence also underlined that the plan for establishing control in Kosovo was legitimate, since Kosovo was Serbian territory.

Lawyer Djordjevic said that the departure of 800,000 Kosovars in the spring of 1999 was by no means a result of police actions, but rather “voluntary”, caused by what he described as the fear of NATO bombing, armed combat and Kosovo Liberation Army propaganda.

“It is not true that the deportation of Albanians was organised,” continued the defence.

“The transport was being conducted by regular buses and trains, and in the worst cases, an extra departure would be added here or there.”

Although Djordjevic was, as chief of public security, in charge of all police units on the ground, the defence denied any link between him and troops committing crimes in Kosovo. According to the defence, Djordjevic lost all control over troops in Kosovo on June 16, 1998, when the MUP staff for Kosovo was founded by Stoiljkovic.

“After that point, the police in Kosovo were commanded by the chief of the MUP staff for Kosovo, Sreten Lukic,” he added.

While not fully rejecting Djordjevic's role in the transfer of the corpses of ethnic Albanians to Serbia, the defence admitted that he had taken part in the action “only in limited scope and only to fulfil orders by Stoiljkovic”.

Stoiljkovic committed suicide in Belgrade in 2002.

Vlastimir Djordjevic was indicted in October 2003 and brought to the United Nations detention unit in June 2007. The prosecution completed its case on October 28, 2009, adding an additional witness in May 2010. The defence case was completed on May 20, 2010.

Velma Saric is an IWPR-trained reporter in Sarajevo.