After several postponements, the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic started today with the opening statement of the prosecution late this afternoon. Former chiefs of the Serbian state security service are charged with crimes committed by the Serbian police and paramilitary troops in Croatia and BH. The UN Detention Unit physician told the Trial Chamber Stanisic was fit to stand trial via video link from the Detention Unit


‘The prosecution will show that the crimes the accused are charged with were committed as part of a joint criminal enterprise and that Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic were its willing and key participants’, prosecutor Dermot Groome emphasized at the beginning of the trial of the two former chiefs of the Serbian state security service. As alleged by the prosecution, they shared the intention of the other participants in the enterprise headed by Slobodan Milosevic: to forcibly remove large numbers of non-Serbs, mainly Croats and Muslims, from their homes using violence – killing and persecution.

At the beginning of the opening statement – due to continue tomorrow – Groome described Stanisic and Simatovic as the key persons responsible for ‘the organization, training, funding, equipping and control of the personnel in the Serbian state security units. In the name of protecting the Serbs, these units committed grave crimes in the territory of Croatia and BH.’

Before the trial started, the Trial Chamber questioned Dr Falke, the UN Detention Unit physician for three hours in closed session about the medical condition of the accused Stanisic. In public session, presiding judge Robinson thanked the doctor ‘for his sincerity’ and his conclusion that Stanisic was ‘fit’ to go to the room in the detention unit connected with the courtroom via video link. Based on that, the Trial Chamber decided that the accused ‘is well enough to be able to follow the proceedings and participate in the trial via video link’. However, his medical condition will be constantly supervised.

In the prosecution’s view, if Stanisic refuses to use the video link room, it has to be interpreted as his ‘waiver of the right to follow the trial’. Stanisic’s Dutch defense counsel Knoops didn’t agree with this argument, announcing that he might resign from the case.

After hearing Dr Falke, the Trial Chamber held a brief pre-trial conference telling the parties that the prosecution was granted 130 hours to hear 90 witnesses. The prosecution originally requested 172 hours for the examination-in chief of 106 witnesses on its list. Among the witnesses are Aleksandar Vasiljevic, former chief of the JNA counterintelligence service, Goran Stoparic, former member of the Scorpions unit and Dejan Anastasijevic, journalist of the Vreme magazine.

The Stanisic and Simatovic trial continues tomorrow afternoon.

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