Two police insider witnesses called by the prosecution contend that the ‘special units’ took part in killing and abusing Croatian civilians, stealing cars and counterfeiting documents. As alleged in the indictment, the special units were under the control of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic


The prosecution continues its case at the trial of former chiefs of the Serbian state security service Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic with the evidence on the crimes in Baranja. Stanisic and Simatovic face charges of crimes against non-Serbs in Croatia and BH. Two police insiders testified with full protective measures, with image and voice distortion.

The first witness was a former Serb police officer from Dalj, who testified as JF-18. The witness confirmed that the statement he had given to the OTP investigators in January 2001 was true. In it, the witness recounted what he knew about the murder of Croatian civilians detained in the Dalj police station. Today the witness said that one early morning in October 1991 he returned from his regular night patrol to learn that ‘Arkan’s men’ had arrived in the police station the night before. ‘Arkan’s men’, or members of the Serbian Volunteer Guard (SDG), took out the Croatian prisoners and killed them all. The witness contends that when he got to the police station that morning he saw only one prisoner who was cleaning blood in front of the building. The indictment against Stanisic and Simatovic alleges that 11 civilians were killed in that incident. Their bodies were later buried in a mass grave in the village of Celije.

The witness went on to say that local citizens, policemen and members of the territorial defense stood up against the murder of civilians. Soon after, Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan, the SDG commander addressed the people gathered in Dalj. The witness didn’t attend the rally but he heard that Arkan took the blame for the killings. The prosecution alleges that Raznatovic’s Guard was one of the ‘special units’ operating in Croatia and BH under the Serbian state security service. The defense tried to contest this allegation in their cross-examination, noting there were close ties between Arkan, the JNA and the government of the self-proclaimed Republika Srpska Krajina.

The second witness who testified today offered the OTP investigators in 2001 a more comprehensive overview of the way the Serbian state security service shaped the events in Baranja from 1991 to 1995. In the summary of his statement, the witness maintained that the top man in the state security service in Baranja, Radoslav Kostic, reported to the service in Belgrade.

In the second half of 1991, men from that part of Croatia would be arrested for various reasons: because they were Croats, because they were in the HDZ, because they were rich people or simply for revenge, the witness said. In his statement, the witness noted that they were detained in police stations in Beli Manastir and Borovo, where they were abused and then taken to ‘be exchanged’ or simply disappeared.

In his examination-in-chief, the witness, who is testifying under the pseudonym JF-36, said that security officers from Sombor and from the DB anti-terrorist units (JATD) under the command of Vasilije Mijovic from Belgrade were deployed in Baranja. Judging from his evidence, their ‘anti-terrorist’ activities focused mostly on stealing cars and counterfeiting driving licenses. The witness claims that Zeljko Milovanovic Gavra was a member of Mijovic’s unit. Milovanovic is currently a suspect in the murder of Croatian journalist Ivo Pukanic.

The prosecution will complete the examination-in chief tomorrow. The witness will then be cross-examined by the defense.

Sharing