In his cross-examination, prosecution witness Manojlo Milovanovic agreed with the defense counsel’s suggestion that Jovica Stanisic was not involved in any way in the fighting between the 5th Corps and Fikret Abdic’s troops in the Cazin Krajina. Milovanovic noted that the accused ‘only’ conveyed a decision of the military and political authorities of Serbia and Republika Srpska to him. He also explained why he thought Stanisic was a waiter


The cross-examination of the former chief of the VRS Main Staff Manojlo Milovanovic by the defense of the Serbian secret police chief Jovica Stanisic was completed with Operation Spider. This operation was carried out by the joint forces of Serbia, Republika Srpska, Republic of Serbian Krajina and Fikret Abdic’s units. The prosecution is trying to prove that Stanisic was one of the organizers of the operation. The indictment alleges that Stanisic and his deputy Franko Simatovic sent troops from Serbia to Croatia and BH throughout the war, thereby contributing to the goal of the joint criminal enterprise aimed at the permanent expulsion of non-Serbs from the area.

General Milovanovic explained that the objective of Operation Spider was to provide support to Fikret Abdic’s troops when they clashed with the BH Army 5th Corps. When defense counsel Jordash put it to him that there was no intention to expel the Muslims loyal to the Sarajevo government from that territory, Milovanovic agreed, adding that the operation went on until the end of the war but the 5th Corps remained undefeated.

Milovanovic said he didn’t know that Stanisic had any role in Operation Spider. The ‘only’ thing that Stanisic did was to convey a decision of the military and political authorities of Serbia and Republika Srpska appointing him the commander of the operation. Milovanovic refused to take command of the joint forces because he ‘didn’t want to command [Abdic’s] Muslims,’ as he explained in his examination-in chief.

Jordash again tried to minimize Stanisic’s role in the war, reminding the witness of one of his previous statements where he said that when he first met Stanisic in the Omorika Hotel at the Tara river in early 1993, he thought Stanisic was a ‘waiter’, not a high-ranking government official. ‘I want to apologize to Mr. Stanisic but I really thought he was a waiter, because he was so well-dressed, groomed and refined’, the witness said.

Franko Simatovic’s defense lawyer revisited Operation Spider in an effort to contest the prosecution argument that the accused issued orders to police and paramilitary units sent from Serbia to Western Bosnia in 1994 and 1995. Petrovic showed a document according to which Mile Novakovic, a general in the Krajina Serb army, was appointed the commander of the operation, with Cedo Bulat as his assistant. The witness confirmed it. When the presiding judge intervened, the prosecutor replied he didn’t intend to contest it was indeed so, although only on paper.

The defense also tried to prove that Stanisic and Simatovic didn’t participate in the planning of Operation Spider. According to the defense, the operation resulted from an agreement among Karadzic, Abdic and Milosevic in October 1994, whereby Republika Srpska was to establish peace between Serbs and Muslims and maintain ‘good neighborly relations’ with the so-called Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia proclaimed by Abdic. Milovanovic said he was aware of the agreement: he asked Karadzic at a meeting how he could negotiate peace with the Muslims without talking to Alija Izetbegovic. The Bosnian Serb president told him he had signed the agreement because as far as Republika Srpska was concerned, ‘it cost nothing, and Slobodan Milosevic liked it’, the witness argued.

The trial of the former Serbian state security service chiefs continues next week with a new prosecution witness.

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