At the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, a protected prosecution witness claimed today that the Serbian state security service was in charge of the training of the Krajina special forces in Golubic near Knin in 1991. The prosecution tendered into evidence several Christmas cards that show the ties between the Krajina Serbs and the authorities in Belgrade, Podgorica and Pale


At the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, a prosecution witness yesterday ended his evidence in closed session. Today, the trial continued with the evidence of another protected witness, JF 039. Testifying with image and voice distortion to protect his identity, the witness spoke about the presence of the Serbian state security service, headed by the two accused, in Krajina during the war in Croatia. The witness also described the ties between the Krajina leadership and the authorities in Belgrade. Stanisic and Simatovic are charged with crimes committed by the paramilitary and police units established, controlled and/or supported by the Serbian secret service.

At the beginning of the examination-in chief, the prosecutor did not read the summary of the witness’s statement given in 2003. The statement was admitted into evidence. There was no mention of the witness’s role in Krajina in 1990s. All that could be deduced from the witness’s answers was that he was in the special police training camp in Golubic near Knin and that he worked closely with the chief of the Krajina police and later president of the so-called RSK Milan Martic. According to the witness, in May 1991, Franko Simatovic established the camp in Golubic. Dragan Vasiljkovic, known as Captain Dragan, conducted the training. The witness explained that at first, volunteers from Krajina underwent the training; the Territorial Defense members joined in later. Three months later, after a clash with the Territorial Defense, the headquarters, together with Simatovic and Vasiljkovic, moved to the Knin Fortress.

Today the prosecutor played three video clips of stories produced by the Knin TV in the early 1990s. The first video shows Milan Martic’s speech at the inauguration of a monument to the fallen Serb fighter in Golubic. Martic says it is impossible to live together with ‘the fiends’ (Croats), and says Krajina should remain ‘a Serb ethnic territory’. The second video shows the celebration to mark the Security Services Day in Krajina where Milan Martic plays the main role. Milan Babic, Jovica Stanisic, Stojan Zupljanin, Goran Hadzic and others attended the ceremony. The third clip shows the training of the special units in Golubic. Captain Dragan says they were there ‘to cleanse SAO Krajina of Croatian forces’. The people who attended the training were called Kninjas. Two of them, Kalinic and Vuckovic, both captains, also gave statements. The witness said he personally knew Kalinic and Vuckovic.

Apart from sending troops to Krajina, the Serbian state security service provided logistic support to the Serb formations there. As the witness said, he and his fellow fighters talked to a man called Milan Tepavcevic from the Serbian state security service when they needed to have their cars repaired and refueled.

The prosecutor today tendered into evidence several documents, including a number of Christmas and New Year’s cards. The witness was able to recognize Milan Martic’s signature on them. Martic sent them to Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, to Jovica Stanisic, Zoran Lilic, Momir Bulatovic and Momcilo Krajisnik.

As the hearing today drew to a close, Stanisic’s defense counsel Jordash began his cross-examination of the witness, to be continued tomorrow.

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