Based on the minutes of the sessions of the Bosnian Serb Assembly, American historian Robert Donia concluded at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic that the RS leadership wanted to carve up BH with the support from Serbia, based on a plan contained in their key document, the Six Strategic Goals


The trial of the two former chiefs of the Serbian state security service Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic continues after a two-month break with the evidence of American historian Robert Donia, who was asked by the prosecution to draft an expert report based on his research of the minutes of all the sessions of the Bosnian Serb Assembly. Donia presented his findings on the developments before and during the war in BH. Stanisic and Simatovic are charged with participation in the joint criminal enterprise to expel non-Serbs from large parts of BH and Croatia.

As regards Bosnia and Herzegovina, the plan to carve up the newly recognized state and to ethnically cleanse the areas that purportedly belonged to the Serbs was contained in the Six Strategic Goals, a key document produced by the Bosnian Serbs, the American expert explained. The first goal called for a physical division of the three ethnic communities. In Donia’s view, this was a general principle and a model on which a Serb state within BH was to be set up. The other five goals defined the Serb territory bordered by the rivers Una, Neretva, Sava and Drina, access to the sea, and takeover of half of the city of Sarajevo. The witness explained the goals in detail in his recent testimony at the trial of former Republika Srpska president Radovan Karadzic. The prosecution tendered parts of Donia’s evidence from the Karadzic case into evidence.

As the witness noted, the transcripts of the Assembly sessions indicate that Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic – and the police forces from Serbia and Republika Srpska – worked hand in hand. At the 55th session of the Assembly in late October 1995, several delegates note that they were part of a RS delegation which met Slobodan Milosevic and Jovica Stanisic in Belgrade.

As the American expert said, Franko Simatovic’s name was not mentioned in the minutes of the RS Assembly, but the Red Berets unit was. The indictment alleges that Simatovic was the commander of the unit. At a session in late 1993, a delegate says that the Red Berets members were part of the VRS, adding that they were responsible for the murder of a local Serb policeman in Brcko. At another session, a delegate says that Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan’s unit was sent from Belgrade to ‘help Serbs in BH’, advocating that Arkan be appointed the commander of Banja Luka. The indictment against Stanisic and Simatovic lists ‘Arkan’s men’ as one of the special units under control of the Serbian state security service.

As the hearing today drew to a close, the defense began cross-examining Robert Donia. The cross-examination might continue tomorrow, or the Trial Chamber may decide to first examine a witness whose identity was not disclosed today. The witness is scheduled to testify under the pseudonym B-215. The defense objected to the admission into evidence of large parts of Donia’s expert report, saying they were irrelevant and unreliable. The Chamber will rule on the objection later. This is the fifteenth time that Donia is testifying before the Tribunal.

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