Manojlo Milovanovic, defence witness of Jovica Stanisic

Jovica Stanisic’s name is mentioned several times in Ratko Mladic’s diaries, mostly in the context of the meetings at which Serbia’s assistance to the Republika Srpska police or army was discussed. Stanisic’s defense counsel Jordash continued his cross-examination of VRS General Manojlo Milovanovic today. He tried to prove that Stanisic’s words, as recorded by Mladic, either made no sense or that Stanisic’s promises were never realized.

During the war, Milovanovic served as the chief of the VRS Main Staff, while Stanisic was the chief of the Serbian State Security Service. Stanisic is now on trial with his close associate Franko Simatovic; they are charged with the crimes committed by the police and paramilitary units from Serbia in Croatia and BH.

The defense counsel noted that Mladic in his notebooks never wrote Jovica Stanisic’s phone number during the entire war in BH. In fact, Stanisic’s name was mentioned for the first time on 2 July 1993. At a meeting held on that day, the Serbian State Security Service chief promised help for the training centers in Pale, Herzegovina and in a place called Talic, according to Mladic’s notes. The defense counsel asked the witness if that made any sense. It didn’t, Milovanovic replied, because he wasn’t aware of any training centers in Pale and Herzegovina. As for Talic, Milovanovic didn’t know of any such place.

According to Mladic’s notes, at the meeting on 8 July 1993 Stanisic said that from now on ‘we take over the financing of the Republika Srpska MUP’. Milovanovic didn’t know if that was indeed the case, adding that in his opinion no money came from Serbia because the Bosnian Serb police ‘was poor’ throughout the war. The only thing Milovanovic could say with certainty was that the Yugoslav Army paid the 7,500 VRS officers.

At a meeting in December 1993, Stanisic promised to support the combat activities of the Bosnian Serb army by sending about 100 to 120 Serbian police officers. The defense counsel asked the witness if that promise was realized. The witness said that the police officers from Serbia were never sent to BH. The troops that did come were from the 72^nd Brigade of the VJ Special Corps; they, the witness noted, wore red berets. The unit soon suffered defeat in combat; the witness said he personally ‘sent them packing’ home to Serbia.

Milovanovic claims that Stanisic was never mentioned during the meetings in the VRS Main Staff. He was, however, mentioned in the reports written by Mladic’s security officer Zdravko Tolimir. Stanisic and the Serbian interior minister were among the regular recipients of Tolimir’s ‘intelligence reports’. According to the witness, Tolimir’s actions were ‘improper and unlawful and his aim was to highlight his cooperation with various institutions in the Balkans’. Milovanovic said Stanisic’s name was often ‘used unnecessarily’ and today he apologized to the accused because he was ‘drawn into something he wasn’t involved in’. The witness had proffered a similar explanation in his letter to the prosecution in April 2010.

At the end of hearing today, Franko Simatovic’s defense began cross-examining the witness. Manojlo Milovanovic’s testimony, including the prosecutor’s re-examination, is expected to end tomorrow.

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