ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - A former Croatian government commissioner for the area of Knin, Petar Pasic, who arrived in Knin immediately after the liberation of this town in early August 1995, has said that General Ivan Cermak, indicted
by the ICTY for crimes which happened in the said area in the wake of the 1995 liberation Operation Storm, is not responsible for the crimes, and has voiced willingness to testify before the Hague-based UN tribunal for the defence of the indicted general.
ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - A former Croatian government commissioner for
the area of Knin, Petar Pasic, who arrived in Knin immediately after
the liberation of this town in early August 1995, has said that
General Ivan Cermak, indicted by the ICTY for crimes which happened in
the said area in the wake of the 1995 liberation Operation Storm, is
not responsible for the crimes, and has voiced willingness to testify
before the Hague-based UN tribunal for the defence of the indicted
general.#L#
Pasic, who gave interviews to the Novi list and Slobodna Dalmacija
dailies on Thursday, confirmed Cermak's statements that the task of
the general in the liberated Knin was to help establish civilian
authorities and that he did not command the military troops.
"Cermak did not command over any unit. He was the logistical support
to civilian authorities and I can't understand why he should be now
tried on the basis of command responsibility," Pasic told the Slobodna
Dalmacija paper.
He said he had never heard that Cermak had killed anybody or ordered
the murder of anybody.
"Why should Cermak be held responsible for killings perpetrated by
others? I have never heard that he killed anybody or that he ordered
that anybody be killed. I don't see why he should be held responsible
for murder," Pasic told the Novi List paper.
"I talked about all of this in Zagreb with the tribunal's
investigators. They asked me about (Ante) Gotovina and Cermak, and I
told them that I believed that they were not guilty. I blame nobody
and don't want to, but I know that crimes were perpetrated in the
municipality of Knin, so let those who perpetrated them answer for
them," he said.
Pasic, a local Serb from the Knin area, was appointed by the Croatian
government as commissioner for the municipality of Knin while the area
was occupied by rebel Serbs. He carried out the duties of commissioner
even while he was displaced. He said that upon the liberation of Knin,
he and Cermak organised the restoration of water and power supply,
utilities as well as the opening of shops, schools, kindergartens
etc.
"I maintain that he (Cermak) objectively could do nothing to prevent
crimes, arson and plunder. Knin in that period reminds me of the
chaotic Baghdad upon the arrival of the US forces. How can the
situation be under control in such euphoria," Pasic wondered.
He recalled that after the killing of Serb civilians in the village of
Varivode near Knin in the wake of Operation Storm, Cermak said in
public that this was "a shot at Croatia". Pasic added that credit
should go to Cermak for his efforts to help many Serb citizens to
remain in Knin.
He described Storm as "a brilliant military operation", but said that
it was "devalued" by crimes for which individuals who committed them
on their own should answer.
(Hina) ms sb