THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, March 29 (Hina) - The shelling of Dubrovnik's Old Town on 6 December 1991 was an "arbitrary and grave crime" committed by Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) Captain Vladimir Kovacevic aka Rambo, whom JNA General Pavle
Strugar later protected and even suggested for promotion, Admiral Miodrag Jokic told the Hague war crimes tribunal on Monday, the fourth day of his testimony against Strugar.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, March 29 (Hina) - The shelling of Dubrovnik's Old
Town on 6 December 1991 was an "arbitrary and grave crime" committed
by Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) Captain Vladimir Kovacevic aka Rambo,
whom JNA General Pavle Strugar later protected and even suggested for
promotion, Admiral Miodrag Jokic told the Hague war crimes tribunal on
Monday, the fourth day of his testimony against Strugar.#L#
Asked by prosecutor Susan Sommers if Strugar ordered the attack, Jokic
said he could not "point the finger and say that Strugar ordered it".
"I can't prove that, nor do I think so, but I believe that many close
to him encouraged the actions that led to the December 6 attack,"
Jokic said.
He went on to say that Strugar backed Kovacevic's story that he had
been provoked and did not intentionally attack Srdj and later the
UNESCO-protected centre of southern Croatia's Dubrovnik.
"Strugar protected him. I had the completely opposite opinion back
then, and I still do," Jokic said, adding that Kovacevic was
subsequently promoted to the rank of mayor at Strugar's suggestion.
Describing the events which led to the attack, Jokic said that
Kovacevic shelled Dubrovnik out of revenge after the JNA Trebinje
Brigade's Third Battalion, which he commanded, sustained losses in the
attack on Srdj. "It happens in war that a commander has had enough."
Jokic went on to say that he asked Strugar to replace Kovacevic,
investigate him and put him on trial, which he added Strugar did not
agree with.
Strugar, who commanded all JNA troops engaged in the Dubrovnik
operation in late 1991, is on trial for violations of the laws and
customs of war committed in the December 6 attack on the southern
Adriatic resort. Jokic, the second most important figure in the
operation, signed a plea agreement with the Hague tribunal and was
given a seven-year prison term on March 18.
Kovacevic is indicted for the Dubrovnik operation as well. The
tribunal has announced that given his mental illness he will be
transferred from the tribunal's detention centre to a psychiatric
hospital.
(Hina) ha sb