ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, Jan 9 (Hina) - A member of the special units of Serbia's State Security Service (SDB) testified in The Hague on Thursday about Serbia's assistance to the units, which operated in Croatia.
ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, Jan 9 (Hina) - A member of the special units of
Serbia's State Security Service (SDB) testified in The Hague on
Thursday about Serbia's assistance to the units, which operated in
Croatia. #L#
"We were given full support in the form of ammunition, uniforms,
funding and the use of camp sites," said protected witness K-2, who
is the first witness for the prosecution to testify in this year's
first court hearing in the trial of the former Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic.
The witness was recruited in Serbia in 1995 to the so-called "Red
Berets" and then deployed to Croatia, where he spent six months.
According to the witness, his unit was trained by instructors from
Serbia in camps set up in Slavonia.
"Most of the instructors had criminal records and taught techniques
of 'silent liquidation' and combat skills," the witness said.
The witness claimed that he and most members of his unit had not
taken part in any battles in Croatia, but he knew of cases where some
members of his unit were seen in the streets of Osijek in civilian
clothes, probably on spy operations.
Members of the "Red Berets" were not allowed to speak publicly about
their unit. Their salaries were paid out in cash and later they
received them in envelopes, along with a certificate issued by the
Serbian Interior Ministry. Some members, who had been previously
convicted, were promised that their sentences would be reduced or
cancelled, the witness continued.
The witness described the close collaboration between the
commander of the SDB units, Frenki Simatovic, and SDB chief Jovica
Stanisic and the leadership and forces of Serb rebels in Croatia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina.
According to the witness, Simatovic visited camps in Croatia while
Stanisic personally attended the opening of a camp in Kula on the
Vrbas river, when the "Red Berets" were officially integrated into
the Serbian Interior Ministry.
Cross-examining the witness, Milosevic tried to discredit his
testimony and reveal the witness's identity.
He stated that the "Red Berets" about whom the witness spoke did not
necessarily have to be part of the SDB because each town and
municipality in the so-called Republika Srpska Krajina had units
under that name.
During the cross-examination, the witness admitted that his life
was in danger not only due to his testimony but also due to his
involvement in the murder of Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan.
(hina) sp rml sb