THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Feb 19 (Hina) - Dragan Vasiljkovic, better known as "Captain Dragan", the new witness for the prosecution in the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, confirmed on Wednesday that all armed persons in
formerly occupied parts of Croatia had been controlled by the Serbian army, police and state security service, thus dealing a blow to Milosevic's tactics of ascribing most crimes to "volunteers".
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, Feb 19 (Hina) - Dragan Vasiljkovic, better known
as "Captain Dragan", the new witness for the prosecution in the
trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, confirmed
on Wednesday that all armed persons in formerly occupied parts of
Croatia had been controlled by the Serbian army, police and state
security service, thus dealing a blow to Milosevic's tactics of
ascribing most crimes to "volunteers". #L#
"All people under arms in areas of conflict had to be under the
control of the (Serbian state security) service (SDB), the army or
the police," said Vasiljkovic, a controversial trainer of Croatian
Serb paramilitary units in 1991.
He mentioned stopping a bus full of "Seselj's Chetniks" near
Korenica, whom he had "shaven, washed and assigned to various
units", and sending 20% of them back to Belgrade.
The four key people in the SDB who "were mentioned and visited
Krajina all the time" were Frenki Simatovic, Dragan Filipovic, Mile
Radonic and Jovica Stanisic, Vasiljkovic said, indicating that
Milan Babic and Milan Martic had played less important roles than
the four.
Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice introduced the witness, who only recently
waived protection measures, saying he was a professional soldier
who had served in the Australian army for six years and undergone
pilot training in the United States.
Vasiljkovic spoke about his arrival in Belgrade from the United
States in May 1990 and his flight across the Atlantic in his own
single-engine plane.
Instead of going to Tanzania, where he claims he was to take up the
office of a military advisor, he was sent to Croatia's Knin in line
with arrangements by Serbian government ministers and SDB members.
He wrote a training manual, invited a pilot friend, Briton Mark
Linch, to join him in Knin and in May 1991 took over the command of a
training camp in Golubic near Knin.
Vasiljevic spoke about his role in introducing order and discipline
in what at the time were very "unruly" forces and in financing and
filling the camp with help from local police (Martic) and the
Territorial Defence and generous financial assistance from
Serbia.
He said that there were no connections whatsoever with the Yugoslav
People's Army (JNA), and that his soldiers, called "Kninjas", were
even ready to clash with the JNA.
The prosecutor also inquired about the witness's participation in
military operations, so Vasiljkovic described an attack on a
(Croatian) National Guard Corps (ZNG) unit at Ljubovo and an attack
on Glina on July 28, 1991, when 20 of his soldiers had forced
Croatian units out of the town "with a little help from the JNA".
The prosecutor asked the witness to describe how a day later at Dvor
na Uni he disarmed and imprisoned a group of Serbs who had committed
a massacre in the Croat village of Struga. Vasiljkovic said he
handed them over to Martic's police, which is what he did with Croat
prisoners as well.
He described his first conflict with Milan Babic, upon his arrival
in Knin, and his dismissal and "banishment" from the town shortly
thereafter. He learned later from SDB sources that the order for his
replacement had come "from the very top", i.e. Milosevic.
Vasiljkovic also spoke about the problems which he subsequently had
in Serbia, his role in the formation of an SDB unit for special
operations, a conflict with the service, and the set-up of the
humanitarian "Captain Dragan's Fund" for assistance to the
families of his killed soldiers.
The main piece of evidence accompanying the testimony was a 40-
minute video recording of an event marking the sixth anniversary of
the SDB's special operations unit, the so-called "Red Berets", held
in Kula, Vojvodina, on May 4, 1997.
The footage shows Milosevic and other officials as well as "all
members of the Serbian intelligence". It shows Milosevic reviewing
the "Red Berets" and war veterans units, the unit's commander
reporting to him, Milosevic listening to a speech on the unit's war
path and organisation, and his tour of an exhibition, which
included war trophies such as a Croatian and a Bosniak flag.
Milosevic is also shown viewing weapons and equipment put on
display, demonstrating a vivid interest in the destructive power of
each weapon, visiting the unit's shooting range and attending a
lunch.
The defendant watched the recording with a grim expression.
Vasiljkovic continues testifying tomorrow.
(hina) rml sb