THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, April 9 (Hina) - A protected witness registered as B1493, who was a high-ranking officer of the former Yugoslav army (JNA), on Wednesday began testifying in the trial against former Yugoslav president Slobodan
Milosevic before the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, April 9 (Hina) - A protected witness registered
as B1493, who was a high-ranking officer of the former Yugoslav army
(JNA), on Wednesday began testifying in the trial against former
Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic before the U.N. war crimes
tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). #L#
The witness spoke about the JNA's tactical plans before the
outbreak of the war in 1991 and the involvement of the JNA in the war
in Croatia and Bosnia.
Becuase of his job which he had as a senior officer in operational
and war planning, in March of 1991, the witness participated in the
drawing up a plan for the deployment of units in extraordinary
circumstances. This plan, elaborated under orders of the command of
the First Military District from Belgrade, was " the first tactical
plan of the JNA which contained information about the ethnic
composition of each town in Croatia and which mentioned an internal
enemy, concretely, the extreme wing of the Croatian Democratic
Union party (HDZ)".
The plan, for which the witness drew maps of ethnic compositions,
was completed in April and sent to Belgrade. The first conflicts in
Croatia began in May, when the witness, who was at the time the helm
of a JNA unit, was sent to Vinkovci with the task to "prevent inter-
ethnic conflicts".
The witness described how a convoy of JNA armoured transport
vehicles on May 3, 1991 headed towards the villages of Mirkovci and
Jankovci, near Vinkovci. The convoy was stopped at a barricade held
by Chetniks in Mirkovci, he added.
"I was shocked. There were three soldiers dressed in real Chetnik
uniforms, with busbies, cockades and cartridge belts such as we saw
in films 'Sutjeska', 'Neretva' and 'Kozara'," B1493 said alluding
to films about anti-Fascists conflicts with Serb nationalists
(Chetniks) in the Second World War.
He testified about how he saw Chetniks from Mirkovci shooting and
torching a Croat house in the adjacent Jankovci. He quoted a local
official as saying that the conflict was "instigated by outside
forces".
The witness said his unit had put an end to the conflict and
"introduced order", about which he had informed his superiors.
But his report was slammed, especially for his mention of Chetniks,
and subsequently he was removed from duty.
His successor included that unit into JNA conflicts siding it with
Serb paramilitary forces, said the witness.
B1493 also testified about his involvement in mobilising a JNA
brigade near Bijeljina in October 1991. The brigade, he said, was
supplemented by reservists from Serbia, "90 percent of whom had
Chetnik insignia". At the first formation of the brigade, he was
told he was "going to Croatia to defend the Serb people".
The witness also spoke about the "Serbisation of the JNA since 1990
when all commanders in his corps from the brigade upwards were
Serbs".
B1493 also described how JNA troops had, after withdrawing from
Croatia, been stationed in Bosnia in Serb-populated
municipalities. He testified about the engagement of units of Novi
Sad and Uzice corps and troops of the Serbian Territorial Defence in
Croatia and Bosnia, as well as the attack of Serbian war lord
Arkan's units on Bijeljina and Zvornik in March and April of 1992.
The witness will take the witness stand on Thursday as well, when he
will be cross-examined by Milosevic.
(hina) lml sb