THE HAGUE, Oct 1 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said at the beginning of his testimony in the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at the Hague-based war crimes tribunal on Tuesday that Milosevic was
responsible for the break-up of Yugoslavia and the occupation of a part of Croatia.
THE HAGUE, Oct 1 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said at
the beginning of his testimony in the trial of former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic at the Hague-based war crimes
tribunal on Tuesday that Milosevic was responsible for the break-up
of Yugoslavia and the occupation of a part of Croatia. #L#
"I am confident that Milosevic was not comfortable with any
Yugoslavia, neither a federal nor a confederal one. He was
interested in Great Serbia, which was to be established on the ruins
of Yugoslavia," Mesic said, describing how a leader of Knin Serbs,
Milan Babic, had after consultations with Milosevic in Belgrade
forbidden the heads of Serb municipalities to contact him (Mesic),
who at the time was Croatia's premier, to prevent them from trying
to find a peaceful solution.
"This preceded the adoption of the decision on autonomy... it was
completely clear that it was an attempt to split off a part of
Croatia," said Mesic, describing the start of the so-called "log
revolution" which led to the occupation of one third of Croatia's
territory.
In this enterprise, Mesic said, the JNA provided the most support.
The prosecution introduced through Mesic transcripts from the
sessions of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia which focused on the Croatian Serb rebellion, declaring
a state of emergency, and deploying the JNA and at which Mesic
warned that Serb circles were not interested in protecting Croatian
Serbs but in seizing Croatian territory with the help of the JNA.
"I insisted that the army return to the barracks," Mesic said,
explaining that there was a scenario to provoke problems in Croatia
and have the JNA enter Croatia to secure the conquered territory.
"There was a collusion between the army, Serbia and the so-called
Krajina aimed at establishing the new border of Great Serbia,"
Mesic said.
"Serbia, that is, Slobodan Milosevic, wanted the army to separate
the warring forces... there were no warring forces whatsoever...
they were trying to establish the borders of Great Serbia... It was
a trick to deceive the international and Yugoslav public, as well as
Croatian Serbs."
President Mesic also described a failed attempt of the Serbian
members of the collective state presidency to declare a state of
emergency and activate the JNA in Croatia, after which the Serbian
and Montenegrin presidents resigned and Milosevic addressed the
nation, saying that Yugoslavia no longer existed and that he did not
recognise any decisions by the federal presidency.
Asked about the establishment of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) in
Croatia, Mesic said that some time after the party had been
established it became obvious that it was "manipulated by Slobodan
Milosevic and his regime" and that territories where the party came
to power had been ethnically cleansed.
With a discreet smile on his face, Milosevic carefully watched
Mesic's arrival in the courtroom and at one moment their eyes met
when Mesic glanced towards Milosevic, who was Serbia's president at
the time Mesic arrived in Belgrade to take over the post of a former
federal presidency member in the early 1990s.
Both wearing navy blue suits, Milosevic with a blue tie and Mesic
with a blue and red striped one, they sat only several meters apart.
During the testimony Mesic mostly looked towards prosecutor
Geoffrey Nice who conducted the examination from the other end of
the hall, while Milosevic followed his testimony with his arms
crossed, making notes from time to time.
Mesic started his testimony by describing the process of
Yugoslavia's destabilisation, which he said had started with the
abolishment of Kosovo and Vojvodina's autonomy.
"The arrival of Slobodan Milosevic was aimed at abolishing Kosovo
and Vojvodina's autonomy," Mesic said, describing the anti-
bureaucratic revolution and the toppling of the two provinces'
government.
"The leadership which suited Slobodan Milosevic came to power."
Asked about Milosevic's speech at Gazimestan, Mesic said that the
defendant at the time spoke about the possibility of armed
conflicts, to which Milosevic, who previously described his speech
as "an excellent one", reacted with an ironic smile.
Mesic said that the Serbian bloc in the former Yugoslav presidency,
"through which Milosevic operated", had for a long time resisted
his (Mesic's) taking over his post in the presidency.
Describing his first meeting with Milosevic in Belgrade, which was
also attended by former Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, Mesic
said that it focused on Kosovo and the disintegration of
Yugoslavia. Milosevic submitted at the meeting an expert analysis
according to which 500,000 Muslims would return from Turkey in case
of Yugoslavia's disintegration, causing a change of the ethnic
composition, the witness said.
At the beginning of the hearing Milosevic objected that the time
Mesic was given for his testimony had been prolonged from four to
4.5 hours, describing Mesic as a "problematic person in every
aspect, given his personal criminal role in the break-up of
Yugoslavia".
In the first part of the testimony, while the prosecutor was
questioning him about his biography, Mesic said that he had left the
Croatian Democratic Union because he did not agree with its policy
of division of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the wrong model of
privatisation and non-functioning of the rule of law.
Mesic's testimony has again filled the journalist gallery in the
courtroom.
(hina) rml