THE HAGUE, Oct 15 (Hina) - A protected witness, member of former Croatian Serb rebel forces, on Tuesday spoke at the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague about how Serb forces and the former Yugoslav
People's Army (JNA) in late 1991 attacked the central Croatian village of Saborsko, after which they 'cleaned up' Rakovica and Slunj to round off Serb-held territory.
THE HAGUE, Oct 15 (Hina) - A protected witness, member of former
Croatian Serb rebel forces, on Tuesday spoke at the trial of former
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague about how Serb
forces and the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) in late 1991
attacked the central Croatian village of Saborsko, after which they
'cleaned up' Rakovica and Slunj to round off Serb-held territory.
#L#
The November 1991 attack on Saborsko and the persecution and
killing of its residents are included in the indictment against the
former Yugoslav president for war crimes committed in Croatia.
The witness said Serb commanders had ordered the attack on Saborsko
explaining that it was a major "Croat stronghold" which obstructed
road communication between Serb-held areas.
Several hundred troops, including Martic's soldiers, the
Territorial Defence (TO) and the JNA, participated in the attack.
It began with air strikes and cannon shelling from nearby hills,
after which several tanks and infantry started towards the village.
The village itself, the witness said, put up no resistance
whatsoever.
The witness said that none of the Serb soldiers had been killed in
the attack, while according to information he had heard there had
been 20 victims on the Croat side.
Upon arriving in Saborsko, the witness saw that all houses were set
on fire, except for the school and the church. The church was mined a
month later, the witness said.
On the same night, several Martic's men went looting, the witness
said, accusing those troops of the murder of three local Croats.
The remaining Croat residents, some 50-60 of them, were gathered
and transported the following day to the separation line near
Ogulin, the witness said. The remaining two Croat places in the area
- Rakovica and Slunj - were taken subsequently as well, the witness
said, adding that after this it was possible "to travel all the way
from Knin to Belgrade through Serb-held areas".
The witness also described the mobilisation of the TO which the JNA
started systematically arming and organising under its own command
structure in the second half of 1991.
Describing the atmosphere before the "log revolution", the witness
said he remembered very well Croatian Democratic Union deputy Sime
Djodan's statement that Serbs are a disruptive factor and should
therefore be killed, converted to Catholicism or relocated.
The testimony continues on Wednesday.
(hina) rml sb