ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, Dec 4 (Hina) - The key witness for the prosecution in the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic before the UN war crimes tribunal said on Wednesday that the armed conflicts in Plitvice and Borovo Selo
in the spring of 1991 had been instigated by Serbs.
ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, Dec 4 (Hina) - The key witness for the prosecution
in the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic before
the UN war crimes tribunal said on Wednesday that the armed
conflicts in Plitvice and Borovo Selo in the spring of 1991 had been
instigated by Serbs. #L#
During the cross-examination of protected witness C-061, who has
been testifying for ten days in the part of the trial referring to
war crimes in Croatia, Milosevic tried to prove that the former
Croatian authorities were responsible for the outbreak of the
conflict in Croatia.
Milosevic accused the Croatian police of having entered and opened
fire in Borovo Selo on May 2, 1991.
"I learned of that from Vojislav Seselj who was in Knin at the time.
He told me that two of his people were killed there," the witness
said.
The witness said that people from Borovo Selo had told him that "the
Croatian police came in buses and were not in combat disposition".
"They even wondered how they could be so stupid to come in buses.
They let them enter the village deeper and then opened fire on
them," the witness said.
It could be concluded from the testimony of witness C-061 that in
the 1990s he held high posts in the Croatian Serb rebel authorities.
The witness was testifying with his face hidden and voice
electronically distorted.
A large part of today's hearing was closed for public to protect the
witness' identity. Richard May, the judge presiding the trial,
interrupted Milosevic several times, warning him to refrain from
holding speeches and concentrate on questions, as well as to
refrain from commenting on the witness' answers.
The Croatian police intervention in Plitvice of March 30, 1991 came
after Serbian forces, controlled by the then Knin police chief
Milan Martic and the Serbian Intelligence Service, had been
deployed in the region, the witness said.
"I do not know whom Martic deployed there, but the forces were in the
woods in combat disposition. The Serb forces fired a rifle grenade
at a bus with special Croatian police forces aboard, after which the
exchange of fire started," the witness said.
"A man from the Serbian Intelligence Service was there and he
exerted influence on Martic so that he would not set up a police
station in Plitvice but deploy forces there for combat," the
witness said.
Asked about the start of armed conflicts in Banija and Kordun, the
witness said that Serb forces had tried to take over control of the
Croatian police station in Glina in the summer of 1991.
"Are you claiming that the Serbs attacked the Croats?," Milosevic
asked.
"No, I am saying that Krajina's special police forces, which were
commanded by Captain Dragan, attacked and later took over the
Croatian police station in Glina," the witness replied.
The former Yugoslav president then asked the witness if he believed
that "some representatives from Serbia kindled fear in Banija and
Kordun".
"The Belgrade media exaggerated events, they were always reminding
about the events from World War Two," the witness said.
"You generated incidents and instilled fear in the Serb people,
that led to reactions from the Croat side and the spiral led to the
conflict and war," the witness added.
Milosevic also asked the witness about the events from August of
1990, aiming to make him say that the reason for the rebellion of the
police from the Knin station was the introduction of new police
insignia and uniforms.
"Why were Croatian Serbs sensitive about the Croatian checker-
board coat-of-arms?" asked Milosevic.
"The coat-of-arms of the Socialist Republic of Croatia
incorporated a small checker-board coat-of-arms as well, but the
new checker-board coat-of-arms did not include the red star. The
majority of Serbs said that this was the re-introduction of Ustasha
symbols. This was interpreted as reminiscent of the Ustasha-led
Independent State of Croatia," the witness said.
The cross-examination of the witness should resume on Friday as
Thursday is a UN holiday.
Judge May said Milosevic had two hours and 15 minutes to wrap up the
questioning, after which the witness will be questioned by
Branislav Tapuskovic, an amicus curiae (friend of the court).
(hina) rml