ZAGREB, Oct 3 (Hina) - The Dubrovnik indictment issued against four ex-Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) officers by the Hague-based international war crimes tribunal is the first indictment for crimes committed in Croatia to describe the
role of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in the Serb aggression on Croatia. The Hague prosecution last week said it had completed the indictment against Milosevic for crimes in Croatia and submitted it to the tribunal for confirmation. The tribunal has so far issued five indictments for crimes committed in Croatia -- for the mass murder on Ovcara farm near the eastern town of Vukovar, the shelling of Zagreb, the crimes committed in the Medak Pocket, central Croatia, the crimes committed during the Croatian liberation operation "Storm", and for the crimes committed in Dubrovnik. The Dubrovnik indictment states that Serb rebels had, with the su
ZAGREB, Oct 3 (Hina) - The Dubrovnik indictment issued against four
ex-Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) officers by the Hague-based
international war crimes tribunal is the first indictment for
crimes committed in Croatia to describe the role of former Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic in the Serb aggression on Croatia.
The Hague prosecution last week said it had completed the
indictment against Milosevic for crimes in Croatia and submitted it
to the tribunal for confirmation.
The tribunal has so far issued five indictments for crimes
committed in Croatia -- for the mass murder on Ovcara farm near the
eastern town of Vukovar, the shelling of Zagreb, the crimes
committed in the Medak Pocket, central Croatia, the crimes
committed during the Croatian liberation operation "Storm", and
for the crimes committed in Dubrovnik.
The Dubrovnik indictment states that Serb rebels had, with the
support of Serbia, taken charge of a significant part of Croatia in
the summer of 1991, including the Knin area of the so-called Krajina
(central Croatia), Baranja and western Slavonia (eastern Croatia).
Milosevic was at the time president of Serbia.
The Croat population was expelled from the occupied areas which
were then included in various "Serb autonomous areas", the
indictment says.
The prosecutors said that Milosevic's appeal to all Serbs to unite
into one state suited those who advocated a "greater Serbia".
The JNA entered areas controlled by Serb rebels to secure their
seizure campaigns, the prosecutors said. In August 1991, the army
undertook offensive action against a large number of towns and
villages in eastern Slavonia, occupying them together with the Serb
rebels. Croats and other non-Serbs were expelled from the areas.
At the end of August 1991, the JNA began with the siege of Vukovar,
and had it under its control by November 18 the same year, after
levelling it completely.
Providing evidence on the crucial role of Slobodan Milosevic in
events in Croatia, the Hague prosecution stated that he and the then
Yugoslav Defence Minister Veljko Kadijevic and Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman on November 23 signed a declaration on discontinuing
the Croatian blockade of JNA barracks and the withdrawal of JNA
troops from the country.
Establishing the legal basis of Milosevic's powers and
responsibilities, the prosecutors claim that in 1990 the former
Yugoslav president had passed several constitutional provisions
stipulating Serbia was a sovereign, integral and unified country
which had the authority to protect its interests should they become
endangered by actions of the federal authorities or other republics
in the former Yugoslav federation.
The Serbian assembly was authorised to decide about war and peace,
and its president was recognised as the commander-in-chief of the
Serbian Armed Forces, who also had the power to order the use of
police forces in extraordinary situations.
(hina) lml sb