"I heard in January 1991 that the JNA military leadership was planning a military coup in Croatia so I went to Belgrade to find out more... Officer Kalicanin from the information service told me the JNA would arrest Croatian ministers, that there would be a change of government," said Babic.
After defence attorney Predrag Milovancevic voiced doubts about the credibility of Babic's sources, the witness said the information had also been confirmed by the then Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
"I was called to Milosevic's office. He told me the JNA would arrest Croatian ministers and that I was in danger from the Croatian authorities in Knin because it was expected there would be resistance. He said I should stay in Belgrade. I was offered a government residence and given police protection," said Babic, who at that time was the president of the municipal assembly in Knin, Croatia, and president of the Serb Democratic Party.
Babic was later the prime minister and president of the Croatian rebel Serb statelet Krajina. The Hague tribunal sentenced him to 13 years' imprisonment in 2004 after he admitted to persecution as a crime against humanity committed against Croatian civilians in occupied parts of Croatia. In his plea bargain with the Prosecutor's Office, he committed to testifying in all trials he was summonsed to, which he has already done in the trials against Milosevic and Momcilo Krajisnik, a Bosnian Serb wartime hardliner.
Since February 17 he has been testifying against Martic, former police and army minister of Krajina and Babic's closest ally as well as opponent in the Knin-based government from 1991 to 1995.
Martic is charged with 19 counts of crimes against humanity and breaches of the laws and customs of war committed against Croatian civilians in occupied parts of Croatia, crimes committed in western Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1994, and the May 1995 shelling of Zagreb.