storm - Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog ...

PROSECUTOR UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Yes. Who was the Minister of Interior in 1994?
BABIĆ: Until the end of 1994, it was Ilija Prijić, who was replaced in that capacity, and
the Assembly appointed Mr. Perišić, but he didn’t take up his post either in Eastern
Slavonia or in the rest of the RSK either. So from the end of 1994 until August 1995,
the RSK did not have a Minister for the Interior. One of the deputies was the acting
minister.
PROSECUTOR UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Did a delegation from the RSK then meet Mr.
Milošević to consult him in this problem?
BABIĆ: Yes, that’s right. In 1995, April, around the 26th of April.
PROSECUTOR UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Were you part of this delegation?
BABIĆ: I was.
PROSECUTOR UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Who else was present? Who else was present
from both sides?
BABIĆ: Borislav Mikelić, Uroš Funduk, Slobodan Milošević, Jovica Stanišić, as far as I
remember. Whether there was anybody else, I can’t quite remember now.
PROSECUTOR UERTZ-RETZLAFF: What did you ask of Mr. Milošević, if anything?
BABIĆ: We asked that Milošević allow Slobodan Perišić to be appointed, or rather, that
Slobodan Perišić, who was elected the Minister of the Interior for RSK, should take over
that function as Minister of the Interior of RSK.
PROSECUTOR UERTZ-RETZLAFF: And what was Mr. Milošević’s reaction to this?
What happened at the meeting?
BABIĆ: First of all, Jovica Stanišić commented this request, and he said, “We have
invested too much in all that,” and he was thinking of MUP Krajina, “for us to relinquish
it to somebody else now.” Slobodan Milošević reacted to that and said the following: He
told the delegation of the RSK, that is, told us, “You must understand that we must assist
you in this way, via the state security service, because it works in a specifi c secret way,
and that’s why we can’t help you, assist you, through the public security service.” In that
way, he lent his support to Jovica Stanišić and his position on the issue.
PROSECUTOR UERTZ-RETZLAFF: Was that situation solved on the day of this
meeting? Could Mr. Milošević help you in relation to the Minister of Interior?
BABIĆ: No. Th e RSK was left without a Minister of the Interior.
PROSECUTOR UERTZ-RETZLAFF: I’m dealing now with paragraph 293 and the
following two in the proofi ng summary. Did you have a conversation with Mr. Milošević
on the Z-4 plan in August 1995?
BABIĆ: Yes, a telephone conversation.
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