30 May 2013 - ICTY

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Vinko Pandurević were also present. 3258 Simatović stated that those in attendance at the
meeting shared the task of establishing training camps in Skelani, Zvornik, and Višegrad.
Simatović said that instructors and commanders would come from Serbia, from special police
units within the Serbian MUP. 3259 He explained that the troops would be in a special separate
structure which was under his command and that each camp would have its own commander.
He also said that the troops would naturally cooperate with the VRS but that the lower-level
commands would not have authority over the units. 3260 Simatović explained that the task had
been agreed to at the highest level of military, political, and state circles of the Bosnian-Serb
Republic and Serbia. 3261 The witness did not remember whether Simatović had referred to the
Red Berets, but the witness later realized that the units were indeed the Red Berets. 3262
Simatović further said that the municipal representatives present at the meeting were to
provide logistical support to the units, such as securing facilities of the training camps,
recruiting 20-30 of their best young men at the municipal level as soldiers to be trained, and
providing assistance in terms of vehicles and fuel. Simatović stressed that it was essential to
find suitable facilities for the training. 3263 According to the witness, the main purpose of the
meeting was to inform the municipalities of such trainings and to seek their assistance. 3264
1648. In June 1992, a camp of the Red Berets was set up in Skelani and the witness
frequently saw Predrag Spasojević there as an instructor at the camp. 3265 Dragan Spasojević
told the witness that they would recruit 20-30 young men from Bratunac and train them in
Skelani. 3266 Predrag Spasojević and Perica Mitrović informed the witness that they had
already made a selection and that the men had agreed to be trained at the camp. 3267
1649. The Trial Chamber will now review a number of military reports regarding the Skelani
camp and Unit member Nikola Pupovac’s presence in Skelani. 3268 A 28 July 1992 report on
paramilitary formations in the territory of the Bosnian-Serb Republic, signed by Colonel
Zdravko Tolimir, acknowledged that a camp of so-called Red Berets, headed by Nikola
3258 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), para. 135.
3259 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), paras 136, 138.
3260 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), para. 137.
3261 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), para. 136; P2509 (Miroslav Deronjić,
Milošević transcript, 26-27 November 2003), p. 29634.
3262 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), para. 136.
3263 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), para. 137.
3264 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), para. 138.
3265 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), para. 132.
3266 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), para. 139.
3267 P2511 (Miroslav Deronjić, witness statement, 25 November 2003), paras 133, 138-140.
3268 For the Trial Chamber’s findings that Nikola Pupovac was a member of the Unit, see chapter 6.3.2.
Case No. IT-03-69-T 581
30 May 2013