30 May 2013 - ICTY

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1764. Before however moving to the evidence on these operations, the Trial Chamber will
review the evidence it has received in relation to the general structure and command of the
SDG.
General structure and command of the SDG
1765. The Trial Chamber has received evidence from Borivoje Savić, Borislav Pelević,
Witness JF-029, Petar Djukić, and Witness C-015, as well as documentary evidence, in
relation to the general command and structure of the SDG.
1766. Borivoje Savić, a Serb from Vinkovci in the municipality of Vukovar, Croatia, 3517
testified that, on 16 May 1991, he met Arkan for the first time in a café called Trozubac in
Nušićeva Street in Belgrade. The witness asked him directly who his boss was and Arkan told
him that it was Jovica Stanišić. 3518
1767. According to an unsigned and undated intelligence report (exhibit P1075), which
military expert Reynaud Theunens 3519 concluded, based on its content and origins, had been
drafted by a VJ Security Organ after May 1996, the SDG was one of the paramilitary units
engaged in the territory of the RSK and the Bosnian-Serb Republic from the beginning of the
war in 1991 which was and remained in direct contact with the Serbian DB and MUP or
which was engaged under the guise of special units of the DB or MUP. 3520 At the time of the
report, the SDG had been or was being transferred to the territory of the Republic of Serbia
and was not to be included in the JSO, but used for special tasks outside the DB and MUP
structures. 3521
1768. According to Borislav Pelević, a member of the SDG since 10 January 1992, 3522 when
the SVK was established, the SDG came under the command of Mile Novaković and Bogdan
Sladojević and later under Dušan Lončar, as part of the SVK 11th Corps. As part of the SVK,
the SDG participated in different operations with units of the VRS and the Bosnian-Serb
Republic MUP. When the Vance Plan was implemented in 1992, the SDG were transformed
into part of the RSK police, pursuant to an order received from the SVK. As part of the RSK
police, Arkan was technically subordinate to Ilija Kojić, although this did not reflect real dayto-day
command. Following the Vance Plan, the SDG first wore blue berets and later wore
3517 Borivoje Savić, T. 1739.
3518 Borivoje Savić, T. 1810-1811.
3519 Reynaud Theunens, T. 8049-8057; P1574 (Curriculum Vitae of Reynaud Theunens).
3520 Reynaud Theunens, T. 8081-8083, 8233-8237; P1575 (Reynaud Theunens expert report, 30 June 2007), p.
124; P1075 (Report on the formation of the JSO of the RDB of Serbia, unsigned, undated), p. 2.
3521 P1075 (Report on the formation of the JSO of the RDB of Serbia, unsigned, undated), p. 2.
Case No. IT-03-69-T 622
30 May 2013