30 May 2013 - ICTY

49484
1799. On 10 April 1992, Commander Major General Savo Janković of the 17th Corps
Command requested the 2nd Military District Command to engage in air strikes with fighter
bombers on Kula in Zvornik at 9 a.m. on 11 April 1992, so as to neutralise attacks on units
defending the bridges on the Drina river. 3611
1800. The Trial Chamber recalls its findings that Arkan’s men, a local paramilitary group
acting under Mirko Blagojević, the TO, and the Bijeljina SDS took control of Bijeljina town
by 4 April 1992, in chapter 3.3.1, and that on 8 April 1992, a combination of Serb forces – the
police, the TO, the JNA, and the SDG – attacked Zvornik town, in chapter 3.8.2. Based on the
testimony of Witness JF-025, Jovan Dimitrijević, Witness JF-026, and Witness JF-057
reviewed above, and evidence in chapters 3.3.1 and 3.8.2, the Trial Chamber finds that whilst
Arkan and the SDG operated in concert with other forces during the take-overs of Bijeljina
and Zvornik, the evidence is inconclusive regarding the SDG’s operational subordination.
Whilst the Trial Chamber has received evidence demonstrating that Biljana Plavšić may have
been involved in directing the take-over of Zvornik and, possibly, Bijeljina, the Trial
Chamber finds this evidence to be too vague and, thus, inconclusive. Similarly, while Colonel
Tačić ordered Arkan to leave the area after the take-over of Zvornik, the Trial Chamber
cannot infer from this alone that the SDG was directed by the JNA. The Trial Chamber has
not received evidence with regard to the Accused directing the involvement of the SDG in
Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992. The Trial Chamber finds that without further evidence, the mere
fact that the Accused were involved with the SDG at a later stage does not affect this finding.
Banja Luka 1995
1801. When referring to the Banja Luka operations in the finding below, the Trial Chamber
relies on the Prosecution’s narration of the events unravelling in the greater area of Banja
Luka in the fall of 1995. In its Pre-trial Brief, the Prosecution describes the Banja Luka
operation as a concerted operation between the Serbian MUP, the SDG, the VRS, and the
MUP of the Bosnian-Serb Republic, aiming to prevent the “fall” of Banja Luka and to secure
the corridor between the Bosnian-Serb Republic and Serbia. 3612
1802. According to the Indictment, the Accused directed the involvement of the SDG in the
Banja Luka operations. 3613 In its Final Trial Brief, the Prosecution submits that during
3611 D177 (Cable from Major General Savo Janković requesting air strikes in Zvornik municipality, 10 April
1992).
3612 Prosecution Pre-Trial Brief, 2 April 2007, para. 168
3613 Indictment, para. 7. The Indictment alleges that the Accused directed the involvement of the special units of
the Republic of Serbia DB in particular operations in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Case No. IT-03-69-T 634
30 May 2013