30 May 2013 - ICTY

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remained from 14 July to 2 August 1995. 4259 The Trial Chamber has not received any
evidence that the Accused were present in the Treskavica/Trnovo region at the relevant time.
2033. In relation to directing the units’ involvement in the operation, the Prosecution submits
that the Accused sent Vasilije Mijović to Trnovo to command the SDG and the Skorpions,
and that through him they coordinated the units during the operation. 4260 As to the role of
Mijović with regard to the Skorpions’ involvement in the operation, Witness JF-029 testified
that Slobodan Medić had told him that Vasilije Mijović was the commander of the Skorpions,
the SDG, and the Plavi during the Trnovo operation. Tomislav Kovać, the Bosnian-Serb
Republic Deputy Minister of Interior, indicated in the course of domestic criminal
proceedings against Medić, that he considered Mijović to be the Skorpions’ commander.
However, in the same proceedings, Medić denied having any information about Mijović being
superior to him. The Trial Chamber further notes that Goran Stoparić and Witness JF-024 did
not see Mijović at the Trnovo front and did not know who he was. The Trial Chamber has not
received any information about the relations between Mijović and Dragomir Milošević, under
whose command the Skorpions operated. In light of the above, and in the absence of further
evidence in this respect, the Trial Chamber considers the evidence on the role of Vasilije
Mijović in commanding the Skorpions in the Treskavica/Trnovo operation to be inconclusive.
The Trial Chamber will consider the position of Mijović vis-à-vis the SDG below.
2034. The Trial Chamber will now examine further evidence on the alleged directing and
supporting of the Skorpions by the Accused in the Trnovo operation. In this regard, the Trial
Chamber does not consider that Goran Stoparić’s evidence on the Serbian DB’s influence
over the Skorpions, reviewed above in relation to Operation Pauk, constitutes, on its own, a
sufficient basis for a finding on directing the Skorpions in Trnovo. As to Witness JF-024’s
evidence, he did not provide any basis for his conclusion that Milan Milanović, a.k.a. Mrgud,
received instructions from the Serbian DB and, as already explained in relation to Operation
Pauk, the Trial Chamber considers his knowledge in this respect to be based mostly on the
information provided by the media. Having further considered numerous dispatches and
communications from the Trnovo front which, although not specifically mentioning the
Serbian DB or the Accused, refer to the Skorpions as a Serbian MUP unit, the Trial Chamber
is not convinced that from this evidence, it can draw any conclusions on the role of the
Accused in relation to the Skorpions during this operation. Consequently, the Trial Chamber
4259 Simatović Defence Final Trial Brief, 14 December 2012, paras 897-899. See also D871 (Divorce Judgement
of 11 September 1996) and D1358 (Extract from Franko Simatović’s Passport).
Case No. IT-03-69-T 724
30 May 2013