30 May 2013 - ICTY

49276
6.10 Mens rea of Franko Simatović
2337. According to the Indictment, from no later than April 1991 until at least 31 December
1995, Franko Simatović shared the intent to further the common criminal purpose of forcibly
and permanently removing the majority of non-Serbs from large areas of Croatia and Bosnia-
Herzegovina, through the commission of murder, deportation, forcible transfer, and
persecution. Alternatively, the common criminal purpose was to forcibly and permanently
remove, through deportation and forcible transfer, non-Serbs from these areas, and the crimes
of persecution and murder were reasonably foreseeable to him. 5010
2338. The Prosecution argues that the Accused’s contributions to the criminal plan reflected
their intent, “particularly their massive and complex arming and training schemes, which
stretched across the entire Indictment area during the Indictment period, and their repeated
pattern of deploying [the Unit, the SDG, and the Skorpions]”. 5011 In addition, in its Final Brief
it points to discrete examples of actions taken or words uttered that allegedly demonstrate that
Simatović shared the common criminal purpose. The Trial Chamber will review the evidence
on these specific actions and words uttered, and then analyse what can be inferred with regard
to Simatović’s intent from his actions (which are dealt with in detail in chapters 6.3, 6.4, 6.5,
6.6, 6.7, and 6.8).
2339. The Prosecution argues specifically that Simatović demonstrated his intent through his
personal participation in the attack on Lovinac and in the Vukovar operations, both in 1991,
and through his participation in the planning of Operation Udar in 1993 and commanding
units in related operations in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina the same year. 5012
2340. The Trial Chamber will first consider Simatović’s actions with regard to Lovinac. In
this respect, the Trial Chamber recalls its findings in chapter 3.1.7 in relation to Lovinac that,
prior to the attack in June 1991, Simatović, Martić, and Dušan Orlović discussed its objective
as being to connect Gračac with other Serb territory and to have as much of the local
population leave as possible in order to establish a purely Serb territory. The Trial Chamber
was unable to establish, on the basis of the evidence of Witness JF-039, the details of this
discussion, nor to what extent Simatović agreed with the objectives that were discussed.
5010 Indictment, paras 11, 14.
5011 Prosecution Final Trial Brief, 14 December 2012, para. 685.
5012 Prosecution Final Trial Brief, 14 December 2012, paras 696-698.
Case No. IT-03-69-T 842
30 May 2013