30 May 2013 - ICTY

49622
the Croat village of Kijevo and that Borjan Vučković participated in this attack. The Trial
Chamber will further consider this operation, below.
Other evidence on the formation of a unit in the SAO Krajina in 1991
1405. The Trial Chamber now turns to the other evidence it has received regarding the
formation of a Serbian DB special unit known as the “Red Berets” in the SAO Krajina in May
1991. The Trial Chamber turns first to the evidence of Witness JF-005 and Witness JF-031
regarding the 1997 Kula ceremony, the remarks of Franko Simatović and Živojin Ivanović
(a.k.a. Žika or Crnogorac) at the Kula ceremony, and the remarks of Captain Dragan in a
documentary entitled “The Unit”.
1406. Witness JF-031, a Serb from Knin municipality, 2591 stated that a ceremony in honour
of the Red Berets was held in May of 1996 or 1997 on the annual Police and Special Forces
Day. 2592 By that time the Red Berets had become the Special Operations Unit of the JSO – a
unit which had been formally established in 1996 – and were part of the DB. 2593 While the
unit had a different name and no longer wore red berets, the witness testified that some of the
members were the same. 2594 The ceremony was held in the Kula camp near Novi Sad and
began around midday. 2595
1407. Similarly, Witness JF-005, a Croatian Serb member of the JSN or Special Purpose
Unit from April 1992, 2596 testified that the Kula camp was a command centre for the special
operations unit, which was known as the JSO in May 1997 and which belonged to the DB. 2597
The witness was present at the 1997 Kula ceremony as a member of the JSO and assisted in
organizing it, but did not attend the part of the ceremony inside the building. 2598
1408. Addressing Milošević at the Kula ceremony in 1997, Franko Simatović stated that the
ceremony marked the anniversary of the formation of the Special Operations Unit of the
Serbian DB. Simatović stated that this unit was constituted on 4 May 1991. When it was
2591 P998 (Witness JF-031, witness statement, 1 June 2001), pp. 1-2.
2592 P998 (Witness JF-031, witness statement, 1 June 2001), p. 16; P1000 (Witness JF-031, Slobodan Milošević
transcript, 14-15 April 2003), p. 19206.
2593 P998 (Witness JF-031, witness statement, 1 June 2001), p. 17; P1000 (Witness JF-031, Slobodan Milošević
transcript, 14-15 April 2003), p. 19249.
2594 P1000 (Witness JF-031, Slobodan Milošević transcript, 14-15 April 2003), pp. 19249-19250.
2595 P998 (Witness JF-031, witness statement, 1 June 2001), p. 16.
2596 P137 (Witness JF-005, witness statement, 25 January 2004), p. 1, paras 1, 3, 11; P136 (Witness pseudonym
sheet); Witness JF-005, T. 2760, 2851, 2857.
2597 Witness JF-005, T. 2796-2797, 2979.
2598 P138 (Witness JF-005, witness statement, 4 November 2009), para. 31; Witness JF-005, T. 2796, 2979-2982.
Case No. IT-03-69-T 496
30 May 2013