IT-03-67-T 143/62540 BIS D143-1/62540 BIS 14 June 2016 MB UNITED NATIONS Case No.: IT-03-67-T International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations Date: 31 March 2016 of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former FRENCH Yugoslavia since 1991 Original: English IN TRIAL CHAMBER III Before: Judge Jean-Claude Antonetti, Presiding Judge Mandiaye Niang Judge Flavia Lattanzi Registrar: Mr John Hocking Judgement delivered on: 31 March 2016 THE PROSECUTOR v. Vojislav Šešelj PUBLIC JUDGEMENT Volume 1 Office of the Prosecutor: Mathias Marcussen Accused: Vojislav Šešelj 142/62540 BIS I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 4 II. MATTERS RELATING TO THE EVIDENCE ...................................................................... 10 A. EXCERPTS FROM THE ACCUSED ’S PUBLICATIONS ....................................................................... 10 B. UNRELIABLE TESTIMONY ............................................................................................................ 10 C. PREVIOUS STATEMENTS OF “RECANTING ” WITNESSES ................................................................ 10 D. EVIDENCE RELATING TO A CONSISTENT PATTERN OF CONDUCT .................................................. 11 E. EVIDENCE STEMMING FROM OTHER CASES .................................................................................. 12 III. THE GENERAL CONTEXT OF THE EVENTS COVERED BY THE INDICTMENT . 13 A. THE PROCESS OF DISINTEGRATION OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA .............................................. 13 1. The SFRY and Serbia ............................................................................................................ 13 2. Croatia and Slovenia .............................................................................................................. 13 3. BiH ......................................................................................................................................... 14 B. POLITICAL PARTIES FOUNDED BY THE ACCUSED ........................................................................ 17 C. THE ARMED FORCES IN THE SFRY AND FRY ............................................................................. 20 1. At the Yugoslav federal level ................................................................................................ 20 (a) The JNA and the Army of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (“VJ”) ................................. 21 (b) The forces of the MUP ........................................................................................................... 22 (c) The Territorial Defence (TO) ................................................................................................. 22 2. The Yugoslav and regional armed forces in Croatia ............................................................. 23 3. The evolution of the JNA and the TO in Croatia ................................................................... 24 4. The Yugoslav and regional armed forces in BiH................................................................... 25 (a) The JNA and the TO .............................................................................................................. 25 (b) The VRS ................................................................................................................................. 26 (c) Forces of the MUP ................................................................................................................. 27 D. SERBIAN PARAMILITARY FORCES ............................................................................................... 28 1. Volunteers of the SRS/S ČP ................................................................................................... 29 (a) Definition of the expression “Šešelj’s men” .......................................................................... 29 (b) The recruitment and deployment of SRS volunteers ............................................................. 29 (c) Hierarchical link between the volunteers and the Accused .................................................... 31 (d) Financing of the SRS volunteers ............................................................................................ 32 2. The Serbian paramilitary groups present in the municipalities covered by the Indictment ... 32 a. “Arkan’s Tigers”/ “Arkan’s Volunteers” ........................................................................ 32 b. The “White Eagles” and the “Dušan Silni” Detachment, paramilitary groups affiliated with the SNO ................................................................................................................ 34 c. The “Red Berets” of the DB of Serbia ............................................................................ 35 d. The “Yellow Wasps” ....................................................................................................... 36 e. The “Leva Supoderica” Detachment ............................................................................... 38 f. The unit of Vasilije Vidovi ć, aka “Vaske”....................................................................... 39 g. The units of Pivarski and Niški ....................................................................................... 40 h. Gogi ć’s unit / the Loznica group ..................................................................................... 40 i. The “Kara đor đe” unit ....................................................................................................... 41 j. The “Serbian Guard” of the SPO ..................................................................................... 42 k. The units of Branislav Gavrilovi ć, aka “Brne”, and of Slavko Aleksi ć ......................... 43 l. The “ Vladan Luki ć” and “ Dragi Lazarevi ć” volunteer detachments ............................... 44 IV. THE CRIMES ............................................................................................................................ 46 A. PRELIMINARY REMARKS ............................................................................................................. 46 1. Meaning of the expression “ethnic cleansing”....................................................................... 46 2. The “Serbian forces”, perpetrators of the crimes ................................................................... 46 B. ARTICLE 5 OF THE STATUTE : CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY ......................................................... 46 1 Case No: IT-03-67-T 31 March 2016 141/62540 BIS C. VIOLATIONS OF LAWS OR CUSTOMS OF WAR ............................................................................... 50 1. Requirements under Article 3 of the Statute .......................................................................... 50 2. War crimes not alleged in the Indictment .............................................................................. 51 3. Alleged war crimes for which there is insufficient evidence ................................................. 52 4. Alleged war crimes established by the Chamber ................................................................... 55 (a) Vukovar municipality ............................................................................................................. 55 (b) Zvornik municipality .............................................................................................................. 57 (c) Greater Sarajevo ..................................................................................................................... 60 (d) Mostar municipality ............................................................................................................... 61 (e) Nevesinje municipality ........................................................................................................... 63 V. CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ACCUSED .......................................................... 66 A. INDIVIDUAL CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 7 (1) OF THE STATUTE FOR THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME .................................................................................................. 66 1. Commission through a Joint Criminal Enterprise .................................................................. 66 (a) Allegations and submissions of the Parties ............................................................................ 66 (b) Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 67 (i) On the allegation of a common purpose ............................................................................. 67 a. Proclamation of Serbian autonomous regions ................................................................. 70 b. Enlistment and deployment of volunteers ....................................................................... 72 c. The covert arming of Serbian civilians ............................................................................ 75 d. The commission of crimes in the field ............................................................................ 76 (ii) On the allegations of a plurality of persons sharing the same views ................................ 76 (c) Finding ................................................................................................................................... 87 2. Physical perpetration