This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/world/europe/un-court-acquits-2-serbs-of-crimes-in-balkan-wars.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| U.N. Court Acquits 2 Serbs Of War Crimes | U.N. Court Acquits 2 Serbs Of War Crimes |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| PARIS — In one of the most surprising verdicts of its checkered prosecution of Balkan war crimes, a United Nations court on Thursday acquitted two close aides of the former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, spurning the prosecution’s demand for life sentences for his once all-powerful secret police chief and the chief’s deputy. | |
| The judges, voting 2 to 1, found that the men had formed, directed and paid special secret combat units during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia from 1991 to 1995, but that they were not criminally liable for crimes committed by those units. | |
| This and other recent acquittals have effectively absolved Serbia of any responsibility for atrocities committed by proxy armies in Croatia and Bosnia and by the covert network of paramilitary combat units trained, paid and supervised by the secret police. | This and other recent acquittals have effectively absolved Serbia of any responsibility for atrocities committed by proxy armies in Croatia and Bosnia and by the covert network of paramilitary combat units trained, paid and supervised by the secret police. |
| Experts said Thursday’s verdict also added to a potentially serious judicial inconsistency in the tribunal: while top commanders have been acquitted recently of serious charges, more minor defendants were convicted and sentenced earlier on far lesser counts. | Experts said Thursday’s verdict also added to a potentially serious judicial inconsistency in the tribunal: while top commanders have been acquitted recently of serious charges, more minor defendants were convicted and sentenced earlier on far lesser counts. |
| As the presiding judge, Alphons Orie of the Netherlands, ordered the defendants, Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, released and closed the session on Thursday, a live Web broadcast showed defense lawyers and their clients smiling and embracing. The chief prosecutor, Dermot Groome, an American, sat motionless in his seat. | |
| Judge Orie and Elizabeth Gwaunza, a judge from Zimbabwe, had voted to acquit; Michèle Picard, a judge from France, had voted to convict on most of the top counts. The two accused had been charged with advancing a “joint criminal enterprise” that aimed, at Mr. Milosevic’s behest, to drive non-Serbs from large areas of Croatia and Bosnia. | Judge Orie and Elizabeth Gwaunza, a judge from Zimbabwe, had voted to acquit; Michèle Picard, a judge from France, had voted to convict on most of the top counts. The two accused had been charged with advancing a “joint criminal enterprise” that aimed, at Mr. Milosevic’s behest, to drive non-Serbs from large areas of Croatia and Bosnia. |
| Mr. Milosevic died in his cell in The Hague in 2006 before his trial ended. | Mr. Milosevic died in his cell in The Hague in 2006 before his trial ended. |
| Legal experts expressed astonishment at the acquittals, which apparently rested on new standards applied by senior judges. | Legal experts expressed astonishment at the acquittals, which apparently rested on new standards applied by senior judges. |
| “The entire doctrine of command responsibility has been ditched,” said Eric Gordy, who teaches the politics of Eastern Europe at the University College London and follows the trials closely. “So has the liability for aiding and abetting.” | |
| “This and several other recent decisions have become completely irrational,” he said, citing as evidence the Serbian attack in late 1991 that virtually leveled the town of Vukovar in eastern Croatia, where both Mr. Stanisic and Mr. Simatovic were present with special units and giving directions. “There is no way they could not have known there were crimes involved,” he said. | |
| In the early to mid-1990s, Mr. Stanisic, now 62, was head of Serbia’s state security service. He handled some negotiations with foreign officials, most notably the release of United Nations peacekeepers held hostage by the Bosnian Serbs in summer 1995. Mr. Milosevic fired him in 1998. Mr. Simatovic, now 63, was Mr. Stanisic’s deputy and headed the security service’s special operations arm. Together they ran the units, like Arkan’s Tigers, the Red Berets and the Scorpions. The groups became notorious because they rampaged through towns and villages, killing, as well as looting cars, cattle and valuables, and burning homes and mosques. | In the early to mid-1990s, Mr. Stanisic, now 62, was head of Serbia’s state security service. He handled some negotiations with foreign officials, most notably the release of United Nations peacekeepers held hostage by the Bosnian Serbs in summer 1995. Mr. Milosevic fired him in 1998. Mr. Simatovic, now 63, was Mr. Stanisic’s deputy and headed the security service’s special operations arm. Together they ran the units, like Arkan’s Tigers, the Red Berets and the Scorpions. The groups became notorious because they rampaged through towns and villages, killing, as well as looting cars, cattle and valuables, and burning homes and mosques. |
| Despite the acquittals, the three-year trial laid bare many inner workings of the Milosevic era. Among the nearly 100 prosecution witnesses were former members of secret units who testified behind closed doors or used pseudonyms. Some said the Tigers and Red Berets were paid with fresh bills brought from the Ministry of Interior. | Despite the acquittals, the three-year trial laid bare many inner workings of the Milosevic era. Among the nearly 100 prosecution witnesses were former members of secret units who testified behind closed doors or used pseudonyms. Some said the Tigers and Red Berets were paid with fresh bills brought from the Ministry of Interior. |
| Prosecutors played tapes of radio and telephone conversations to show the use of special units during the bloodiest part of the wars in 1992, when Serbian and Bosnian Serb forces attacked villages to create large Serb-only areas. Belgrade also sent such units to Bosnia to help with mop-up operations after the fall of Srebrenica, where army and police units had killed more than 7,000 unarmed Muslim men and boys. | |
| Judge Orie, reading from the verdict summary, agreed with prosecutors that special units, together with police and military forces, had killed many Bosnian Muslims, Croats and other non-Serbs in Bosnia, and Croats in Croatia. | |
| While the accused had provided training and logistical support, the judge said, they had not directed the units to commit crimes and their awareness that there was a risk of such crimes was not enough to hold them criminally liable. | While the accused had provided training and logistical support, the judge said, they had not directed the units to commit crimes and their awareness that there was a risk of such crimes was not enough to hold them criminally liable. |
| “The chamber found,” the summary said, “that the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused planned or ordered the crimes charged in the indictment.” | “The chamber found,” the summary said, “that the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused planned or ordered the crimes charged in the indictment.” |