The State Commission Report On The Yugoslav Army

The Commission deems important the fact that ``Kentaur'' firm whose owner is Goran Panic, the son of ChiefofStaff of the Yugoslav Army, General Zivota Panic, began doing business with supplying organs of 1st Army District at the time when his father held the post of 1st Army District Commander (from October 1, 1991 to February 27, 1992), which may have influenced subordinate supplying organs to opt for ``Kentaur'' and regard its offers to be ``most acceptable.''''

Zivota Panic has retired and his son Goran will be taken to court for tax evasion. A series of other objections publicly made on account of the Yugoslav Army and the army leadership will be answered in the Appendix to the Report, i.e. the Document we make public.

In order to provide a best answer to the questions raised in public accusations against ChiefofStaff of the Yugoslav Army, Lieutenant General Zivota Panic the State Commission had an additional talk with General Panic and heard testimonies by Lieutenant General Dane Ajdukovic, the Head of the Federal Defense Ministry's Finance and Budget Department, General Lieutenant Radovan Radinovic, the Head of Strategic Studies and Defense Policy Department, Colonel Vuk M. Obradovic, the Director of the Yugoslav National Bank's Army Service and Lieutenant Colonel Veselin Sljivancanin, the Head of Security Service of the Guard's Motorized Brigade during the operation in Vukovar in 1991. The Commission intended to talk with Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the Serbian Radical Party, but he refused stated that he did not wish to make any additional statements apart from those he made at the first meeting with the members of the State Commission on May 21, 1993, since he was denied an opportunity to specify other accusations, besides ``Kentaur's'' involvement with 1st Army District supplying organs, he had previously made in the press.

1. During the second meeting with the members of the State Commission Chief of Staff of the Yugoslav Army, Lieutenant General Zivota Panic provided additional documents from 1st Army District's supplying organs and the Federal Defense Ministry's Financial Inspection concerning the inquest conducted by 1st Army's Command.

Although the Commission had already stated its stand and opinion and in spite of the fact that General Panic was neither the founder nor the owner of ``Kentaur'' firm, the Commission once again carefully considered all objections which General Panic had submitted in written form, typed on eight pages. With the objections General Panic made he justified the acts of 1st Army's authorities although 1st Army Command had followed the orders of the Federal Defense Ministry's Finance and Trade Inspection and undertaken measures to remove mistakes from business transactions.

The Commission assessed that no new documents or facts had been presented in order to accept his objections. Therefore it sticks with its earlier conclusions and assessments which were submitted to the Supreme Defense Council on two occasions. The fact that the Republic Department of Public Revenues in Serbia established in the meantime tax evasion by the private firm ``Kentaur'' for 1992 and 1993 and brought criminal charges to the District Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade only supports the Commission's stand on the issue. The Commission's belief that the army mismanaged business with ``Kentaur'' firm is further enforced by the fact that unlike 1st Army District which provided honey for diet other Army Districts, the Air Force, the Anti Aircraft Defense and the Navy provided their units with substitutes for honey. Laboratory tests showed that recent large deliveries of honey to the Army by ``Kentaur'' do not meet the standard quality of honey as defined by the Regulations regarding the quality of honey and other apiary products. Moreover, the deliveries to 3rd Army District failed to meet the requirements both qualityand quantitywise. The Commission did not receive the documents on the quality of honey in earlier deliveries.

2. The Commission did not have access to the documents on confiscation of money and other securities from financial and other institutions in Vukovar (post office, bank, accounting bodies, hospitals) which is justified with the extraordinary situation of war, but did look into the documents drafted in the Guard's Brigade building. The documents show that a large amount of hard currency, 11,180 in German Marks and smaller sums in other currencies, were given to the Security Department on November 11, 1991. On the basis of the documents and testimonies by Lieutenant Colonel Sljivancanic, the Commission concluded that a large sum of dinars had been kept in the Guard's Brigade building for more than a month, and only afterwards was the amount to 267,995,685.20 Dinars given to the Vault of the National Bank of Yugoslavia on December 12, 1991 and the amount to 281,732,050.30 Dinars to the Military Service of the National Bank of Yugoslavia on January 1, 1992. The Commission concluded that slips were made when money was being confiscated and taken over but that these could not be connected with specific persons at the moment. It is necessary that competent authorities in the army investigate the oversights and take adequate measures. The Commission did not find a material proof as regards confiscation of 450 passenger cars. According to Lieutenant Colonel Veselin Sljivancanin the brigade had confiscated about 150 vehicles from the enemy during the operation in Vukovar and handed them over to the local authorities, which the Commission was unable to establish due to a lack of documentation.

3. General Panic flatly refused the accusation which Milorad Jevtic, the President of the Serbian Radical Party in Kosovo, made in the press that he had ``laundered money'' with the owner of the private company ``Trgokos'' while making an unannounced visit to a unit on the border in Vitina in February this year. General Panic confirmed that he had arrived by helicopter to Vitina and that about 30 people who had followed his visit could testifies that he did not do private business there. The Commission was unable to get in touch with Jevtic and check his allegations.

4. The Commission established that Ivo Paic, the former JNA lieutenant colonel, the soninlaw of General Radinovic, the Head of the Strategic Studies and Defense Policy Department, left the Army in 1976 on his own will and not before the conflict in Croatia broke out. It was, however, established that Paic left for Zagreb in 1991 leaving his wife and two children in Belgrade, for whom, as General Radinovic claimed, he no longer cared. He also stated before the State Commission that he and his wife had no contacts with Ivo Paic, that he did not know anything about his status or his activities in Croatia. General Radinovic has held a position at the Federal Defense Ministry since June 1992 where he arrived from the Center of Strategic Studies of the Military Schools Center. Therefore all allegations that he is the Advisor to the ChiefofStaff are inaccurate. While talking to General Radinovic the Commission was informed about his role in a military part of the Commission for exchange of prisoners of war and about conditions under which several war criminals from Croatian armed formations were exchanged. According to Radinovic's statement, the exchange of prisoners of war with Croatia, which he as the President of the Commission had helped organize, was carried out in August 1992 in a regular way and according to the agreement between the Croatian and Yugoslav Governments. The exchange was mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and according to the principle ``all for all.'' He pointed out he could not take responsibility for conditions under which the prisoners were exchanged, of which he was accused.

5. General Panic did not dispute the fact that some retired generals would come round to the General Staff building, in order to sort out the problems concerning their status or housing. With the approval of General Panic, Former Federal Defense Minister Veljko Kadijevic used the offices in the Federal Defense Ministry building for several days where his manuscript on the causes of former Yugoslavia's disintegration and the Army's conduct under the conditions was typed.

The Commission has no information whether retired generals had access to confidential papers and that they may have influenced the work of the general staff with their presence.

6. It is true that there in the Yugoslav Army are officers of Croatian, Muslim, Macedonian, and other nationalities, who were not born on the territory of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. They say they want to remain in active service in the Army and solve the problem of their citizenship. Some of them have already solved their status in terms of citizenship, while the others are working on it just like other citizens in a similar situation.

7. Concerning the accusations that General Panic had exerted influence to prevent an investigation and court trial against former senior army leaders (Kadijevic, Adzic, Brovet and others), the Commission did not establish any facts which would indicated that the Chief of Staff tried to influence the military legislature not to establish responsibility of the above mentioned officers. The prosecuting attorney and the court are independent according to the law.

8. The Commission considers that the charges that some officers, the lovers of General Panic's daughter, were extraordinarily promoted, and that some managed to secure senior posts by bribing the Chief of Staff. There is a set and established legal procedure which must be respected in all cases.

On the basis of the facts which were collected and the statements by persons with whom the Commission talked on occasion of accusations made against ChiefofStaff of the Yugoslav Army Lieutenant General Zivota Panic, the State Commission concluded the following:

On the basis of relevant facts, documents and talks it conducted the State Commission sticks with its earlier stands and assessments, written in the report to the Supreme Defense Council on June 11 and July 13, 1993.

The State Commission considers all other accusations against Chiefofstaff of the Yugoslav Army Lieutenant General Zivota Panic not to be founded on facts and are therefore unacceptable.

The Members of the State Commission:

1. Pavle BulatovicPresident 2. Lieutenant General Aleksandar RadovicMember 3. Djuradj Novakovic Member