Yachts And Chandeliers

Responding to accusations made against the Navy regarding the stolen yachts, newly-appointed Navy Commander, Admiral Dojcilo Isakovic, confirmed while on ship ``Galeb'' on November 30, 1993, that the yachts had been stolen somewhere in Dubrovnik, brought to Montenegro and then they disappeared. He also confirmed that the yachts described as war booty in the records, but that the money had not gone to the army. In the end he said that all those who had violated the navy's rules of conduct would be brought before the court. There are indications that efforts taken by Dusan Menicanin, who owns yacht ``Demem'' and his attorney, private detective Mladen Lojovic will prove to be fruitful.

The above mentioned yacht whose value is estimated at 200,000 DM disappeared from the marina Komolac near Dubrovnik during clashes in this region in the fall of 1991 (Vreme wrote about this on July 19, 1993 in its 143rd issue). In few words, the army ``liberated'' the yachts from the marina and moved them to a safe place. January 12, 1993, the owner arrived in Komolac to ask about his yacht and the army's lawyer Colonel Arambasic issued him a certificate that the yacht had disappeared and promised that all yachts will be returned. A year passed and there was no information from the army so Menicanin hired Lojovic who found out after a three-month-long investigation that the yacht was sold at an auction to one general ten times cheaper than what its real value. Since the army ignored all warnings, Menicanin's attorney raised charges this summer at the First Municipal Court in Belgrade demanding that the Ministry of Defense return the yacht or pay compensation to the amount of 150,000 DM. The trial is still underway, and the debates don't lack interesting detail. E.g., military legal officer Nikola Mihajlovic tried to question the authority of the First Municipal Court in Belgrade, ``If the disputed relationship was established at the military barracks in Kumbor, then it follows that the local court, i.e. the Municipal Court in Herzeg-Novi is to handle the case.'' That's how we learned that the war was waged only in the area of these particular military barracks.

It is uncertain whether the navy commander's latest statement will have any influence on the stand of the Military Legal Office. However, it is certain that the trial will once again raise the question of war booty from the Dubrovnik battlefield. If the data put out by Croatia are to be trusted, then 170 yachts were destroyed and another 70 confiscated in the Komolac marina. Some of them were sighted on Lake Skadar, five were immediately transported to Belgrade, and a majority of them to the port of Kumbor. They were transported by night and sold at auctions, which are not accessible to a large number of people. Apart from the above mentioned yachts whose value is assessed at some 15 million DM many other things were taken away from the Dubrovnik coastline: 40 cars, 2 buses, a number of PC's, VCR's, household appliances, including a valuable piano which belonged to a famous Croatian singer... It has also been learned that about 50 kilos of gold and some 100,000 DM in cash were taken from the local post offices and banks. Lieutenant Sasa Radulovic and Sergeant Branko Cicmil who witnessed the robbery have disappeared; their families have been informed that they had been killed on the front, and their senior officer, Commander of 9th Navy Sector Colonel Husein Kunic was replaced and retired after the army withdrew from the Dubrovnik area.

The fate of the booty from Tito's villa in Kupari, which includes a crystal chandelier (about 700,000 DM), furniture, silver cutlery, a dozen valuable paintings one of which is a Picasso, is most interesting. The ``action'' was headed by a certain Colonel Kovacevic, who acted upon a verbal order by Operative Commander of the Military Maritime Sector of Boka Vice Admiral Miodrag Jokic and who said that the booty had to be taken to the Savina Monastery. The booty from Kupari, which is claimed to be more valuable than all ``liberated'' yachts together, was loaded on 2 huge trucks and its trace was lost since. However, it was heard that silver utensils were seen in the office of Vice Admiral Jokic, which he denied in the Belgrade daily ``Borba'' this summer claiming that he did not even take a ``calendar'' from the front. He also said that ``the booty had been sold at auctions or donated to refugees, i.e. hotels where they stayed.'' He also claimed that everything went ``through the Office for Civilian Affairs'' and thus shifted responsibility for the fate of stolen valuables on the then rear assistant of General Sljivic and the Commander of 3rd District General Domazetovic.

It was also learned that the then leadership of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), General Kadijevic and General Adzic, and later also General Zivota Panic, ignored the report against Admiral Jokic, where two trucks from Kupari were mentioned, as well as extensive reports of looting on the Dubrovnik front.

The orders of General Kadijevic that all war spoils must be entered into the records as basic means allowed JNA to have on its disposal all valuables it managed to lay hands on. The problem of spoils is precisely regulated by the Geneva Convention, the Federal Law on Executive Procedure which was passed in 1977 and the Law on Basic Proprietary and Legal Relations which was passed in 1984. However, the state which passed these laws no longer exists, and its successors are openly playing with elementary legal principles. Slit necks and razed cities and villages throughout Croatia and Bosnia show how seriously the Geneva Convention is taken. Looters thus have it easy to pick up whatever they like, regardless of whether it is something privately owned or is a museum exhibit (either belonging to the enemy or to one's own side). One stole in the name of communism in previous times, and now in the name of national interest and country's defense.