The Lukic Case

Since May 1992 the name of Milan Lukic (born in Foca in 1967) has come up in all testimonies the eyewitnesses gave concerning a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity (in accordance with the Criminal Law of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The testimonies were taken by the authorities and humanitarian organisations. It was as late as on April 6, this year, as the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported on Thursday, that Dragoslav Rakic, an experienced investigative judge at the District Court in Belgrade, started criminal proceedings against Milan Lukic based on a reasonable doubt that he had abducted 17 passengers from the train on the Belgrade=Bar railway in the village of Strpci on February 27, 1993. There is no information in a brief announcement by Tanjug that Milan Lukic alone abducted 17 adults, but it is said that ``the authorities do not as yet have evidence about the destiny of the abducted passengers of Muslim confession.'' It is not mentioned that the passengers were the citizens of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but it was added that ``no witnesses had been found so far to confirm any details.'' This is untrue a plenty of witnesses called up the authorities the same day, on February 27, 1993 and provided detailed information about (a dozen, if not more) perpetrators, their descriptions, insignia on their uniforms, including details about the circumstances when the abduction took place. The witnesses also confirmed that the conductor on the train identified the passengers for the perpetrators. According to the witness accounts, the abduction was carried out by uniformed persons who boarded the train in Belgrade.

The history of the abduction is well known to the public: a number of protest rallies were staged in Prijepolje (where most of the abducted passengers come from); people feared that the abducted passengers may end up the same way as the passengers from Sjeverin who were abducted from the bus in the village of Mioce on October 22, 1992. Soon afterwards Slobodan Milosevic, the President of Serbia, and Zoran

Sokolovic, the then Minister of Interior, visited Prijepolje, held a rally and saw the families of the abducted. Milosevic later promised that ``the earth and the sky'' would be combed until the missing are found. Judging by what the witnesses say, ``the earth and the sky'' are obsolete. It would suffice to go to Visegradska Banja and put few questions to Milan Lukic and several other townsmen. Milosevic and Sokolovic said that ``a different state'' is in question while Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader, said that he had no knowledge of the affair but his Ministry of the Interior of the Bosnian Serb republic announced six months later that ``the group that had carried out the abduction was crushed.''

Milan Lukic, a mechanical technician, worked in Europe until 1992 when he returned to Eastern Bosnia and became ``a commander of a certain Chetnik unit,'' this according to Tanjug. According to the testimonies of those who have survived, Lukic and his men became active in May 1992 after the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) left the area of Visegrad. This marked a beginning of mass killings, rapes, expulsions, and looting of Muslims. In mid June 1992 Milan Lukic and Dragan Sekulovic stopped the local Muslims from moving from the area of Visegrad which had been planned by the Red Cross and took 60 people into a house that was set on fire. One women survived. On several other locations in the area of Visegrad (the suburb of Bikovac, the firehouse, the primary and the secondary school, the hydroelectric power plant, the ``Vilina vlas'' Hotel, the JNA army barracks, etc.) they killed several groups of Muslim civilians, including women and children. The corpses were thrown into the Drina River from the new bridge close to the village of Prelevo, which was followed by a release of water from the accumulation of the hydroelectric power plant. The established figures are as follows: 70 dead in Bikovac, 60 in the burnt house, more than 30 in Visegradska Banja (the bus and the train), 17 in the hydroelectric power plant; killing took place in the above listed groups. Apart from Lukic, the above mentioned Sekulic, certain Dragicevic, Planojevic, some Momir and Oliver (also identified in the abduction of the passengers from the bus), Srpko Popovic and others were also recognised.

Milan Lukic and Dragicevic came under arrest for the first time in October 1992 after Momcilo Grubac, the then Minister for Human Rights, visited Sandzak (the region in Serbia with the Muslim majority), but were soon to be released after their men threatened to shell the Belgrade-Bar railway, which is the only railroad linking Montenegro and Serbia. Lukic was once again arrested on April 16,1993 following the abduction of passengers in Strpci. It was later to turn out that he was arrested because of ``arms trade'' and was released (after threats were made that the Belgrade-Bar railroad would be mined). He is also believed to be responsible for having committed murders of prominent Serbs in Visegrad for personal gain. Tanjug says that Lukic was ``afterwards'' transferred to the Central Prison in Belgrade. The ``afterwards'' lasted the whole year.

Opinion Poll

Breathless

Replies of 410 citizens of Belgrade who comprise a representative sample in the April opinion poll taken by the Center for Political Research and the Institute for Social Studies in Belgrade. The research was conducted in the time period between the bombing in the surrounding area of Gorazde and the second ultimatum to the Bosnian Serbs. The findings are expressed in percentages.

* Do NATO air strikes against the Serb positions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, such as those around Gorazde, in your opinion, represent a contribution to reaching peace among the warring parties or to prolonging the war?

They only prolong the war (82 per cent of answers)

* What is, in your opinion, the main goal of NATO air strikes on the Serb positions?

The pressure on the Serbs to accept negotiations (39%) Help to Muslim attacks on the Serbs (40%)

* Who or what is, in your opinion, most responsible for the decision that NATO planes bomb the Serb positions around Gorazde?

U.S. (43%) NATO (11%) U.N. (10%) Pressure of the Arab world (6%) Russia's compliance (5%) Muslim pressure and propaganda (5%) Public and media pressure of Western countries (5%) Serb attacks on safe areas (2%)

* How serious is the threat that the war in BH may spread to Yugoslavia because of the bombing of the Serb positions?

Very (26%) Medium (27%) Small (28%) No threat (16%)

* Concerning the territory in BH, the Serbs should, in your opinion, do the following:

Keep the territories they now control (51%) Cede some territory they now control (``the territory for peace'') (30%) Take more territory (11%)

* Is the lasting peace in BH possible if the Muslim enclaves (such as Srebrenica, Gorazde, etc.) survive within the Serb territory?

Possible (55%) Not possible (28%)

* How would you react if a close relative of yours had to go and fight for the rights of the Serbs outside Yugoslavia (in Croatia and B H), would you oppose it or accept it as a patriotic duty?

I'd accept it as a patriotic duty (42%) I'd be against it (36%) I can't decide (22%)

* Which of the following options is, in your opinion, the best solution for the Serbs in BH?

To enter the federation with Yugoslavia (60%) To form an independent state (22%) To enter the Muslim-Croat federation (6%)

* Would you support some kind of state (union, confederation) between Yugoslavia and former Yugoslav republics if they wanted it?

No (60%) Yes (24%)

* How long will Yugoslavia be able to endure under sanctions?

Several months (9%) Until the end of 1994 (14%) Even longer than that (47%) I can't tell (30%)

* Is it possible to preserve a strong and stable dinar in the conditions of sanctions?

No (28%) Yes, but only for a short term (28%) Yes, even for a long term (29%)

* Do you believe that a change in Serbia's leadership would result in the lifting of sanctions?

No (62%) Yes (25%)

* Are you personally satisfied with the results of the programme of economic stabilisation (Avramovic's programme)?

Mostly yes (54%) Very much so (17%) No (20%)

* How long will a strong and stable dinar last?

It is already weak and unstable (10%) A month or two (14%) About three or four months (12%) Until the end of 1994 (11%) Even longer than that (22%) I can't tell (31%)

* What do you personally expect from the second part of Avramovic' programme?

A rise of production (28%) Nothing (22%) Stable prices (19%) A stong and stable dinar (9%) A rise of employment (5%)

* How much confidence in the new Serbian government do you have?

None (29%) Medium (28%) Little (23%) A lot (12%)

* Who would you vote for if the parliamentary elections were to be held tomorrow?

The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) (22%) The Democratic Party (DS) (10%) The Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) (7%) The Serbian Radical Party (SRS) (7%) The Democratic Movement of Serbia (DEPOS) (5%) The Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) (3%) I would not vote (23%) I can't make up my mind (21%)