The Anatomy of a Crime

Judge Vladimir Bajic is due to open the trial of Dusko Vuckovic (31) and his brother Vojin (32) on November 22 in Sabac. The brothers have been charged with war crimes against civilians while they were part of the "Zuta Osa" paramilitary formation in Bosnia. Dusko, nicknamed Repic, is charged with crimes against civilians, rape and robbery, and Vojin, nicknamed Zuca, is charged with impersonation and illegal possession of weapons and explosives. Dusko has been in jail since November 5, 1993 while his brother has been allowed to walk free until the trial.

The first war crimes trial in Serbia is expected to change the regime media's portrayal of the role of paramilitary groups who fought in Bosnia with the help and support of the Serbian authorities. Especially the ones who fought in eastern Bosnia along the Drina river valley and near Zvornik.

The "Zuta Osa" group is controversial. Allegedly, it was formed on April 12, 1992 in Zvornik as a special unit of Serbian volunteers under Vojin Vuckovic's command. Vojin is a mechanic and judo expert who says he competed on the federal police team for two years.

No one ever said what the group's specialty was, but there have been speculations that it was ethnic cleansing and robberies. Vojin says the forming of the group was attended by the Zvornik territorial defence commander, Marko Pavlovic, and Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) chief in Zvornik Branislav Grujic.

The charges against the Vuckovic brothers often mention Pavlovic, but who that man really is is still a mystery. No one seems to know what his name is and who brought him in to take over "Zuta Osa". One of Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj's volunteer commanders later said his real name was Branko Popovic, that he was from Vojvodina and was brought in by the secret police. Given all that, it's obvious why Pavlovic, alias Popovic, hasn't been called in as a witness.

"Zuta Osa" was arrested by the Bosnian Serb authorities in August 1992 on suspicion of robbing both Muslims and Serbs.

"The 70 or so men in our unit, including the Vuckovic brothers, were taken to Bijeljina and jailed," witness Sinisa Filipovic (20) said.

"We were arrested because Zuta Osa was a paramilitary formation. We were in jail for nine days and had to sign statements, What I wrote and signed wasn't true, I signed it because they beat, tortured and threatened me. Then they took us to Sremska Mitrovica and Ruma (cities in Vojvodina) where we were released," Filipovic said.

Last November the Serbian police arrested the Vuckovic brothers and handed them over to the Sabac court on criminal charges. Dusko was charged with raping a Muslim and stealing 1000 DEM from her in Mali Zvornik (in Serbia).

Today, all the members of "Zuta Osa" say they went to war out of patriotism.

The Sabac district attorney raised charges against the Vuckovic brothers on April 28. A statement said the Vuckovic brothers went to the former Bosnia-Herzegovina in April 1992 to help the Serb people. That isn't in line with a Serbian police report dated November 5, 1993 which spoke of "the arrest of members of Chetnik paramilitary formations and armed groups on suspicion of severe crimes". The report added that the Vuckovic brothers were arrested on suspicion of crimes against civilians in Zvornik.

Nine days later the press explained that "Zuta Osa" had clashed with the Bosnian Serb authorities at the start of the war. They refused to obey orders and even captured a number of Zvornik policemen and used them as a shield. They took to the hills after plundering Serb and Muslim homes.

At the time, the Serbian authorities didn't allow paramilitaries to cross into Serbia, probably fearing their political allegiance to opposition parties. The paramilitaries all claimed that they were only fighting for the good of the Serbs in Bosnia and wanted the police to allow them to cross over into Serbia with their weapons and spoils of war. The Serbian police, guns pointed across the border, said they could cross over without weapons and booty.

No one wanted to give up their weapons and booty and they managed to get them across the Drina into Serbia.

When the Vuckovic brothers were arrested, the press reported that only three Korans had been found in their possession; the copies were bound in ancient leather which showed their age. That was explained by the fact that the police confiscated everything "Zuta Osa" members had when they first arrested them in August 1992. Reports mentioned 20 kilos of gold, 600,000 DEM and 50 Volkswagen Golfs...

The well-armed group tried to take over Zvornik several times. During their last attack on the town hall, they held Mayor Branislav Grujic at gunpoint for five hours.

The charges against them include terrorism and genocide against Serb and Muslim populations.

To understand what really happened in the spring of 1992, you should recall that in May, Pavlovic alias Popovic, told this reporter that there were problems with an armed group "whose loyalty we don't know". He added that Serbian police minister Radmilo Bogdanovic had been contacted, as well as Vojislav Seselj, both of who said the group had gone renegade. "They broke into my headquarters and held me at gunpoint. A government meeting in Birac demanded their withdrawal from the region, but the paramilitaries demanded to be allowed into Serbia with their weapons and booty and the release of their men who were charged with war crimes. How could Serbia allow them in when they attacked the border crossing twice? All those groups hated each other and, if they clash, the economy will stop and the people will pray for the Muslims to return," Pavlovic alias Popovic said.

Vojin Vuckovic says he and his brother Dusan were members of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) for only three months (up to September 1991) and left the party when they realized it wanted to grab power. He fought in Baranja as a volunteer and when the war in Bosnia broke out he went to Zvornik.

Pavlovic alias Popovic housed them in a factory and armed them. On April 8, 1992, a day after they arrived, they were captured by Muslim police.

They were beaten and tortured and released on April 9 in an exchange. That same day they took part in an attack on a Muslim-held part of Zvornik. "I opposed the killing of civilians in that attack," Vojin says. He adds that his brother Dusan is sick (he had meningitis as a child and underwent psychiatric treatment) "I took him with me because that was the only way he would survive. If I hadn't taken him with me, he would have volunteered secretly and there would have been no one to take care of him," the "Zuta Osa" commander said.

The first ethnic cleansing took place in the Muslim suburb of Divic in Zvornik. It was cleansed allegedly at the request of Kapetan Dragan (paramilitary leader in Krajina), who allegedly wanted to set up a training center there. Surviving civilians said Kapetan Dragan was revolted by the crimes of the paramilitaries and gave up on the center.

The Vuckovic brothers tell different stories about Divic. Vojin says he didn't take part because the Divic civilians didn't offer any resistance. Dusan talks of combat and conquest. Vojin adds that high ranking officials decided to launch the attack because of Muslim atrocities against Serbs. He says 500-700 civilians were captured and taken to three locations. One of those was the Celopek culture center in Zvornik.

Dusan Vuckovic is charged with murdering, wounding and torturing civilians, including cutting an ear off a Muslim in Celopek.

"I did cut a Muslim's ear off," Dusan said and added that he was interrogating a prisoner in Celopek. Allegedly he never interrogated civilians, but "the prisoners from Divic were taken to the command center for interrogation by Pejic, Arkan and Pavlovic. Pejic, reported to be a general in Arkan's Serb Volunteer Guard, was never subpoenaed by the Sabac court.

Dusan said the prisoners lied, which made him very angry and he cut a prisoner's ear off and then threatened others if they refused to talk. Everything was fine then and Pejic congratulated me, he said.

Dusan is also charged with killing 16 and wounding 20 prisoners at Celopek, a crime against civilians.

He admits to that crime, but only in part. "The Celopek prisoners didn't want to tell me where Boban and Zuna were hiding, they tortured me in Zvornik jail. I was drunk and revolted and I shot Muslim prisoners. I fired 30 shots. There were seven bodies on the floor and I calmed down then."

Aco Bajic (28) was a policeman in Zvornik at the time. He was one of the Celopek guards. Bajic said there were 160 Muslim prisoners there. "The main doors were closed and five or six of us were on guard outside. The doors were only opened to bring food in," Bajic said, but he doesn't remember whether Dusan shot the prisoners on June 28 or a day later when the doors were open. He confirmed the killings and woundings, but added that the guards couldn't stop Vuckovic. "I thought he was drunk. We phoned the Zvornik command immediately and were told they couldn't do anything about Dusan Vuckovic." Bajic said that Vojin was also told and that he came to Celopek but couldn't stop his brother from shooting the prisoners.

Finally Dusan stopped and left. The guards then had the bodies removed and took the wounded to the hospital. Bajic said there were other murders before that day. The bodies were identified by surviving prisoners.

That time in Celopek, Dusan Vuckovic didn't order the prisoners to sing, he didn't torture them, Bajic said.

"We all made the Muslims sing for us," Dusan says, but he denies the charge that he made them fight each other and then killed 30-40 Muslims.

"I never stabbed the wounded," Dusan says, but he does admit to drinking heavily, especially in the war zone.

Vojin Vuckovic says he didn't see his brother killing the Celopek prisoners. He says he was on a scouting mission, but does admit knowing that around 70 people were captured on April 10, 1992 by Arkan's men. He also heard that they were shot on Pejic's orders. Vojin says Pavlovic told him his brother had killed the Celopek prisoners. He also heard that Dusan ordered four Muslims to put the bodies in a truck and then killed those four as well. Vojin's count stands at 36 dead. Dusan denies everything.

The goal of the Sabac trial isn't exactly clear but, judging by the amount of medical documents, doubts could be cast on Dusan Vuckovic's mental faculties.

Dusan Vuckovic's defence attorneys Dragoljub Djordjevic and Zivojin Stefanovic certainly face a huge problem if they decide to declare him mentally incompetent and commit him for life. And that would make the only man in Serbia charged with war crimes to date unaccountable.