Stand By Your Man II

After the article Another Sordid Military Affair was published in VREME 222 (January 23) several high-ranking Yugoslav Army officers contacted VREME, including two generals. They confirmed that the former Novi Sad corps commander Major general Bora Ivanovic, although suspected and charged with a number of crimes, was pardoned by FRY president Zoran Lilic and promoted soon afterwards. The embittered Yugoslav Army officers who contacted us accused Ivanovic of crimes the charges did not include. VREME has never reported unfounded accusations. Fearing reprisals the officers wanted to remain anonymous.

Their fear is not unfounded and that is shown by the dismissal of Yugoslav Army (VJ) spokesman Colonel Ljubodrag Stojadinovic. "I never gave them the information", he told Beta news agency. An angry supreme commander (Zoran Lilic) was wrong again because the spokesman is completely right: he didn't hand VREME any information. The president's anger and suspicions were probably caused by the fact that VREME wrote officially to the VJ information service asking them for a competent person to comment Major General Bora Ivanovic. Then, as many times before, the spokesman kept silent. The VJ information service only talks to journalists from media controlled by the authorities and then only when they have something to brag about.

Let's just recall the story that seems to have shaken the country's political and military leaders. VJ inspectors discovered a number of willful activities in the Novi Sad corps in August last year, committed by Ivanovic. First Army commander General Jevrem Cokic suspended him from his command. State leaders weren't pleased and president Lilic went to Novi Sad to talk to officers, hoping they would defend their commander. Instead, Lilic heard things about Ivanovic which were much worse than what he already knew. That didn't stop him from pardoning the general and stop the proceedings against him.

The criminal charges against Ivanovic accuse him of abusing his position, exceeding his authority, to provide financial benefits for others, forgery...

Ivanovic was also accused of handing out captured weapons. He handed out some 20 magnum 357 revolvers, Heckler & Koch machine guns, shotguns, carbines. He was also accused of ignoring orders when he ordered an engineer unit (45 men, 25 vehicles, 12 machines) to build a road from Batina to Zmajevac and Arkan's paramilirtary training center in Erdut.

Without the knowledge of his higher command, Ivanovic ordered VJ engineers to erect 300 concrete pillars and a wire fence (1,000 meters) in the police academy in Sremska Kamenica, without a contract or any payments. That service rendered to the Serbian police seems to have outweighed other considerations and led to his pardon.

Many VJ officers feel the pardon and promotion are a slap in the face of the VJ leaders. Some said that the Serbian police are behind it all which had great influence on personnel changes in the army when Zivota Panic was in command. Or perhaps many fear that Ivanovic could talk out of turn in court and launch a string of accusations.