KOS Closes the Circle

Criminal proceedings against the retired General Nedeljko Boskovic, the former head of the Yugoslav Army's Security Administration, in front of a military court in Belgrade are slowly progressing. In front of the military investigative judge an incredibly unpleasant picture is unfolding: how the campaign was conducted in 1992 in which JNA's Security Administration was systematically discredited, taken over and later marginalized. In the campaign, both regime and "patriotic" newspapers took part, uncovering state, military and official secrets, killing an ox for a pound of meat.

The fact that things became serious was evident on October 8, 1996 when the investigative judge of the military court in Belgrade issued a warrant of arrest for the retired General-Major Nedeljko Boskovic who was on the run and inaccessible to the state bodies. An investigation was being conducted against him due to justified doubt that he had committed two criminal acts: illegal arrest and abuse of official position in extended duration, which is why he was to be kept in custody. The warrant was to activate both the military police and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. General Boskovic remained inaccessible to the state bodies until January 17, 1997 when he approached the president of the Supreme Court, who advised him to call upon the investigative judge. In the meantime, General Boskovic was seen in the company of top officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro. He wrote two letters to Slobodan Milosevic, gave an interview to Podgorica's daily Monitor (in three sequels while the police were allegedly bringing the text to him for authorization) and generally did not go into hiding. Only when two policemen arrived on the doorstep of his New Belgrade flat did General Boskovic comprehend that the warrant was a serious matter.

Issuing a warrant against a retired general and former head of a military intelligence service is a relatively rare practice. Who and why is accusing General Boskovic and how did that sorry tale come about? Criminal charges against General Nedeljko Boskovic along with 13 other people, with Branko Kostic at the head of that list, were submitted on April 3, 1993 by a group of former JNA Security Administration officers and others who were connected with the service. They accused General Boskovic for a number of procedures by which he had violated the law: from irregularities at the time of handing over his duties, through to a number of offenses, up to disclosing state, military and official secrets. The accusation of rigging court proceedings against former intelligence employees was especially stressed. Anyway, those proceedings were completed with acquittals or waivings of all claims - but only following a few months long legal but also illegal custody and harassment.

The military prosecutor's office, in keeping with its obligations, addressed the authorized bodies after receiving criminal charges against General Boskovic, demanding that all previous information be collected and that all items from the charges be checked. That lasted three and a half years; it must be that the military intelligence bodies dealt with that matter in a thorough way - or that certain obstructions ensued as ordered by someone, of which we know nothing. What strikes one is that the military prosecutor - for now - has accepted the allegations for three criminal acts from the charges, while he referred them to submit private charges for the remaining ones.

Throughout that period, General Boskovic acted in a very interesting manner - so to say - characteristic of him only. Understandably irritated by the acts of the military judicial bodies, he, as a practical man, did not ask for protection in a formal way, i.e. of the authorized institution of the system which had commenced those criminal proceedings - the military-judicial bodies and the Ministry of Defense. Instead of that, he asked Slobodan Milosevic for protection, dispatching two letters to him on October 1996, after the warrant was issued. Whether the president of Serbia answered him - and how - is not known. However, it can be justifiably presumed that the president - as is the procedure in such cases - referred him to the institutions of the system, advising him to place his trust in the independent and unbiased judiciary. Taking into account that in his interview given to Podgorica's daily Monitor General Boskovic stated that he was prepared to go to The Hague "as a witness, since no other reasons exist", he probably did not meet with a warm reception Where It Counts.

A thorough political analysis of those murky times yet awaits us. The strategic orientations of the actors, however, are already now known to a large degree which is why this sad story of a warrant and all that had preceded it has significance which surpasses simple criminal proceedings. Military intelligence, what is usually (and wrongly) referred to as KOS, was then, according to the constitutional system (after 1974) practically the only security service which encompassed (in the framework of its authorizations, which should not be comprehended too strictly) the entire SFRY territory, since state security passed into republic authorization. Due to that reason a certain agreement was reached (according to the Regulations on Mutual Collaboration) by which KOS "positions" (agents) had to register with the local civic state security services.

(to be continued)