MESIC CAUGHT ON TAPE: “I HAVE PERFORMED MY TASK YUGOSLAVIA IS NO MORE”
www.slobodan-milosevic.org – February 2, 2006

Written by: Andy Wilcoxson

The trial of Slobodan Milosevic continued on Thursday with the continued testimony of Prof. Branko Kostic, a former member of the SFRY state presidency from Montenegro.

Kostic began the day by giving testimony about the war in Croatia. He explained that in 1991, while Yugoslavia was still an internationally recognized state, Croatian paramilitary forces attacked Western Slavonia and destroyed 28 villages where Serbs were the majority population.

He testified that the regime of Franjo Tudjman illegally armed members of the HDZ political party, and that Croatian paramilitaries blockaded JNA barracks in Croatia.

In response, to the Croatian violence the SFRY presidency issued 14 cease-fire declarations. Unfortunately the Croatian side never complied, instead it increased its offensive activities.

During his testimony as a prosecution witness, Stepjan Mesic accused Milosevic of undertaking a coup, when on October 1st 1991 the SFRY presidency declared an imminent state of war in Yugoslavia.

As professor Kostic explained there was no coup. Six members of the SFRY presidency met in Belgrade on October 1st and unanimously declared an imminent state of war. These representatives were from Kosovo, Vojovodina, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia. Slobodan Milosevic had nothing to do with it.

The representatives from Slovenia and Croatia chose not attend the presidency session. However, even if the absent members had voted against the imminent state of war the declaration still would have passed by the required two-thirds majority.

The next presidency session was scheduled for October 3rd. Unfortunately this was when the members from Macedonia and Bosnia chose to stop attending presidency sessions.

However, since Yugoslavia was officially in an “imminent state of war,” the remaining four-member presidency could legally function and take decisions on behalf of the entire presidency.

As further proof that no coup had been undertaken, Kostic pointed out that Mesic himself returned to chair a presidency session on October 18th – more than two weeks after the coup he was alleging was to have taken place.

Kostic said that this four-member presidency never ordered the JNA to take any offensive actions, although it could have. Nor did it utilize its powers to govern and legislate by decree, which it also could have done.

This four-member presidency devised the Vance plan. Under the Vance plan the JNA withdrew from Croatia, and UN peacekeeping troops took their place. The peacekeepers were to remain in Croatia until a peaceful settlement could be found. Kostic testified that Milosevic enthusiastically supported the Vance plan.

Kostic testified that the Vance plan was not consistent with any aspirations for “greater Serbia.” The witness said that Milosevic never advocated greater Serbia. He said that Milosevic advocated the equality of peoples and the preservation of Yugoslavia.

The Croatian indictment claims that “From 8 October 1991 an international armed conflict and partial occupation existed in the Republic of Croatia.”

The indictment also claims that “The SFRY existed as a sovereign state until 27 April 1992 when the constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was adopted, replacing the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of 1974.”

The absolute absurdity of the indictment is laid bare by these two passages. How can the SFRY simultaneously “occupy” Croatia since October 1991 and, at the same time, exist as the sovereign state until April 1992? Its absolute stupidity and it shows the carelessness that went into the drafting of the indictment.

If the SFRY existed as a sovereign state until mid-1992, then Croatian paramilitaries were in fact occupying part of Yugoslavia. The indictment has it completely backwards. Yugoslavia didn’t occupy Croatia. Part of Yugoslavia was occupied by Croatian paramilitaries.

As further proof that Yugoslavia was not “occupying” its own territory in Croatia, Prof. Kostic pointed out that the Croat paramilitary forces had the JNA barracks blocked. The JNA was unable to leave its barracks let alone leave Croatia.

Furthermore, on October 8th Stepjan Mesic (a Croat) was the SFRY president, and Ante Markovic (another Croat) was the SFRY Prime Minister. What sort of a moron would say that Yugoslavia was occupying Croatia while two Croats were holding the top posts in the Yugoslav government? For the answer one only needs to see that the indictment was signed by Carla del Ponte in Zagreb.

The prosecution accuses Milosevic of breaking up Yugoslavia. Kostic commented that if a tsunami hit Yugoslavia the prosecution would likely blame him for that too. To prove that Yugoslavia was not broken-up on his account Milosevic played a tape of Stepjan Mesic addressing the Croatian parliament. On December 5th 1991, Mesic got up and told a cheering Croatian parliament “I have performed my task. Yugoslavia is no more. Thank you.”

Link that with Mesic’s comments that he would be “Yugoslavia’s last president” and his book entitled “How I Broke-Up Yugoslavia” and it becomes crystal clear who broke-up Yugoslavia.

Milosevic also played a video of an interview with Lord Carrington. In this interview Carrington explained why Yugoslavia descended into civil war. Carrington said that in Bosnia and Croatia the secessionists attempted to secede from Yugoslavia without the required agreement of all the constituent peoples. He explained that the Croatian and Bosnian constitutions required a consensus between the Serbs and Croats, and in Bosnia with the Muslims too, before any form of secession could legally be carried out.

Eva Prentice will take the witness stand tomorrow. She is expected to testify for one day. On Monday Prof. Kostic is expected to complete his examination-in-chief.

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