MILOSEVIC "TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: OCTOBER 22, 2003
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - October 22, 2003

Written by: Andy Wilcoxson

Ms. Dobrila Gajic-Glisic was cross-examined by President Milosevic today, and a number of useful points were established, although there were also some contentious points.

Ms. Gajic-Glisic worked in the Serbian Ministry of Defense from 25 September 1991 until 1 June 1992 and during that time she served as Gen. Tomislav Simovic's Cabinet Chief for the 2 1/2 months that he served as Serbia's Minister of Defense, and that is the time period that she was testifying about.

She wrote a book called "Srpska Vojska; Iz Kabineta Ministra Vojnoga" [The Serbian Army; From the Minister of Defense's Office], and she published her notes in the Serbian newspaper "NIN". Most of her testimony is already public domain and was published in Serbia in back in 1992.

The first thing that was established was the difference between paramilitaries and volunteers. Volunteers were suborned to the JNA and the T.O. in the areas that they were serving in. Paramilitaries were outside of the system and were not suborned to any legal authority.

According to Ms. Gajic-Glisic the Serbian government only had sketchy information about paramilitaries. They had information that paramilitaries were committing crimes in the combat areas, but the information was incomplete, and so it was difficult to prosecute these crimes. However, when complete information was available the Serbian government would undertake legal proceedings against the members of those illegal paramilitary formations whenever it could.

According to Ms. Gajic-Glisic the Serbian Ministry of Defense only provided training and logistical support to legal volunteers and not to any paramilitary formations. In fact the Republic of Serbia took steps to force the party armies that were raised by the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) to suborn themselves to the command of the JNA, and the local T.O. units in the areas that they were deployed. It is useful to observe that the SRS and the SPO were Slobodan Milosevic's political opposition, and that they had a view to overthrowing him. It should also be noted here that President Milosevic's party, the SPS, never formed any sort of party army.

The actions of the Serbian Ministry of Defense were always in conformity with the laws of the Republic of Serbia, and with the laws of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). President Milosevic exhibited the laws on admitting volunteers to the T.O. and the laws on admitting volunteers to the JNA. These laws included such things as background checks and security screenings for potential volunteers. Ms. Gajic-Glisic confirmed that these were in fact the laws and that the Serbian Ministry of Defense did in fact follow these laws to the letter.

The JNA and the T.O. were the legally recognized armed forces on the territory of the SFRY, and the volunteers that were trained and supported by the Serbian Ministry of Defense were suborned precisely to those legally recognized institutions. Nothing illegal was afoot there. Ms. Gajic-Glisic testified that volunteers who came from Serbia were integrated into the ranks of the JNA and the T.O. and were treated by their commanders in the same way as the locals who were serving in their own municipalities.

A lot of time was spent by Ms. Gajic-Glisic talking about some alleged plan of Simovic's to form a so-called "Serbian Army." Long story short - no such army was ever established, and so the whole issue is a mute point.

Ms. Gajic-Glisic had interviewed Gen. Simovic in 1984 and he told her at that point that if there was ever a war in Yugoslavia it would not be the result of an attack from a foreign aggressor but that it would be a conflict between the JNA and the largely mono-ethnic units of the T.O.. In Slovenia and Croatia Simovic was proven to be correct, because national armies were in fact formed out of the T.O. units there, and they did attack the JNA.

In Serbia the T.O. was never transformed into any sort of "Serbian army," and no "Serbian army" ever was established. The JNA became predominantly Serb, because the Croats, the Muslims, the Slovenes, etc... abandoned it and encouraged others to follow suit, nobody chased them out. They wanted to destroy Yugoslavia, and so they left its army.

It was established by Ms. Gajic-Glisic that Slobodan Milosevic did not command the JNA, nor did Defense Minister Simovic. The JNA was suborned to the SFRY presidency, and not to the president or to the organs of the Republic of Serbia.

Even though it has nothing to do with President Milosevic, it should still be noted that the JNA performed admirably. The JNA sought to separate the warring parties so that conditions could be created for a political settlement. It was also established by Ms. Gajic-Glisic that the Republican Staff of the T.O. was appointed by the SFRY presidency.

So it is established that Slobodan Milosevic didn't command the JNA, he didn't command the T.O. outside of Serbia, he didn't even appoint the Republican Staff of the T.O. inside of Serbia. The volunteers that were trained and supported by the Serbian Ministry of Defense were sent to JNA and to T.O. units outside of Serbia where they were suborned to the command of those JNA and T.O. units - not to any sort of special command coming from the Republic of Serbia.

Ms. Gajic-Glisic confirmed that Serbia was in favor of finding a peaceful solution to all of the Yugoslav conflicts. She confirmed that it was President Milosevic's position from the outset that the Vance Plan should be adopted so that UN peacekeepers could come into Croatia and separate the warring parties there. She even claimed that President Milosevic exerted pressure on Milan Babic to get him to accept the Vance Plan.

Ms. Gajic-Glisic went on to state that there were never any plans to create any sort of "greater Serbia" that it was in fact Serbia and President Milosevic's position that Yugoslavia should be preserved. She stated categorically that no plans were ever made in the Serbian Ministry of Defense, nor did she know of any plans by the Government of Serbia to persecute non-Serbs. In fact she claimed that there were non-Serbs employed in the Serbian Ministry of Defense.

Ms. Gajic-Glisic claimed that it was in fact Croatia who was attacking the Serbs and not the other way around. She claimed that after Tudjman came to power that Serbs were, killed, mutilated, and expelled from Croatia. She explained that those Serbian refugees came to Serbia and sought shelter even though Serbia had inadequate means to take care of them.

Ms. Gajic-Glisic explained that Croatia brought itself into conflict with the JNA by attacking and blockading the JNA barracks in Croatia. She even said that Croatia shelled the town of Sid, which is inside of the borders of the Republic of Serbia.

Ms. Gajic-Glisic is a writer, and in 1983 she wrote a book that was banned by the SFRY authorities. Ms. Gajic-Glisic had previously met with some businessmen who were close to the American President Ronald Reagan and they told her that a plan existed whereby Yugoslavia would be knee deep in blood, greater-Albania would be formed and that the Serbian people would be attacked and dispersed. She didn't believe these men at the time, but thought that their story would make a good book, a work of fiction, and so she wrote the book.

She submitted the book to a Yugoslav publisher in 1983 and when the publisher called her to come in to the publishing house she found the the state security service there. They confiscated the manuscript and she was told never to speak of the book or its contents again.

If this intrigues you, I have to say that it intrigues me too, but the so-called "Judge" May wouldn't let this topic be discussed, and so I am sorry that I don't have any more specific information.

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