Concerns about possible threats to witnesses and victims. Possible severe sentence the main motive for the accused to fail to appear at his trial. Guarantees given by Serbia and Montenegro "worthless."

In accordance with a decision of the Registry of the Tribunal, Jovica Stanisic should participate in the costs of his defense to the amount of US$483.075

Having taken into account, as stated in the press release, the cooperation and character of the accused and the guarantees of the governments in Belgrade and Podgorica, the Trial Chamber has granted provisional release for Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. The prosecution indicate they intend to appeal and file a motion to stay the execution of the decision of the Trial Chamber

The prosecution is to file an application for leave to appeal the decision by the Trial Chamber to grant provisional release to former Serbian State Security Service bosses

A regular status conference in the case of former leaders of Serbian State Security Service, charged with crimes against humanity in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Frenki Simatovic’s defense files a new report to the Trial Chamber about the reports in the Belgrade weekly, asking it to take “necessary measures to prevent the jeopardizing of the proceedings before the Tribunal”

The trial date for the Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic case has not yet been set although at the last status conference it was said that the trial of the former heads of the Serbian State Security Service might begin in the summer of 2007. The prosecution estimates its case might last about five months

The Trial Chamber orders the prosecution to reduce the number of incidents in Croatia and BH listed in the indictment against the former chiefs of the Serbian State Security Service. No trial date has been set yet, but it seems likely to begin this spring

The Trial Chamber orders Stanisic and Simatovic to return to the Tribunal’s Detention Unit by Monday, 11 February 2008. The trial of two former Serbian state security service chiefs is to ‘open soon after’ the status conference scheduled for 27 February 2008

Former head of the Serbian State Security Service Jovica Stanisic and his colleague, former commander of the Special Operations Unit Franko Simatovic return to the Tribunal’s Detention Unit. The pretrial conference is scheduled for 27 February 2007, and the trial is expected to start ‘soon after it’

After the ex-parte hearings in closed session this week, the trial of Jovica Stansic and Franko Simatovic, scheduled to start on 10 March 2008, was postponed for 17 March 2008

After three minutes in open session, for the parties’ appearances, the court went into closed session for half an hour, to discuss the reasons for the failure of the accused Stanisic to appear. The pre-trial conference and the trial of the two former Serbian state security service chiefs were postponed until tomorrow

The Trial Chamber with Judge Robinson presiding decided today ‘in the interest of justice’ to discuss in public the reasons why former Serbian state security service chief failed to show once again at the scheduled opening of the trial. The health issues of the accused are usually discussed in closed session

As Jovica Stanisic failed to appear today in the courtroom ‘because of urological problems and severe depression’, the beginning of the trial of two former chiefs of Serbian state security was postponed once again. The parties are supposed to give their position on various options for the trial put forward by the presiding judge

Both the defense and the prosecution presented their arguments on the proposed options for the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. The prosecution, as it seems, would prefer the trial to begin as soon as possible and to proceed via video link from the UN Detention Unit with Stanisic following the trial from his cell. Stanisic’s defense wants the trial to be delayed until the therapy starts yielding results. The parties agree that it is ‘too early’ to discuss the severance of the indictment

As Dutch psychiatrist Joseph DeMann put it, the current mental state of Jovica Stanisic is ’at a very low point and he couldn’t sink any deeper’. According to DeMann, the accused suffers from a depression with elements of psychosis

The Trial Chamber ruled today with a majority of votes that Jovica Stanisic, former chief of the Serbian state security service, was fit for trial. The decision was reached after the judges heard Dutch psychiatrist Josef De Man who found that Stanisic suffered from ‘a depression with elements of psychosis’. A new trial date and the way in which the trial will proceed will be set tomorrow

Jovica Stanisic’s defense counsel have sought certification to appeal the decision of the Trial Chamber to start the trial on Monday, 14 April. The prosecution, for its part, has asked not to bring its witnesses to The Hague before confirmation that video link has been established with the UN Detention Unit, making it possible for Stanisic to monitor the trial

The trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic has been postponed again, for the third time in the past month. In addition to Stanisic’s health problems – he is ‘still depressed’ – the Trial Chamber is facing technical difficulties in establishing the two-way video link with the UN Detention Unit. The accused should follow the trial via video link

After several postponements, the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic started today with the opening statement of the prosecution late this afternoon. Former chiefs of the Serbian state security service are charged with crimes committed by the Serbian police and paramilitary troops in Croatia and BH. The UN Detention Unit physician told the Trial Chamber Stanisic was fit to stand trial via video link from the Detention Unit

As the prosecution continues with the opening statement at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, Dermot Groome describes how the Serbian state security service set up its special units that ‘operated outside the law and followed Milosevic’s dictate’; their objective was to persecute and expel the non-Serb population in Croatia and BH

The detention unit physician tells the Trial Chamber that the accused Stanisic isn’t feeling well. The doctor doesn’t advise Stanisic’s attendance in court or his monitoring of the trial in the Detention Unit. The judges decide to adjourn the trial until tomorrow

The trial of former state security service officials postponed today as the first accused, the Detention Unit physician noted in his report, still felt ’physically and mentally exhausted and extremely tired’. The physician went on to say that Stanisic’s health might improve in a few weeks time, at least as far as Stanisic’s mental health is concerned

Jovica Stanisic’s ill health continues, preventing him from following the trial from the dock or from the UN Detention Unit via video conference link. Both the defense and the prosecution presented their views on the possible severing of the cases against two former chiefs of Serbian state security service

In its motion filed today the prosecution asks the Trial Chamber to reevaluate Jovica Stanisic’s health and decide to re-commence the trial, suspended five months ago ‘to a period of at least three months’. Stanisic might take part in the trial in the courtroom, from the UN Detention Unit or even from Belgrade via video link, prosecution notes

The defense of Jovica Stanisic, former chief of the Serbian state security service, claims the accused has both physical and mental problems, including ‘a wish to die’. The defense contends that the trial, suspended five months ago, cannot go on

At the trial of former chief of Serbian state security Jovica Stanisic and his assistant Franko Simatovic, the prosecution has sought permission to tender into evidence Serbian state security payroll lists showing payments were made to paramilitaries

Psychiatrist De Man and gastroenterologist Siersme will submit their reports on the physical and mental condition of Jovica Stanisic, former chief of the Serbian state security service in two weeks. The Trial Chamber will then decide on the further course of the proceedings

Former Serbian state security service chief Jovica Stanisic ‘is not receiving adequate treatment’ at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade during his provisional release, the prosecution contends, calling for him to return to The Hague and to undergo therapy at the Netherlands Institute of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, Pieter Baan Centrum in Utrecht

Jovica Stanisic’s Dutch defense counsel asked the Trial Chamber to reject the prosecution motion seeking that the former chief of Serbian State Security Service continues his medical treatment in Holland. The prosecution’s proposal is “unrealistic and likely to endanger the life of the accused’, the defense contends

The Trial Chamber has ordered the return of the former chief of Serbian State Security Service Jovica Stanisic and the Special Operations Units commander Franko Simatovic to The Hague by Monday, 4 May 2009. The trial is scheduled to restart on 25 May 2009

The prosecution wants to include a notebook ‘most probably belonging to Ratko Mladic’ in the lists of exhibits it intends to tender at the upcoming trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. In December 2008, the Serbian authorities seized the notebook from Bosiljka Mladic while searching their family house in Belgrade

The UN Detention Unit doctor has said ‘it would not be inhumane’ to transfer the accused Stanisic to the Tribunal to appear at the status conference; he could not rule out the possibility that the accused is exaggerating his medical problems; despite his opinion, the status conference in the case of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic today was held without the first accused Stanisic

By the end of this week, the Trial Chamber may decide on the start date for the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, the number of prosecution witnesses and the time for their examination. The video conference link with the UN Detention Unit – available to Stanisic if he wishes to follow the trial from there – was tested today: Dr. Eekhof was on the line

The re-start of the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, former chiefs of the Serbian State Security Service, indicted for crimes of the police and paramilitary troops in Croatia and BH, proceeded almost exactly like the first attempt to start the trial in April 2008

In the first part of his opening statement at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, the prosecutor has described the creation of the special units run by the Serbian State Security Service. Those units ‘operated outside of the law, under Milosevic’s dictate’, in order to ‘protect not only the interests of Serbia but also of Serbs outside Serbia’. Stanisic has refused to follow the start of the trial today

Jovica Stanisic’s refusal to follow the trial via video link today was interpreted as his waiver of the right to attend trial. The Trial Chamber ordered that the trial proceed in his absence. The prosecution indicated what and how it intended to prove at the trial of the former Serbian state security chiefs

Although the former chief of the Serbian state security told the judges he didn’t feel well enough to come to the courtroom, that he didn’t want to follow the trial via video link and that he didn’t want to waive his right to attend the trial, the Trial Chamber rejected the defense request for the suspension of trial, ordering the prosecution to start calling evidence

The prosecution started its case at the trial of the former chiefs of the Serbian state security in the absence of the first accused Jovica Stanisic. The hearing went on in closed session for the most part

The trial of former Serbian state security service chiefs continues in the absence of first-accused Jovica Stanisic. While the hearing for the most part proceeded in closed session, in the part of his testimony open to the public a protected prosecution witness confirmed some elements of the defense case

The second prosecution witness at the Stanisic and Simatovic trial, former SDS official from Vukovar Borivoje Savic, described Belgrade’s role in the effort to organize and arm the Serbs in Croatia in 1991. As Savic said, Stanisic’s weapons arrived on the eve of the conflict and Seselj provided personnel support on Milosevic’s order. The trial continues in Stanisic’s absence

Denying that Jovica Stanisic and the Serbian State Security Service had any role in the effort to arm the Serbs and send the volunteer units to Croatia in 1991, the defence put it to the witness Borivoje Savic that he had mistakenly put a number of participants in those events into the SDB; in the actual fact they worked for the Public Security Department or the military intelligence service. The witness responded by saying that ‘all the services were intermingled all over the place; they didn’t know who worked for whom’

At the Stanisic and Simatovic trial, survivor Jasna Denona testifies about a massacre in which ten residents of the village of Bruska were killed in December 1991. The presiding judge says the hearing today was a ‘waste of time’ as the witness merely repeated what she had already said in her statement to the OTP investigators and in her evidence at the trials of Slobodan Milosevic and Milan Martic. The judge’s criticism was mainly directed at the defense who had insisted on the witness’s presence in court

The prosecution opposes Jovica Stanisic’s motion for provisional release, noting that allowing the former Serbian State Security Service chief to travel to Belgrade may jeopardize his health and threaten the further course of the trial

Former UN official Charles Kirudja is testifying about the role Jovica Stanisic played in the effort to free 388 UNPROFOR personnel taken hostage by the Bosnian Serb forces in the spring of 1995. Will the trial of the former Serbian State Security chiefs be adjourned again?

Former reserve officer in the Serbian MUP Milomir Kovacevic claims he saw ‘Arkan’s men’ and ‘Scorpions’ in 1991 in Eastern Slavonia and in 1995 in Bosnian Krajina. Kovacevic heard from several sources that they operated under the command of the Serbian State Security Service. The witness also saw the accused Stanisic and Simatovic in ‘Arkan’s men’ headquarters in Erdut and in Serbia when arms and personnel were sent to the frontlines

Granting in part the motion filed by Franko Simatovic’s new defense team to adjourn the trial, the Trial Chamber scheduled a new hearing in the case of the former Serbian State Security chiefs for the last week in November. The trial will proceed for two days a week until the Tribunal’s winter recess

In the cross-examination of the protected witness FJ-007, the defense of the former Serbian State Security Service chief blamed the JNA for the murder and other crimes in Zvornik. On 9 April 1992, the witness suffered ‘a great and irreparable loss’; she blames Arkan’s men

The Trial Chamber dismissed the urgent motion filed by the former chief of the Serbian State Security Service to spend the Tribunal’s winter recess in Belgrade

The former chief of the Serbian State Security Service arrived in the courtroom today to complain in person to the judges that the Dutch medical doctors are treating him ‘negligently but not on purpose’. A former member of the Special Operations Unit of the Serbian State Security, the Red Berets, began his evidence

Former member of the Red Berets continues his evidence at the trial of the former Serbian State Security Service chiefs Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. State Security payroll lists from 1992 were admitted into evidence. The lists have been provided to the prosecution by the Serbian Security and Information Agency

In the cross-examination of the former Red Berets member, the defense of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic contested the witness’s claims that he was drafted in April 1992 into a special unit formed by the Serbian State Security Service. According to the defense, all the units in the Mount Ozren and Doboj areas were under the command of Ratko Mladic and other JNA and VRS officers

Former chairman of the Party of Democratic Action in Bosanski Samac Sulejman Tihic contends that the members of the Special Operations Unit ‘were the masters of life and death, they knew how to fight and handle weapons’. Tihic was detained in five detention facilities but suffered the most in Bosanski Samac at the hands of the ‘Serbian specials’

The defense of the two former Serbian State Security Service chiefs Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic imply that JNA was the main culprit for the attack on Bosanski Samac and the crimes perpetrated there. Witness Sulejman Tihic contends that the ‘Serbian specials’ played the dominant role in the attack and the crimes

Describing the influence the accused Serbian secret service chiefs Stanisic and Simatovic wielded in the RSK and Cazin Krajina in 1993 and 1994, former military intelligence officer Slobodan Lazarevic spoke about the Spider Joint Command, comprising ‘Arkan’s men’ and other special units from Serbia, members of Serb army in Krajina and Abdic’s troops from BH. High-ranking police officer in RSK called Stanisic ‘dad’

The defense of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic today cross-examined prosecution witness Slobodan Lazarevic, paying less attention to his claims about the role of the accused in Krajina from 1991 to 1995, and focusing instead on trying to impeach the witness and prove that he had misrepresented himself as an agent of the Counterintelligence Service of the former JNA and VJ

The prosecution’s response to Stanisic’s motion asking leave to spend the one-month break in the trial in Belgrade was disclosed today. The Trial Chamber ‘can no longer be satisfied that the accused will not pose a danger to witnesses and victims, if granted provisional release’, the prosecution argues in its response

Former chief of the Serbian state security service Jovica Stanisic has submitted an urgent motion for provisional release to take a “small respite from the isolation of incarceration and the separation from his family”. The motion contends that the accused has done everything to earn the trust of the Trial Chamber, and is now asking in return some ‘deserved respite’

Two police insider witnesses called by the prosecution contend that the ‘special units’ took part in killing and abusing Croatian civilians, stealing cars and counterfeiting documents. As alleged in the indictment, the special units were under the control of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic

In an effort to prove that the Serbian state security service (DB) units under the control of the accused Stanisic and Simatovic were training local Serb forces in Baranja, the prosecution today showed video footage of former Anti-Terrorist Unit commander Vaslije Mijovic and a female trainer by the name of Vanja talk about that

In his evidence at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, General Manojlo Milovanovic confirmed what he had stated in the documentary The Unit. Milovanovic identified the owner of the ‘work notebooks’ currently under seal at the Tribunal. The prosecution contends that the notebooks are in fact Ratko Mladic’s ‘war diaries’

Defense counsel Jordash picked up on General Manojlo Milovanovic’s claim that in 1993 Jovica Stanisic was well informed about the situation in the Podrinje area in Bosnia. According to Jordash, this didn’t show that his client was interested in the war in BH, but his endeavor to defend the Serbian border against frequent attacks by Naser Oric and his ‘armed civilians’

In his cross-examination, prosecution witness Manojlo Milovanovic agreed with the defense counsel’s suggestion that Jovica Stanisic was not involved in any way in the fighting between the 5th Corps and Fikret Abdic’s troops in the Cazin Krajina. Milovanovic noted that the accused ‘only’ conveyed a decision of the military and political authorities of Serbia and Republika Srpska to him. He also explained why he thought Stanisic was a waiter

Former member of the federal State Security Service contends that he saw Jovica Stanisic, chief of the Serbian secret service on two occasions in Knin, at the time when the war broke out in Croatia. A bit later, the witness heard from the villagers near Beli Manastir that units run by Stanisic’s deputy Franko Simatovic were active in that area

The defense cross-examined former member of the state security service in the federal SUP, insisting on the discrepancies between his evidence yesterday and the statement he gave to the OTP investigators in 2004. The witness testifies at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic under the pseudonym JF-38

Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic were directly in charge of a number of police and paramilitary units operating outside of the Serbia’s borders, claims an insider witness, former member of the Red Berets, the 72nd Special Unit of the Yugoslav Army and Arkan’s Tigers

Croatian pathologist Davor Strinovic and psychologist Visnja Bilic testified about the activities of the government bodies on the exhumation and identification of the bodies found in mass graves in various locations in Krajina and Eastern Slavonia. The mass graves are listed in the indictment against former chiefs of the Serbian secret service Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. The bodies of 1,881 civilians have been identified while more than 1,000 remain unidentified

Members of the Red Berets were sworn to total obedience and fanatical devotion to the unit, protected witness testifying under the pseudonym JF-048 confirmed at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. The witness pointed out that the unit had ties with Arkan’s Tigers and Scorpions

The Red Berets were not a paramilitary formation; on the contrary, it was a unit that secured the communications center and the Serbian state security service operatives, the defense lawyers of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic contended in an attempt to present the witness as a criminal

Challenging the expert report about the expulsion of Croats from the so-called Republic of Serbian Krajina, Franko Simatovic’s defense counsel put it to the witness that they had left because life was better in other parts of Croatia

Borislav Bogunovic, former interior minister in the self-proclaimed Serb autonomous region in Eastern Slavonia, confirmed in his evidence at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic that the Serbian MUP had crucial influence over Goran Hadzic and his ‘government’

In his cross-examination, former interior minister in the self-proclaimed Serb entity in Slavonia Borislav Bogunovic agreed in part with the suggestion made by Jovica Stanisic’s defense that his government had been ‘influenced’ rather than ‘controlled’ by Milosevic. Bogunovic recounted that Goran Hadzic would return from Belgrade and would either say that something ‘must’ be done or that ‘it would be good’ to do it

Based on the minutes of the sessions of the Bosnian Serb Assembly, American historian Robert Donia concluded at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic that the RS leadership wanted to carve up BH with the support from Serbia, based on a plan contained in their key document, the Six Strategic Goals

The defense of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic cross-examined prosecution expert Robert Donia today, trying to shift the blame for what happened in BH on Radovan Karadzic and the Bosnian Serb leadership. As they argued, Serbia did not provide any support to the effort to carve up Bosnia

In his statement to the OTP, the witness said the Serbian state security service ‘controlled all the paramilitary units in Eastern Slavonia in 1991’. Jovica Stanisic’s defense counsel today put it to him that this was ‘an exaggeration’. The witness disagreed, saying that the Serbian secret service in that part of Croatia controlled ‘Arkan’s men’, the Knindza unit and the Territorial Defense

The defense of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic tried to play down the role of the Serbian state security service in Krajina in late 1991 by shifting the blame on the former RSK president Milan Babic and the JNA. Prosecution witness Radoslav Maksic replied that Babic committed no crimes at the time, dismissing the suggestion that volunteers from Serbia fought under the command of the JNA

At the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, a protected prosecution witness claimed today that the Serbian state security service was in charge of the training of the Krajina special forces in Golubic near Knin in 1991. The prosecution tendered into evidence several Christmas cards that show the ties between the Krajina Serbs and the authorities in Belgrade, Podgorica and Pale

A protected prosecution witness testifying at the trial of the former chiefs of the Serbian state security service said today that it was ‘public knowledge that Franko Simatovic issued orders to the special units trained in the Golubic camp near Knin’. As the witness said, Martic and Babic asked Jovica Stanisic to remove Frenki from Knin because he was too ‘arrogant’

The prosecution alleges that the contents of Christmas cards Milan Martic sent to high-ranking officials in Serbia and FRY prove the existence of a joint criminal enterprise aimed at creating an ethnically pure Serb state. Both the senders and recipients of the cards took part in the enterprise and worked hard on the implementation of its goals

Former member of the Red Berets claims that in April 1992 the accused Franko Simatovic briefed the specials in Ilok, telling them they would soon attack Bosanski Samac. Soon after, the joint Serbian forces took Samac. The witness claims he saw Red Berets beat non-Serb prisoners on two occasions and was present when civilians were killed in Crkvina

Prosecution military expert Reynaud Theunens brought up a number of the JNA and the VJ documents which corroborate the allegation in the indictment that the Serbian state security service, headed by Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, controlled the police and paramilitary units operating in Croatia and BH

On the second day of his cross-examination at the Stanisic and Simatovic trial, prosecution military expert Reynaud Theunens stuck to his claim that in early 1990s the Serbian police tolerated the actions of paramilitary groups. Theunens recalled that the first arrests of the Serbian Radical Party volunteers took place only after Vojislav Seselj and Slobodan Milosevic parted ways politically

Denying there were any ties between Seselj’s men and the Serbian secret service, Jovica Stanisic’s defense counsel used sources from the Serbian Radical Party claiming that in the spring of 1991, Chetnik volunteers had to cross into Croatia by boat, because the police would not let them cross the Danube on the bridges. Military expert Reynaud Theunens replied that the government’s attitude towards the paramilitaries changed from initial animosity to final acceptance and recalled that in September 1991, before the attack on Vukovar, Seselj’s men were bussed into Croatia; the police knew about the transports

In the cross-examination of the prosecution military expert, Franko Simatovic’s defense counsel argued that every citizen of the SFRY had the right to ‘get organized and prepare for the defense’, and then went on to say that the Serbian Radical Party volunteers feared the police and didn’t dare carry arms. This prompted the presiding judge to ask, ‘why would the MUP prevent something that is everyone’s right?’

Prosecution military expert Reynaud Theunens rejected claims made by Franko Simatovic’s defense that ‘Arkan’s men’ and the Scorpions unit were not under the command of the police but the army. Theunens agreed that the Yellow Wasps and Mauzer’s volunteers didn’t maintain contacts with the Serbian MUP

Franko Simatovic’s defense is trying to prove that persons mentioned in the trial so far as members of the Red Berets had no ties with the Serbian MUP, but were employed in the Serb police in Bosnia and Krajina. Prosecution military expert Reynaud Theunens replied they were transferred from one post to another often

In the cross-examination of former UN official Charles Kirudja, the defense tried to prove that Stanisic’s success in solving the ‘hostage crisis’ in the spring of 1995 showed his commitment to achieving a peaceful resolution of the crisis. The prosecution sees it as proof of the influence the accused had over the Bosnian Serb leadership. Mischa Glenny’s story about how Karadzic was left without 20 million dollars he wanted to take from Greeks in exchange for the hostages was labeled ‘madly amusing’ by the witness

As she explained parts of two statistical reports on the number of people who were killed or forced to flee five municipalities in BH listed in the indictment against Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, prosecution expert demographer Ewa Tabeau said that the Muslims' share in the population of the five municipalities dropped from one third to as little as 1.6 percent. She rejected the defense’s argument this was the result of the migrations typical for a wartime situation

The prosecution filed a motion seeking to tender into evidence parts of Mladic’s diaries in the case against Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic arguing that the diaries showed the existence of the joint criminal enterprise aimed at ethnically cleansing large parts of Croatia and BH and the involvement of the accused in the project

Former member of the Scorpions unit Goran Stoparic confirmed at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic that the Serbian state security paid the salaries of the unit members. Stoparic also confirmed that in June 1995 the unit was stationed in Trnovo. The indictment alleges that the Scorpions executed six Muslims captured in Srebrenica in that area

Jovica Stanisic’s defense is trying to prove that a clan of relatives and friends around the Scorpions unit commander Slobodan Medic was responsible for the murder of Muslim civilians in Trnovo. The rest of the unit, the defense contends, was away from the crime scene. The witness agreed in part, but remained adamant that the Serbian state security service controlled

The Trial Chamber has granted the prosecution’s motion to admit into evidence portions of previous testimony of the late RSK president Milan Babic at the trial of the two former chiefs of the Serbian state security service, Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic

After filing a motion seeking to admit into evidence parts of Mladic’s diaries at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, today the prosecution asked that Mladic’s tapes with audio recordings confiscated in Mladic’s family house in early 2010 also be admitted into evidence

Stanisic’s lawyer Jordash today addressed the Trial Chamber to explain that USD 23,000 a month – the amount his team has been receiving until now – would not be enough to cover the defense expenses in the upcoming period. The defense case is due to open soon, and the scale and cost of their work is going to increase, Jordash argued

The prosecution has amended its motion to tender Mladic’s diaries into evidence at the trial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. In addition to its earlier request for 20-odd passages from former Bosnian Serb army commander’s notebook, the prosecution now seeks to add 16 additional excerpts to its exhibit list

Simatovic’s defense considers that the prosecution has not called any evidence that establishes a link between Franko Simatovic and the crimes in Croatia and BH, calling for his acquittal. Jovica Stanisic’s defense decided to waive its right to seek his acquittal at the half-time of the trial

The prosecution contends there is enough evidence of the responsibility of Franko Simatovic for the crimes committed by the police and volunteer units in the wars in Croatia and BH and asks the Trial Chamber to dismiss Simatovic’s motion for his acquittal at the ‘half-time’ of the trial

The defense motion to acquit Franko Simatovic after the prosecution case was dismissed today, as the Trial Chamber found that the prosecution had called sufficient evidence indicating Simatovic was involved in the joint criminal enterprise aimed at the permanent elimination of non-Serbs from large parts of Croatia and BH. Jovica Stanisic’s defense case will begin on 15 June 2011

Defense witness called by the first Bosnian Serb police minister criticized the prosecution demographic analyses, arguing that they were based on ‘the law of numbers’ instead of empirical findings. The witness said that ‘numbers can say whatever the person who knows how to play with them wants them to say’

At the pre-defense conference, Jovica Stanisic’s defense lawyers indicated they intended to call 33 witnesses and Franko Simatovic’s defense planned to call at least 20. The defense has 140 hours for the examination-in chief of their witnesses. The former chief of the Serbian State Security Service has problems with the Serbian Security Information Agency

In the opening statement, the defense denied that the Serbian State Security Service played any role in the crimes against non-Serbs in Croatia and BH, shifting the blame on the JNA, the Serbian MUP and the security forces of the Serbs from Bosnia and Krajina. According to the defense, Franko Simatovic’s speech at a ceremony in Kula in 1997 where he said the Serbian secret service played an important role in the war was a ‘meaningless fabrication from a bad Hollywood movie’

The first defense witness called by Jovica Stanisic to testify in open session claims his erstwhile friend Milan Babic lied when he said that Slobodan Milosevic controlled the situation in Krajina in 1990 and 1991 through ‘parallel structures’. The Serbian State Security Service and its chief Stanisic took active parts in this effort, Babic claimed

The prosecution today challenged the claims of former Krajina Assembly deputy Mile Bosnic, who claimed in his examination-in-chief that the Serbian State Security Service was not involved in the war in Croatia. According to the prosecution, the witness simply might not have been informed about the presence and activities of the Serbian secret police

Jovica Stanisic’s defense witness, testifying under protective measures, tried to convince the Trial Chamber that Milan Babic and the people around him were the real movers and shakers in Krajina in early 1990’s, countering the prosecution argument that the Serbian State Security Service played a major role in the events in Krajina

Jovica Stanisic’s defense witness tried to contest the prosecution argument that Krajina Serb leaders received large amounts of cash from Belgrade. The witness contended that in early 1990s, Milan Martic was broke most of the time; the witness in fact had to led him money for lunch, cigarettes, gasoline and other running costs ‘countless times’

Testifying as Jovica Stanisic’s defense witness, former Serbian State Security Service operative tried to convince the judges that in the early nineties he and his colleagues were fighting the Muslim and Serbian extremists who wanted the war to spill over from BH to Serbia. He also accused the Yugoslav Army of recruiting volunteers with a criminal past

Jovica Stanisic’s defense tried to prove that the Serbian State Security Service had been fighting the Serb extremists, noting that in late 1992 the police arrested a notorious member of various Serbian paramilitary units, Milan Lukic. The current defense witness Radenko Novakovic interviewed Milan Lukic after his arrest

In the cross-examination of former intelligence officer Radenko Novakovic, the prosecutor tried to challenge Jovica Stanisic’s case that the Serbian State Security Service was determined to fight extremism. The prosecutor showed a series of documents which indicate that only Muslim extremists and the political opposition of the regime were targeted by the secret service. Members of the Serbian paramilitary units such as the notorious While Eagles, were let off the hook

The prosecutor contested the claims of Jovica Stanisic’s defense witness that the role of the Serbian State Security Service in Operation Spider in Western Bosnia did not go beyond gathering intelligence. The prosecutor showed documents indicating that specials from the Red Berets, a unit run by the Serbian secret service, secured convoys, set up ambushes, reconnoitered enemy positions and carried out sniper actions

The indictment alleges that even before his formal appointment as the head of the Serbian State Security Service in December 1991 Stanisic was already the de facto No. 1 man there. The defense is now trying to prove that Stanisic was in fact ‘sidelined’ at the time. According to the defense, in that period Stanisic didn’t even exercise the powers he had as the assistant chief for counter-intelligence

The prosecutor confronted the defense witness with documents and previous witness testimony showing that Jovica Stanisic was very active in his job in 1991. In that period Stanisic met with Slobodan Milosevic and other high-ranking Serbian officials. The witness nevertheless remained adamant that the accused was ‘sidelined’ and ‘on stand-by’ in that period

Despite the fact that Jovica Stanisic is charged with crimes against non-Serbs in Croatia and BH, his defense lawyer called evidence about Muslim extremism in Sandzak in the first half of 1990s. Former intelligence officer Vladimir Corbic testified about the ‘complex security situation’ in the area

The UN hostage crisis in 1995 is not alleged in the indictment against Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. It remains to be seen how much Vlado Dragicevic helped the defense when he testified about it. What is clear from his evidence today as Stanisic’s defense witness is that Dragicevic, former employee of the Serbian State Security Service, qualified as a prosecution witness in the cases against Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic

Defense witness Vlado Dragicevic said in his statement to Jovica Stanisic’s defense that Stanisic was ‘the only man in Serbia the CIA could talk to’. Dragicevic agreed with the prosecutor that this cooperation does not necessarily mean that Stanisic did not commit war crimes

Contradicting the prosecutor’s claims about the trust between the former secret service chief and the Serbian president, witness Dragicevic, who was Stanisic’s adviser at the time, contended they never trusted each other. This culminated in their final rift in 1998 over the Kosovo crisis, the witness said. Milosevic decided to use force and Stanisic favored a peaceful solution, the witness explained

For months, the representatives of the Republic of Serbia and Jovica Stanisic’s defense haven’t been able to agree on the delivery of the documents from the Serbian security service archives. Today, an agreement was reached during a one-hour break at the hearing, which dealt with the defense’s motion to issue a subpoena to the Serbian authorities

General Manojlo Milovanovic says that his colleague from the VRS Main Staff Zdravko Tolimir sent his reports regularly to Jovica Stanisic, but this was ‘improper and unlawful’. The witness apologized today to the accused on Tolimir’s behalf

Mladic’s key associate Manojlo Milovanovic said at the trial of former Serbian State Security Service chiefs Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic he ‘suspects’ that Radovan Karadzic invited Arkan in the fall of 1995 to come to the Bosnian Krajina. Milovanovic said that he ‘can hardly wait’ to testify at Karadzic’s trial because then they could clear up this issue once and for all

Dejan Lucic, the first witness called by Simatovic’s defense, claimed that Captain Dragan Vasiljkovic had close ties with the Serbian Renewal Movement. According to Lucic, Vasiljkovic went to Krajina as a private individual, not as an agent of the Serbian State Security Service, and established a special unit training center there. Simatovic will spend the winter recess on provisional release

Franko Simatovic’s defense witness claimed that Captain Dragan Vasiljkovic was a ‘free lancer’ who had ties with the Serbian Renewal Movement in Serbia. The prosecutor showed evidence of Vasiljkovic’s ties with the Serbian State Security Service. Does the witness believe that Martians exist, that the Pope is a Satanist and why does his website link to the Red Beret website?

Franko Simatovic’s defense called protected witness DFS 014 in a bid to deny the claim that Captain Dragan Vasiljkovic had any ties with the Serbian State Security Service. The defense insisted on Vasiljkovic’s connections with the Serbian Army of Krajina. The trial continues after the Tribunal’s winter recess on 10 January 2012

Contradicting the prosecution’s claims that the Serbian State Security Service funded the Krajina police, a protected witness called by Franko Simatovic’s defense contended that the reserve police officers were paid by the companies where they normally worked, while the regular police were paid from the donations and were sometimes paid in goods from humanitarian aid

In the face of the prosecutor’s attempts to prove him wrong, Franko Simatovic’s defense witness, testifying under protective measures, remained adamant that Captain Dragan Vasiljkovic’s special unit was subordinated to the Serbian Army of Krajina (SVK). The witness was unable to pinpoint their position in the military chain of command

Former member of the Serbian Volunteer Guard Jovan Dimitrijevic claimed his unit was part of the Krajina Territorial Defense and later of the Krajina police. The unit received equipment and other supplies from the JNA, food from the Eastern Slavonia government, and money from various donors. Everybody gave something except the Serbian State Security Service, the witness claimed. The prosecution alleges that the unit was under the control of the Service

Franko Simatovic’s defense witness denied that ‘Arkan’s men’ had any links with the Serbian MUP and State Security Service. The witness at the same time insisted that Arkan’s paramilitary unit worked well with the Eastern Slavonia Ministry of Defense and Territorial Defense. According to the prosecution evidence, the persons in charge of those bodies – Ilija Kojic, Milan Milovanovic Mrgud and Radovan Stojicic – all worked for the Serbian MUP

Franko Simatovic’s defense witness was able to recognize the soldier shown kicking civilians on the ground on a photo taken immediately after Arkan’s volunteers entered Bijeljina. The witness claimed the soldier was physically punished for this incident and removed from the unit. The prosecutor showed a document indicating that the same person was still on payroll of the ‘Arkan’s men’ some years later

Arkan’s close personal, military and political associate Borislav Pelevic testifies in Franko Simatovic’s defense. Pelevic today tried to deny there were any links between Arkan’s men and the Serbian State Security Service, highlighting instead their cooperation with Biljana Plavsic, Radovan Karadzic, Goran Hadzic and, above all, the JNA and the commander of its Novi Sad Corps, Biorcevic

Former member of Arkan’s men Borislav Pelevic claims that the paramilitary unit fought under the command of the Krajina army and police in 1992 and 1993. In 1994 and 1995, Arkan’s men fought as part of the Bosnian Serb security forces. This is why Radovan Karadzic awarded the Order of Karadjordje’s Star to Zeljko Raznatovic and the Milos Obilic Medal to the witness

Arkan’s fellow fighter Borislav Pelevic was cross-examined by the prosecution. After the whole day of questioning, the prosecution case remained unclear. When the defense intervened the Trial Chamber dove into the examination of the witness. Pelevic claims that Arkan’s men didn’t commit crimes: they merely defended the Serbs. They never even send uninvited guests away from their parties, the witness explained

Franko Simatovic’s defense witness claims that Franko Simatovic was in Knin in the spring of 1991 to collect intelligence relevant for security of Serbia. The prosecution alleges that Simatovic’s efforts were part of the assistance and support the Serbian State Security Service provided to the Krajina police

According to Franko Simatovic’s defense witness, the JNA Knin Corps, its commander Ratko Mladic and Mladic’s assistant for artillery Atif Dudakovic were responsible for the attacks on Croatian villages in Krajina in 1991. The former chiefs of the Serbian State Security Service are on trial for numerous crimes committed in those attacks

As he was questioned by Jovica Stanisic’s defense, Aco Draca, called by Franko Simatovic, denied that the Serbian State Security Service played any role in the effort to arm the Krajina army and police. However, when he was cross-examined by the prosecutor, the witness admitted that the Krajina secret service regularly reported to the 2nd Directorate of the Serbian State Security Service, which in turn sent its report to Krajina. Simatovic was the head of the Second Directorate

The prosecutor showed Jovica Stanisic’s defense witness Osman Selak exhibits proving that Jovica Stanisic was involved in the preparations of the Serbs in Western Slavonia for the war. Selak replied that he as a JNA officer had knowledge only about the role of the army in the effort to distribute arms. He could only speculate about the activities of the Serbian State Security Service

Franko Simatovic’s defense witness admitted that the accused visited the Bajina Basta area in the first half of 1993. The witness nevertheless stubbornly denied that Simatovic ever went to Eastern Bosnia, even when the prosecutor confronted him with documents showing that the Red Berets were stationed in Skelani at the time. The documents also show that the Red Berets unit fought side by side with the Bosnian Serb army and for some time even secured the border crossing at Bajina Basta that the witness was in charge of

Retired military security officer Mladen Karan contends that ‘Arkan’s men’ in Eastern Slavonia were under the command of the Territorial Defense and that their commander Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan was ‘close’ with the commanders of the JNA Novi Sad Corps. This corroborates Franko Simatovic’s defense case that the Serbian State Security Service had no ties at all with that unit

Confronted with the entries from the Operation Spider logbook, defense witness Mladen Karan admitted that the accused Simatovic had taken part in the planning of combat operations, not only in reconnaissance missions against the enemy, as Karan claimed before. The witness simply couldn’t understand how it was possible for the same person to perform two such demanding tasks

The defense has urged the Trial Chamber to order the Registrar to provide to the former chief of the Serbian State Security Service psychiatric care at the level available to "ordinary European citizen". If not, the defense has asked for his release which would make it possible for him to receive medical treatment independent of the Tribunal and the Detention Unit

The witness called by Franko Simatovic’s defense agreed it was possible that some people involved in the attacks on Brcko and Bosanski Samac and some of the Krajina Serb police officials were in fact agents of the Serbian State Security Service; he didn’t know it because it was a secret

Former member of the Knindza unit and of the Benkovac Territorial Defense Goran Opacic has testified today in the defense of Franko Simatovic. Opacic contends that the JNA reports –identifying him as one of the perpetrators of the crimes against Croat civilians in the villages of Skabrnja and Nadin are false. Opacic claims that he and his men never ‘even hit, let alone kill any civilians’. The witness denied any ties with the Serbian State Security Service

The prosecutor today tendered into evidence an intelligence report stating that Goran Opacic a/k/a Klempo, former member of the Krajina special unit, who has been called to testify by Franko Simatovic’s defense, was responsible for the murder of a prisoner in the Knin prison, using forged documents, theft of household appliances and cigarette smuggling. The prosecutor produced two judgments in which Opacic was found guilty of assault in Loznica and of murder of civilians in Skabrnja. ‘It’s all lies and fabrications’, the witness replied

David Browne, forensic document examiner called by Jovica Stanisic as his expert witness, contends there are ‘anomalies’ in Ratko Mladic’s notebooks. Some sheets are not ‘aligned’, there is a half page missing in one of the notebooks, the handwriting is too tidy and the ‘chronology” of the notebooks makes them only partially reliable in terms of their truthfulness

Forensic document examiner David Browne called by Jovica Stanisic’s defense contends that most of Ratko Mladic’s notebooks ‘contain some anomalies but there is no definitive proof of fraud’. As the expert witness explained, the damage sustained by one of the notebooks is the ‘strongest indicator of possible forgery in the whole series’, but it didn’t necessarily mean that the notebooks were actually forged

As former British ambassador to Belgrade, Sir Ivor Roberts, said, he thought the Bosnian Serb leadership was ‘the Frankenstein’s monster’ who no longer obeyed its creator Milosevic, ‘the arsonist’ behind the Balkan wars. Sir Roberts thought Ratko Mladic was ‘mentally deranged’. As for Jovica Stanisic, whose defense called him to give evidence, Sir Ivor Roberts described him as the ‘messenger who carried Milosevic’s threats’

The trial of the former chiefs of the Serbian State Security Service will be adjourned until the end of April 2012. In May 2012, the defense of the second accused Franko Simatovic will bring his case to its end. The parties were ordered to be ready to submit their final briefs before the beginning of Tribunal’s summer recess in late July 2012, although the deadline is tentative

The prosecution has dismissed the claims made by Jovica Stanisic’s defense that it has changed its position on Mladic’s diaries, recalling that from the moment when the diaries were discovered and translated, the prosecution has always claimed they are authentic. The prosecution has allowed that the diaries might not be complete and that there could be other notebooks that have not been found yet

Milan Milosevic, who teaches at the Police Academy in Belgrade, was asked by Franko Simatovic’s defense to write an expert report. In the report, Milosevic says that the Police Act of the Republic of Serbia advocated cooperation between the police forces in the republics and had ‘an integrative character’. When he was called to explain how the Serbian MUP took over the federal MUP in Belgrade, Milosevic said that it was done to ‘streamline the operation and cut costs’

Franko Simatovic’s police expert says that the Serbian State Security Service was obliged by the Serbian Constitution to act to ‘protect the national, cultural and historical autonomy’ of Serbs outside Serbia. This supports the defense’s argument that when the accused was in Krajina in the early 1990s he was acting within the powers given to him by the law, gathering intelligence to protect the interests of Serbia and of the Serbs in Krajina

In the cross-examination of Franko Simatovic’s police expert, the prosecution showed the witness some documents that indicate Jovica Stanisic backdated the orders assigning Serbian secret service personnel to Kosovo. Stanisic signed the fictional orders after the Serbian State Security Personnel had already completed their combat missions in Krajina in 1991 and in BH in 1995. The prosecution contends that this was done to cover up the unlawful activities of the Serbian secret service. The witness didn’t want to confirm this

As he was questioned by the defense, Professor Milan Milosevic claimed that in the Serbian secret service there was a ‘culture’ of non-interference in politics and avoiding illegal surveillance. Milosevic reached this conclusion based on the fact there had been no illegal surveillance scandals in the public while the accused Stanisic and Simatovic were chiefs of the Serbian State Security Service

Franko Simatovic’s police expert contends that the Serbian State Security Service special unit was first formed in August 1993. It was called the Anti-Terrorist Unit at the time. The prosecutor showed him documents which indicate that the unit existed already in 1991 under a different name: the Special Operations Unit. The witness claims that the unit didn’t officially have a commander. The prosecutor insisted that the accused Franko Simatovic was its commander

The defense expert denied that a document with Franko Simatovic’s signature was authentic because the letterhead said ‘SAO Krajina – Republic of Serbia’. This was ‘not logical’, the expert said. The prosecutor then showed a decision of the Krajina authorities from May 1991 annexing Krajina to Serbia. The witness agreed that the letterhead ‘is indeed logical’

In 1993, the Serbian State Security Service units took part in the fighting in eastern Bosnia. The accused Simatovic was involved in the planning of those actions, together with the VRS and VJ top brass, the prosecution contends. Simatovic’s defense witness couldn’t confirm it, insisting that at the time he was ‘nothing but a border guard’

Franko Simatovic’s former colleague from the Serbian State Security Service Rade Vujovic says the accused served as advisor to the service chief Jovica Stanisic for intelligence-gathering matters. According to Vujovic, Simatovic was ‘bursting with energy’ and was willing to implement new technologies. Vujovic denied that Simatovic worked in the Second Administration and that he was the Red Berets commander

Former employee of the Serbian State Security Service Rade Vujovic contends that when the accused Stanisic and Simatovic ran the Service, it ‘had no political leanings’. When the new chief Rade Markovic was appointed, he immediately demanded from the personnel to give their ‘full loyalty to the president, the country and the party’. The defense’s motion for Stanisic’s medical treatment outside of the Tribunal and the Detention Unit was denied

Franko Simatovic’s last witness claims that the accused was in Knin in 1991 to follow Captain Dragan Vasiljkovic who was a target of a surveillance operation. The prosecution contends that Simatovic visited Knin to help Krajina Serbs to prepare for war

The prosecution contested the claims made by Simatovic’s last witness that the only reason why the accused was in Knin in 1991 was to monitor and wire-tap Dragan Vasiljkovic. The prosecution showed a document stating that the communications equipment were issued to the special police training center in Golubic near Knin ‘on Frenki’s orders’. Captain Dragan was an instructor in the center

Judge Orie’s Trial Chamber ordered the parties at the administrative hearing to submit their final briefs by 21 August 2012. The closing arguments will be presented from 11 to 13 September 2012

The motions filed by the former Serbian State Security chiefs to spend their ‘summer holidays’ in Serbia was granted. The accused should return to The Hague immediately before the closing arguments, scheduled for 9, 10 and 11 October 2012. They may have to return to The Hague for a while during their term of provisional release

The Trial Chamber rendered a decision to cancel the evidence of protected witness CW-1, noting that he has been indicted for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and is currently in jail, awaiting extradition from the country of his residence to the country where he is to face trial. The Trial Chamber concluded that Witness CW-1 would likely provide ‘limited testimony; because he would probably refuse to answer any incriminating questions

At the request of the prosecution, 15 excerpts from Ratko Mladic's war diaries and 34 excerpts from the personnel files of the Serbian secret service staff were admitted into evidence in the case against former Serbian State Security Service chiefs. This has made it possible to schedule closing arguments, provided that the defense doesn’t file a similar request

Jovica Stanisic’s defense has sought leave to appeal against the Trial Chamber’s decision to admit into evidence additional prosecution exhibits. Franko Simatovic’s defense announced it would submit additional evidence. This will postpone the closing arguments at the trial of the former chiefs of the Serbian State Security Service

According to the prosecution, life in prison is the only adequate sentence for the two chiefs of Serbian State Security Service, Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. The sentence, the harshest the Tribunal can impose, is appropriate given the involvement of the units under the Serbian State Security Service’s control – the Red Berets, ‘Arkan’s men’, the Scorpions – in the crimes committed in order to implement a joint criminal enterprise aimed at the ethnic cleansing of large swathes of Croatia and BH

The defense of the former DB chief Jovica Stanisic considers that the prosecution’s demand that their client be sentenced to life is ‘a grave act’, unsupported by arguments. The defense calls for Stanisic’s release, as the evidence has shown he is a man who did not pursue Belgrade’s war policy but led peace initiatives

In its closing argument, the defense portrayed Franko Simatovic as an ordinary Serbian DB operative who was not close to other participants in the joint criminal enterprise, including his service chief, Jovica Stanisic. According to the defense, Simatovic did not command the Red Berets and had nothing to do with the crimes against non-Serbs in Croatia and BH

Judge Orie’s Trial Chamber applied the principle of ‘specific direction’ from Momcilo Perisic’s appellate judgment, to acquit Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic on all counts in the indictment. Stanisic and Simatovic were charged with taking part in a joint criminal enterprise aimed at ethnically cleansing large parts of Croatia and BH. The judges have found that Stanisic and Simatovic did provide assistance to the units that committed murder, deportation, forcible transfer and persecution. However according to the Trial Chamber, Stanisic’s and Simatovic’s assistance wasn’t ‘specifically directed’ towards the crimes

The reasons why French judge Michele Picard didn’t agree with the ‘isolated” analysis presented by the majority in the Trial Chamber that acquitted Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic despite the evidence that the pair had established, supported and controlled the units that had committed crimes

In the notice of appeal against the acquittal of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, the prosecution has asked the Appeals Chamber to reverse the findings of the Trial Chamber and to impose adequate sentences on the two accused who were charged with crimes in Croatia and BH and participation in a joint criminal enterprise

In the appellate brief, the prosecution asks the judges to quash the judgment acquitting Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic and to sentence them accordingly. Alternatively, they ask the judges to remand the case to a bench of the Tribunal. The prosecution has called on the appellate judges to reject the controversial concept of ‘specific direction’. The judgment of Charles Taylor before the Special Court for Sierra Leone lends support to the argument: the Special Court found in the judgment that no such concept exists in customary international law

The prosecution has asked for parts of the judgment issued by the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Charles Taylor’s case to be admitted into the case file in the appellate proceedings of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. The defense has opposed their motion in part. The judgment has emphatically rejected ‘specific direction’ as a requirement for a conviction for aiding and abetting, thus running counter to recent jurisprudence at the Tribunal

The hearing on the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of former Serbian State Security Service chiefs Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic has been scheduled for Monday, 6 July 2015. In its motion, the prosecution has called for the accused to be either convicted or retried

According to the prosecution, the judgment acquitting Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic is a hazard to the development of international law because it fails to consider the entirety of the evidence and allows the officials at the top to remain unpunished. The prosecution ‘has built its house’ using only the building blocks (i.e. evidence) it fancies, the defense has responded. If the Chamber decides to quash the acquittal, there should be a re-trial, the defense has argued. According to the defense, the accused should not be convicted

According to the Appeals Chamber's order, the sentencing hearing in the case against the former chiefs of the Serbian State Security Service will be held on Tuesday, 15 December 2015. The Appeals Chamber has also ordered Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic to inform the ICTY Registry not later than Friday, 13 December 2015, if they want to appear in the courtroom in The Hague. In May 2013, the Trial Chamber acquitted Stanisic and Simatovic

The Appeals Chamber led by Judge Fausto Pocar has found that the Trial Chamber made two serious legal errors in its judgment in the case against the two Serbian State Security Service chiefs. The first error pertains to their contribution to the joint criminal enterprise and the second stems from the application of the legal standard of specific direction. The Appeals Chamber has concluded that a new Trial Chamber should be appointed to hear the case on all counts in the indictment. Stanisic and Simatovic have been remanded in custody

The President of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals has appointed a trial chamber which will retry Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. The members are Burton Hall, a judge at the Tribunal in The Hague, and two former judges of the Rwanda Tribunal. The initial appearance has been slated for Friday, 18 December 2015 at 2:30 pm

In 2003 at their initial appearance before the Tribunal Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic pleaded not guilty on all counts in the indictment. Today the accused did the same and immediately submitted an urgent motion for provisional release pending the beginning of the new trial

According to the prosecution, the retrial of the two former Serbian State Security chiefs, Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, cannot begin before October 2016. On the other hand, the defense would prefer the re-trial to start in February and March 2017

At a status conference on Jovica Stanisic’s and Franko Simatovic’s re-trial before the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, the parties discussed preparations for the new trial. It remains unclear if the re-trial will begin in 2016 or in 2017

The scope of the case and the health of Stanisic, former head of the Serbian State Security Service, were discussed today at the status conference in the case against Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic which set for a retrial. Stanisic and his erstwhile deputy Simatovic are charged with crimes against non-Serbs between 1991 and 1995

Former heads of the Serbian State Security Service will be tried again for establishing, assisting, supporting and controlling the secret police and paramilitary units that perpetrated crimes in Croatia and BH from 1991 to 1995

The retrial of the former heads of the Serbian State Security Service will start on 13 June 2017. The two accused face charges of establishing, aiding, supporting and controlling the secret police and paramilitary units that were to blame for the crimes in Croatia and BH from 1991 to 1995

The Trial Chamber has rejected the motion of the former Serbian State Security Service chief to be allowed to follow the start of his retrial and the prosecution case from Belgrade over the internet

The prosecution delivered its opening statement at the start of the new trial of the two former heads of the Serbian State Security Service today before the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals. The pair are charged with being part of a joint criminal enterprise whose goal was to forcibly and permanently eliminate non-Serbs from large parts of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

The prosecution's opening statement continued this afternoon at the retrial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. As the prosecutor told the court, after achieving the goals of the joint criminal enterprise in Croatia, the focus of the participants shifted to Bosnia. The goal was to achieve 'ethnic homogeneity' and to link up the 'Serb territories' in Croatia and Bosnia with Serbia

After the prosecution completed the opening statement, the first witness was called: former employee of the State Security Service, a part of the Federal Secretariat of the Interior. He was the first prosecution witness in May 2008, as the first trial of the former Serbian State Security Service chiefs opened

As the retrial of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic continued today, the defense tried to challenge the evidence of the first witness, former Federal SUP intelligence officer, using the same or similar questions he had been asked in his previous testimony, in 2008 and 2010

As General Wilson took the stand today at the retrial of the former Serbian state security chiefs, he said that 'the worst part of the ethnic cleansing' in Croatia and BH had been carried out by irregular formations; Arkan's men and the Red Berets were particularly bad. Both formations were established, armed and financed by the Serbian State Security Service, the prosecution alleges

In the cross-examination of General John Wilson, Stanisic's defense lawyer strove to challenge the witness's claim that Slobodan Milosevic 'pulled all the strings and was the political power behind the entire conflict', and that he controlled the Serb leaderships in Krajina and in BH. The defense is thus trying to refute the prosecution case, which is that Milosevic in fact exercised this control through his State Security Service

The defense of the former Serbian State Security Service is trying to prove that Belgrade supported the Republic of Serbia Krajina for reasons that had nothing to do with the goals of the joint criminal enterprise which was headed by Milosevic and which included the accused Stanisic and Simatovic