JNA intercepted civilian vehicles and used UN markings: Pantelić's testimonies vary in the Dobrovoljačka case

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

Željko Pantelić from Šabac, a former JNA lieutenant, testified today in the Dobrovoljačka case, speaking as a witness for the BiH Prosecutor's Office about the events of May 2 and 3, 1992.

This witness, like many before him, speaks completely differently today than in three different statements given earlier in Belgrade, Šabac, and Sarajevo. Thus, the defense of the accused repeatedly referred to his testimonies from 1996, 2009, and 2011, asking him to state what was true.

Pantelić stated that he knows much better today than in 1996 because he has researched a lot and watched recordings. Ultimately, he also wrote a book in cooperation with an institute from Banja Luka that deals precisely with the Dobrovoljačka case!

Pantelić tried today to say that he had only heard at the time that Alija Izetbegović was captured on May 2, 1992, and taken to Lukavica, but today he wants to clarify different interpretations of that story.

"That's what I heard then, that's how it was conveyed in the command," Pantelić said.

He recounted his experiences of the events during April and May 1992, but could not explain by whose authority they intercepted civilian vehicles (Merhamet's vehicle), appropriated the vehicles, and captured civilians in Sarajevo in 1992, because on March 1, 1992, BiH became an independent state.

"The referendum was never verified in the BiH Assembly," Pantelić would say.

He admitted that he was aware that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed on April 27, 1992, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, and that the JNA was renamed the Army of Yugoslavia, but he still maintained that the JNA remained in Sarajevo!?

"The General Staff was in Belgrade. I don't know what Alija agreed to on April 26," Pantelić began his explanation, to which lawyer Senad Pizović asked what Alija had to do with the establishment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

"To whom do you report on May 1? Who does that JNA answer to, is it the new state?" Pizović asked.

Pantelić replied that he did not know who it answered to at the time. Today, this witness mentioned berets, lilies, a paramilitary formation that attacked them, while earlier he spoke mainly about civilians and some soldiers.

Today, however, it's "mainly soldiers and some civilians".

It is also indicative that in his earlier testimonies, Pantelić stated that Zdravko Tomović was 'riddled with bullets on May 2 at Skenderija', while today he said that 'the car was riddled with bullets, and Tomović returned to the Command of the Second Military District'. According to the indictment, Tomović was killed on May 3 during the army's withdrawal from the Second Military District.

Furthermore, this witness confirmed today that the JNA had a vehicle to which they attached UN markings, and which JNA military personnel used. He said there was such an agreement.

Lawyer Mirna Avdibegović was interested in whether Pantelić had ever been held accountable in a military or civilian court for capturing civilians and intercepting civilian vehicles in Sarajevo, to which Pantelić replied negatively.

Judge Darko Samardžić was interested in whether Pantelić knew about the Territorial Defense when he gave his testimony in Šabac in 1996, and why, if he knew, he did not mention it in his statement?

"I didn't know their insignia. They had many of those paramilitary formations," Pantelić said.

The trial in this case continues on November 19.