AFTER 20 YEARS OF TRIAL Final verdict for Stanišić and Simatović today

(Patria) - The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts will today deliver the final verdict in the case against former leaders of the Serbian State Security Service, Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović, which will conclude the work of the Hague Tribunal on prosecuting crimes committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The final verdict for Stanišić and Simatović will be the first for Serbian officials before The Hague and will put a seal on the character of the war that led to the dissolution of the SFRY. And that character will largely change political and all other flows, especially in the relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

Stanišić and Simatović, after a retrial, were sentenced to 12 years in prison each in the first-instance verdict. The Chamber, at the time the decision was made in 2021, stated that they were responsible for supporting and aiding crimes in Bosanski Šamac, but that they were not guilty of planning and ordering. The Chamber also stated that they were guilty on counts one to five.

The verdict at the time stated crimes committed by Serbian forces in Croatia, including the brutal killing of non-Serb civilians. The Chamber states that some of the killings were committed by members of the "Arkanovci".

A similar pattern occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the municipalities of Bijeljina, Bosanski Šamac, Doboj, Sanski Most, Trnovo, and Zvornik.

According to the indictment, Stanišić and Simatović were responsible for the SDB special units, which included groups or members of groups such as the Special Purpose Units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of Serbia, the Anti-Terrorist Action Unit (JATD), and the Special Operations Unit (JSO), also known as the "Red Berets", the "Scorpions", the Serbian Volunteer Guard, or "Arkanovci" and "Arkan's Tigers".

According to data from the third amended indictment, Jovica Stanišić was born on July 30, 1950, in Ratkovo, Serbia. In 1975, he began working in the State Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia. By the end of 1991, he held the position of Deputy Head of State Security (DB), and was de facto the head of the DB even before his official appointment as Head, a position he held from December 31, 1991, to October 27, 1998.

Franko Simatović, known as Frenki, was born on April 1, 1950, in Belgrade. He started working in the DB in 1978, where he worked in various positions until 2001. He first worked in counter-intelligence, and then moved to the newly established Directorate for Intelligence Affairs, the so-called Second Directorate, where he was the commander of the Special Operations Unit of the State Security. Throughout the period covered by the indictment, as stated, Simatović acted under the authority of Jovica Stanišić.

Simatović and Stanišić were arrested on March 13, 2003, in Serbia. Simatović was transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on May 30, and Stanišić 11 days later.