Belgrade – Serbian government hunting for Mladic

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VZCZCXRO7886

RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR

DE RUEHBW #0399/01 1261731

ZNY CCCCC ZZH

R 061731Z MAY 09

FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1264

INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC

RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

Wednesday, 06 May 2009, 17:31

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000399

SIPDIS

EO 12958 DECL: 05/06/2019

TAGS PREL, KWAC, SR

SUBJECT: SERBIAN GOVERNMENT HUNTING FOR MLADIC

REF: 08 BELGRADE 1097

Classified By: Acting DCM Troy Pederson for reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary

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¶1. (C) The Serbian government continues to publicly emphasize its efforts to capture war crimes indictee Ratko Mladic, and Serbian officials responsible for cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) privately tell us the current government is very supportive of their work. ICTY Belgrade,s chief, who sits in on operations discussions, agreed that Serbia was looking hard for Mladic and was also providing all document and witness assistance required, in contrast to the previous government,s efforts. Serbia also continued to prosecute domestic war crimes cases, and the war crimes court recently issued verdicts and sentences in two high-profile cases. The current government clearly wants to find Mladic, a prerequisite for moving ahead with EU accession and Serbia,s future. End Summary.

Looking for Mladic

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¶2. (C) With the upcoming visit of ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, the main question regarding Serbia,s ICTY cooperation -- and the key to the Dutch unblocking Serbia,s frozen Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU -- is whether Serbia is really doing all it can to find the remaining two ICTY indictees, particularly Bosnian Serb wartime military leader Ratko Mladic. Government officials continue to state publicly that Serbia is making every effort to find Mladic and fellow indictee Goran Hadzic. Chief of the War Crimes Investigation police Aleksandar Kostic told visiting S/WCI representative Julie Vibul-Jolles May 5 that the current government had the will to find the fugitives, but that so much time had passed that it was hard to track them down. He said there was no information to suggest Mladic was in Serbia but there was no information that he was anywhere else either. Police continued to search for leads, including surveilling known associates and family members. Regional intelligence sharing was helpful and had led to the arrests of Stojan Zupljanin and Radovan Karadzic, Kostic said.

¶3. (C) ICTY Belgrade Office Head Deyan Mihov told us May 5 that he believed that the search for Mladic was very active. The current government was engaged with ICTY, a “big change compared to the past.” Mihov said the Security Information Agency (BIA) and Military Intelligence Agency (VBA) were now working well together and supporting each other,s efforts. Mihov said he attends weekly meetings of the Action Team as an observer and receives detailed operational information and plans concerning the search for both fugitives. Mihov told us that the meetings of the Action Team, which was officially co-headed by President of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal Rasim Ljajic and War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic, were really led by Presidential Chief of Staff and National Security Council Secretary Miki Rakic, which he viewed as a strong indication that the search for Mladic was a personal priority of President Tadic. Mihov said Rakic had provided the same information to Brammertz each time he visited and also requested Brammertz,s help obtaining specific intelligence assistance. Mihov emphasized that the government could use any additional intelligence assistance the U.S. could provide. Mihov said he was impressed that the Action Team was trying equally hard to find Hadzic, even though the political payoff for Serbia from his capture would be much less than for Mladic.

Technical Cooperation with ICTY

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¶4. (SBU) Serbia,s technical cooperation with the ICTY, while not as high-profile, is also essential. Director of the ICTY Cooperation Council Office Dusan Ignjatovic told us May 4 his office had granted all of ICTY,s and defense lawyers, archive access requests, delivered all subpoenas to witnesses, addressed all witness protection issues ICTY had identified, and complied with more than 98% of document requests. Mihov confirmed that technical cooperation was close to 100% with no outstanding problems over documents, another improvement over the past government.

Domestic Trials

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¶5. (SBU) Domestic war crimes trials also continue, with verdicts recently in two high-profile cases. War Crimes Prosecutor Vukcevic told us May 5 the current government was much more supportive of domestic war crimes trials. On April 23, the court convicted four former policemen for murdering 50 ethnic Albanian civilians in Suva Reka, Kosovo in March 1999. Two of the defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison, one to 15 years, and the fourth to 13 years. Three of the defendants, including the principal defendant, were acquitted. Vukcevic told us that he was pleased that the case had established that a crime had been committed but that he would appeal the acquittals. The War Crimes Court also completed on March 12 a retrial in the Ovcara (Vukovar) case, convicting 13 members of the Vukovar Territorial Defense for torturing and killing in November 1991 200 Croatian prisoners of war who had surrendered. Five individuals were acquitted, and one received a much lighter sentence in the retrial (6 years versus the original 15), and the War Crimes Prosecutor,s spokesman announced the prosecutor would appeal that sentence and the acquittals.

Comment

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¶6. (C) In contrast to the approach of the previous government, the current Serbian government is working hard on ICTY cooperation. The pressing domestic political need to unblock the SAA and move closer to European Union membership is clearly a major motivating factor, made all the more important by the worsening economic situation. While the term “fully cooperating” may be elusive, it is important to acknowledge the current government’s efforts and not allow the dead weight of the past to hinder Serbia,s future. End Comment. MUNTER