Milosevic trial identifies secret witness

Reuters via IOL ^ | December 6, 2002 | Paul Gallagher

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Amsterdam - Judges at Slobodan Milosevic's war crimes trial took the unprecedented step on Friday of revealing that a secret witness testifying against the former Yugoslav president was one of his key allies.

Milan Babic, an ex-rebel Croatian Serb leader, is one of the most high-profile witnesses to testify so far at Europe's biggest international war crimes trial since World War 2.

Until Friday, he had testified behind a screen and was known only as witness C-061. But judges lifted his "protected witness" status after Babic's lawyer told the court his client wanted to reveal his identity to openly counter allegations made by Milosevic and aid reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia.

Babic and Milosevic openly crossed swords Babic's lawyer added that as a result of media reports in the Balkans, his identity was already widely known and said members of Babic's family had been threatened.

Babic was a central figure in the breakaway Krajina Serb republic (RSK) in the 1990s as the collapse of the former Yugoslavia spurred Serb nationalists to fight for territory in Croatia and Bosnia.

A burly dentist dressed in a dark jacket and grey jumper, Babic was regarded by tribunal prosecutors as one of Milosevic's key allies during a campaign to expel non-Serbs from about a third of Croatian territory in 1991-92.

"This morning presiding judge (Richard) May has said that henceforth the witness will be addressed by his full name Mr Babic and that the protective measures have been lifted," tribunal spokesman Christian Chartier said.

Babic was named by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as a suspected member of a "joint criminal enterprise" led by Milosevic, although he has not been indicted by the court.

'Mr Milosevic in 1991 you waged a horrific war' Milosevic is accused of providing Krajina Serbs with money and military support in a campaign to remove non-Serbs from the hinterland of Croatia's prosperous Adriatic coast. The campaign was seen as a prelude to the brutal Bosnian war in 1992-95.

Babic and Milosevic openly crossed swords during cross examination for the first time on Friday. Babic's image had previously been scrambled on court room closed-circuit television monitors.

Milosevic accused Babic of fanning the flames of conflict with Croatia in the autumn of 1991 and of playing into the hands of Croatia's then-president Franjo Tudjman by giving Zagreb an excuse to attack Serbs in the region.

"Is it clear to you, Mr Babic, that it was evident to me then that you were actually helping Tudjman with your vehement radicalism which went against the interests of the Serbian people in the Krajina," Milosevic said.

Babic, whose posts in Serb Krajina included that of "foreign minister" before the enclave was recaptured in a massive Croatian offensive in 1995, in turn accused the former Serbian and Yugoslav president of betraying the Serb people.

"Mr Milosevic in 1991 you waged a horrific war. You dragged the Serbian people into that war. You did not protect the Serbian people. You brought shame upon the Serbian people. You brought misfortune on the Croatian people, upon the Muslim people," Babic said.

Milosevic has been on trial since February charged with ethnic cleansing in the Balkans in the 1990s. The charges against him include crimes against humanity in Croatia after Zagreb declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Milosevic, who does not recognise the UN court, refused to plead. Not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf.

[kosta50]

Serbian is close to the Old Church Slavonic in grammar and vocabulary. The inifitvie form of verbs ends on "-i" as in modern Serbian; the accents are almost identical to Serbian; various grammatical forms, such as aorist, and so on may not be used but are understood.

Church Slavonic was, after all, the written language of Soputhern Slavs, so it was closer to Serbian vernacular.

In time, three versions of the Church Slavonic developed -- Bulgarian, Russian and Serbian. The three were perfectly intelligible and remain so to this day. IN the 18th century, because of scarcity of Serbian books, Serbs in Austria began importing Russian/Ukraininan teachers and their books. Under their influence, Serb Orthodoxy started to use the Russian version of Church Slavonic, which is still the official language of the Russian as well as the Serbian Orthodox Churches. It's not a different language, but a different version of the same written language.