Škorpioni

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Škorpioni ( Serbian - Cyrillic Шкорпиони ; German Scorpions ) was a Serbian paramilitary special unit , which was mainly recruited from Krajina Serbs . It was set up during the Croatian War (1991 to 1995) and has been guilty of numerous war crimes in the course of this conflict as well as during the Bosnia and Kosovo wars , which, among others, were indicted in the Hague Tribunal in 2005 .

The unit was last commanded by Slobodan Medić ("Boca").

Murders of Bosnian civilians in Trnovo

In 2005 the Hague Tribunal published a video document produced by the perpetrators of the unit, which is supposed to prove that members of this unit were involved in war crimes against civilians in Trnovo on July 17, 1995. Nataša Kandić , a Serbian human rights activist , played a key role in securing this piece of evidence .

Former Škorpioni member Goran Stoparić testified that Slobodan Medić ordered the execution of six Bosnian civilians seen on the video. According to Stoparić, these murders were carried out by the Škorpioni Pero Petrašević, Aleksandar Medić, Branislav Medić, Milorad Momić and another member of the unit. The Belgrade Special Court for War Crimes sentenced Slobodan Medić and Branislav Medić to 20 years in prison. Pero Petrašević was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his confession before the Serbian court, and Aleksandar Medić was sentenced to five years in prison.

Milorad Momić was under the false name Guy Monier in France during these negotiations . In 2011 Milorad Momić was caught by Interpol. He was then extradited to Croatia and sentenced there to three years in prison for other war crimes in December 2012. Milorad Momić was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in Osijek in July 2015 for his involvement in the Škorpioni war crimes in Trnovo .

Podujeva massacre

The Škorpioni were instrumental in the Podujeva massacre in March 1999 during the Kosovo war . Škorpioni member Saša Cvjetan was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in Belgrade in 2004 for participating in the murder of 14 Kosovar Albanians, including women and children. In 2009, the Škorpioni Dragan Medić, Željko Djukić and Dragan Borojević received prison terms for their involvement in these murders for the same period of time as the underage Miodrag Šolaja was sentenced to 15 years in prison at the time of the crime.

Charges against Serbia and Montenegro in the International Court of Justice

The video showing the murders in Trnovo was an important piece of evidence in the trial of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina before the International Court of Justice and was intended to demonstrate the interstate nature of the conflict. The filing of the lawsuit itself was, however, constitutionally questioned within Bosnia-Herzegovina, as it was made against the Union of Serbia and Montenegro , later against the Republic of Serbia as the legal successor of the Union, but also against the new Republic of Montenegro without the consent of the entity Republika Srpska .

The ruling of the International Court of Justice ruled that these crimes against humanity were due to the individual perpetrators in the unit and contradicted the accusation of the Bosniak-Croatian Federation of involvement and state planning of genocide by the republics of Serbia and Montenegro. However, it was added, although legally and officially irrelevant, that the state organs could have prevented the crimes in Srebrenica. An objection is not possible, although it is being examined by the Bosniak side.

literature

  • Nataša Kandić (Ed.): Škorpioni od zločina do pravde (=  Edicija Documenta ). Fond za humanitarno pravo, 2007 ( hlc-rdc.org [PDF]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ War crimes: Four Serbs convicted of massacre in Srebrenica . In: Spiegel Online . April 10, 2007 ( spiegel.de [accessed on July 13, 2015]).
  2. ↑ Shifting The Blame On A Family Clan In The 'Scorpions'. In: sense-agency.com. December 15, 2010, accessed July 13, 2015 .
  3. ↑ BBC (ed.): Jail for Serb video death squad . April 10, 2007 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed July 13, 2015]).
  4. ↑ Guy Monier, la seconde vie du Scorpion serbe Milorad Momic. April 7, 2011, accessed July 13, 2015 (French).
  5. ↑ La Verpillière: Milorad Momic extradé vers la Croatie pour crimes de guerre. September 6, 2011, accessed July 13, 2015 (French).
  6. ↑ Zločin u Berku (opt. Milorad Momic). In: documenta.hr. Retrieved July 13, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Miloradu Momiću 15 godina zatvora za ubojstva civila iz Srebrenice. In: vecernji.hr. July 10, 2015, accessed April 20, 2019 (Croatian).
  8. ↑ Kosovo: Family members of massacre victims are suing Serbia. January 29, 2007, accessed July 13, 2015 .
  9. ^ Serb jailed for Kosovo killings . In: BBC . March 17, 2004 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed July 13, 2015]).
  10. ↑ Reuters (Ed.): Serbia jails ex-paramilitaries for killings . June 18, 2009 ( reuters.com [accessed July 13, 2015]).
  11. ↑ Thomas Roser: Second class acquittal for Belgrade. In: Tagesspiegel. February 17, 2007, archived from the original on July 13, 2007 ; accessed on July 13, 2015 .