REBIC'S "INTELLIGENCE INFILTRATION" INTO ICTY

Fascimil of the Markica Rebic document

In his cross-examination of prosecution witness Vilim Karlovic, Miroslav Radic's defense counsel exhibits a document originating from Markica Rebic – recently fined 15,000 Euros for contempt of court – which claims that the Croatian military security service "infiltrated the ICTY" and was "preparing" the prosecution witnesses for their testimony before the ICTY

In his cross-examination of prosecution witness Vilim Karlovic, Miroslav Radic's defense counsel showed documents originating from the Croatian military intelligence service, disclosed to the defense by the prosecution, to suggest that the Croatian service had "prepped" this and other prosecution witnesses testifying at the Rule 61 hearing in the case against the Vukovar Three and at the trial of Slavko Dokmanovic in 1998.

The defense counsel did not have to "suggest" that at all. All he had to do was to read the document signed by Markica Rebic, assistant to the Croatian defense minister and head of the Security and Information Service (SIS), stating explicitly that the service "carried out an intelligence infiltration of the International Criminal Tribunal". This should be taken to mean that its agents infiltrated the Tribunal.

Witness Vilim Karlovic, retired Croatian Army non-commissioned officer, confirmed that in 1996 he got in touch with the military intelligence service and spoke with its representatives for tow days. He claims he told them what he had been through in Vukovar in November 1991, how he was set free from the hangar in Ovcara, only to be captured again by the Chetniks and then ended up in the prison in Sremska Mitrovica. He claims that the service members he spoke with never made any suggestions as to what he should be saying in his testimony before the ICTY. The only advice he was given, Karlovic claims, was to "tell the truth about what happened to me [in Vukovar], because that is enough". He adds that the military intelligence service personnel never suggested to him "what issues not to raise in The Hague" in order not to "jeopardize the security of Croatia". As for Rebic's claims about the "intelligence infiltration" in the Tribunal, Karlovic said he didn’t know anything about that and that he saw the document for the first time now at the trial.

Radic's defense counsel Borivoje Borovic did not insist on the issue of "prepping the witnesses" and "intelligence infiltration", but he did tender Rebic's document into evidence. The Trial Chamber admitted it.