The UN court's verdict to Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, former top Serbian security officials, was based on familiar standards and it established the existence of the Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE) since August 1991, the Humanitarian Law Centre's founder Natasa Kandic told N1 Thursday.

“The Court established that the JCE has been established since August 1991, that there was an armed conflict, but that there is no evidence that Stanisic and Simatovic have contributed to the JCE since August, except in Bosanski Samac, and that is to remove the Croat and Muslim population from certain areas of Croatia and BiH,” she said.

Kandic pointed out that the judges concluded that Simatovic and Stanisic planned various units, organized trainings before August of that year, and not after and that all of that took place before the existence of the JCE was established.

On the other hand, she said that the verdict was important for Bosanski Samaac because it was the place that the then Serbian State Security made plans for, that their plans were open, that they formed units, the verdict mentions the Red Berets, and it clearly mentions that the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) took part in the attack [on Bosanski Samac].

According to her, Bosanski Samac raises numerous questions, and their responsibility for supporting the execution of the JCE in Shamca is being determined.

Kandic also pointed out that the verdict against the two does not mention names, such as Slobodan Milosevic or Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan, but still states a clear conclusion about the highest representatives of Serbia who shared the intention and goal to create Serbian ethnic territories.

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) in The Hague ruled that former top Serbian security officials, Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, are guilty of aiding and abetting the war crimes committed in Bosnia and Croatia between 1992 and 1995 and sentenced each of them to 12 years in prison.

Stanisic was the former head of Serbia's State Security Service (SDB) and Simatovic former head of the country's Special Operations Unit (JSO).