Charges against Air Force and Air Defence Commander

General in the Dock

Milosevic's loyal general Spasoje Smiljanic will soon face charges for the abuse of a group of young VJ (Yugoslav Army) officers.

AIM Podgorica, October 23, 2000

With Milosevic's departure from the political scene Yugoslavia has embarked upon a new era of resolving many old problems, especially those which his most loyal generals have left behind them in the ranks of the Yugoslav Army. For example - in line with the law - General Spasoje Smiljanic, commander of the Yugoslav Air Force and Air Defence should answer before the Podgorica Court for a criminal offence of "abusing his subordinate or inferior colleagues". Three military pilots

• Miroljub Antanasijevic, Slobodan Grujic and Ljubisa Pavlovic -from the Golubovci Airfield near Podgorica have filed a lawsuit against Smiljanic.

This May, at a briefing held at the Military Airfield Golubovci, the General accused seven squadron pilots(!) of "defaming their profession and falling under the influence of a treacherous policy of the Montenegrin political leadership". On that occasion, in front of their colleagues and subordinates, he publicly humiliated them calling into question their reputation as officers and insulting their human dignity and military honour.

"Those were probably the hardest moments in my career. I knew that Smiljanic actually wanted to get rid of us "politically unsuitable" who did not obediently follow his political lectures", says Captain Grujic.

Proceedings were instituted against these pilots before the Military-Disciplinary Court in Belgrade. Words of pilot Dragan Brinic, one of the "spying seven" group show what was actually the problem: "The staged proceedings instituted against me and six of my colleagues from the 239th Squadron prove that the top RV and PVO officers in the Yugoslav Army have highly politicised their functions. The trial before the Military-Disciplinary Court in Belgrade has shown that we were being tried for our way of thinking and that professional objections were secondary in relation to political suitability. And Chief of General Staff, General Nebojsa Pavkovic, demanded of the military judicial authorities vigorous action against all unlike-minded officers".

Three months ago, Brinic, this Squadron's Commander, pressed charges against General Smiljanic for slander with the Military Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica. As soon as this news reached the public, the Military Prosecutor of Podgorica was ordered by the Supreme Court's decision to refer all serious cases, which are in the jurisdiction of the Court in Podgorica, to the Court in Belgrade. Perhaps that is why Smiljanic remained the untouchable standard-bearer of Milosevic's "invincible" policy. But - it should be also added - Brinic's lawsuit was lost without trace.

That is why the latest interest of the Military Prosecutor of Podgorica for the "Smiljanic" case represents a turnabout in its hitherto practice. "It is now certain that the proceedings against Smiljanic will be held in Podgorica", says Goran Rodic, defence attorney of the three pilots. The Prosecutor is gathering the necessary information, statements from numerous witnesses - pilots who were present at Smiljanic's embarrassing briefing - and officials documents of the disciplinary procedure taken against the three pilots in Belgrade. Nevertheless, the political effects of General Smiljanic's act will not be so easy to rectify. For Brinic, Grujic and Antanasijevic and their families this means the beginning of a life they did not want.

Namely, recently, on October 5, they were fired by a decision of the second instance Military-Disciplinary Court in Belgrade. However, the fact that the convicted pilots did not state anything that couldn't be heard from what the highest VJ officials in their public statements, did not make their position any easier.

By fair means or foul Smiljanic attacked officers and non-commissioned officers of the best squadron in the Air Force of the Yugoslav Army in the last fifty years. As we could find out, that unit produced an incomparably largest number of generals and corps commanders in RV and PVO. And as many as five out of the seven pilots whom the General called by name at the critical briefing, were among eleven candidates for the RV and PVO acrobatic-group "Flying Stars". In other words, the 239th Squadron was a cradle of military flying champions.

Late last year, to a group of VJ officers gathered in the former YPA Centre, General Dragoljub Ojdanic, Chief of General Staff at that time, during one of his "peacemaking" visits to the Montenegrin Government paid on account of tense relations between units of VJ and Montenegrin MUP (Ministry of the Interior), said that it was impossible to carry out the reconstruction of the Yugoslav Army as long as there were "too many pilots and sailors in Montenegro"!?

The burden of material poverty probably also played an important role in the preparation of the new military "doctrine" and planned reorganisation of the Yugoslav Army, but there is no doubt that the key role in the selection of tactics and personnel policy was played by the constant weakening of Milosevic's influence on the political climate in Montenegro, as well as in Serbia. Approximately six months after Ojdanic's visit and the announced restructuring of the Yugoslav Army, General Smiljanic said that he "knew about the group of conspirators from the 239th Squadron" already in September 1999.

If you take a closer look it becomes clear that this subsequent piece of information was not only used to corroborate Smiljanic's accusations against the pilots, but also to justify the fact that the most competent ones were being driven out of the Army of Yugoslavia!

There is a long history of rivalry between commands of different branches in securing prestigious functions and establishing a kind of domination over the entire army. Until now, this fact was closely connected to the material status of certain branches and in order to improve the position of one the funds had to be taken from other branches. And the Air Forces is expensive. It is currently the most expensive area of activity for whose financing neither the Yugoslav Army nor FRY have any strength and interest left.

This became evident already during three-month war with the NATO Alliance. Namely, in October 1989 the aviation was alerted and informed of the imminent war. The requests of the Military Airfield in Golubovci made to the superiors for the preparation of units, terrain, materiel and everything else necessary for the adequate defence, remained unanswered. Not even the tracking and rescue services were provided!

Combat jets which were "functionally airworthy" - meaning that they had no serious mechanical troubles that would prevent their take-off - were being equipped with arms although an engine failure could occur at any moment. The reason for such a state of affairs in the operative units was that in the past few years repairs, procurement of spare parts and more advanced equipment were delayed, although on paper everything was shipshape. Such an attitude also had a bearing on the readiness of the pilots, because they worked below security minimum - i.e. instead of having 100 hours of flight per annum, many pilots had only twenty or so. Nevertheless, they were required to go into combat as if they were fully prepared.

Judging by the recent statement of Slobodan Peric, fighter-pilot from the Batajnica Airfield, situation in Serbian RV and PVO units is no better. Namely, Peric accused the commanding officers of having sent its pilots to suicide missions during NATO air strikes. It was stated that General Smiljanic was among the rare ones who used the courage and self-sacrifice of others for his own personal promotion. He started the lost war as Major-General and at its end held the rank of Colonel-General.

This fact is probably the best explanation why General Smiljanic made such an effort to cut the bough he is currently standing on in the name of the infantry-man Ojdanic. There is no doubt that he is hoping for a thicker and stronger one!

One thing is clear: the three pilots from Golubovci Airfield paid dearly for political involvement, poverty of VJ and unprofessional commanding top officers in RV and PVO. In settling accounts with those politically unsuitable in the VJ ranks in Montenegro, ever since 1997 commanders of the Smiljanic's type did not care much for profession and military ethics. But, thanks to the enormous efforts of Milosevic's commissioners, weakened and decimated army is no longer a safe shield for officers like Smiljanic.

Goran VUJOVIC

(AIM)