Serb Special Squad Refuse To Arrest Persons Wanted By Hague Tribunal

The command of the Serb Red Berets special squad stated this night that the unit would not participate in arrests of those wanted by the Hague tribunal for war crimes, and demanded the resignation of Dusan Mihajlovic, the Serb Interior Minister. In the late hours of November 10, officers of the unit gave an extraordinary press conference near the town of Kul. The officers stated that commandos demanded to stop all arrests until the law on cooperation with the Hague Tribunal was adopted and the Minister had resigned. This should be done to ensure the legal basis for the future actions of the Ministry's officers. The protest was caused by the arrest of brothers Nenad and Predrag Banovic, who had been subsequently extradited to the Hague tribunal. The arrest was initiated by Serb Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic and head of National Security Department Goran Petrovic. Their order was issued to arrest certain people involved in grave crimes. The Red Berets called this event "a shameful act." According to the special squad command, the unit was cheated into this "illegal and anti-constitutional act." Since the law on cooperation with the Hague Tribunal has not been adopted yet, the Red Berets find this action illegal and refuse to fulfil such orders in the future. Before the arrival of journalists, armed commandos in masks used two APCs to block the road leading to the Red Beret training centre. The command of the Serb Interior Ministry was quick enough to react to this incident. Mihajlovic stated that the police should "keep away from politics." Goran Petrovic said that the actions of the special squad "were emotional and, to a certain extent, political."