Court acquits former Red Berets accused of armed mutiny

Those found not guilty include former commander of the now disbanded JSO, Milorad "Legija" Ulemek - who was not in the courtroom today - and the unit's senior officer Zvezdan Jovanovic. Both men are currently serving 40 years in prison as the key conspirators in the 2003 assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

The court on Friday also acquitted Veselin Lecic, Dragisa Radic, Vladimir Potic, Dragoslav Krsmanovic, and Mica Petrakovic.

In their closing statements, the Prosecution for Organized Crime asked for all defendants to be found guilty and given prison sentences, while the defense sought acquittal, arguing that the event was a protest rather than armed mutiny.

The Prosecution's indictment stated that from November 9 until November 17, 2001, members of the JSO, also known as "the Red Berets," stopped taking orders and severed communication with the command, withdrew to the unit's center in Kula, and on several occasions rejected the demand, coming from the department chief, the interior minister, and PM Djindjic, to end the mutiny.

In addition, combat vehicles and armed JSO officers twice blocked the Novi Sad-Subotica highway on November 10, and once a highway running through Belgrade, two days later.

In this way, the unit "very clearly demonstrated its readiness to use violence unless their ultimatum to dismiss then Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic, State Security chief Goran Petrovic, and his deputy, Zoran Mijatovic, were accepted," the indictment said.

Such action by the unit directly threatened the security and the constitutional order of the country, it added.

Trial Chamber Presiding Judge Dragomir Jerasimovic said today that the decision to acquit was made after a...