Jedinica za Specijalne Operacije

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For the British parachute troops also known as The Red Berets see The Parachute Regiment. For other airborne units, see maroon beret

Jedinica za Specijalne Operacije (JSO, Unit for Special Operations) or Crvene Beretke (Red Berets), was an elite special unit of the Serbian police and reported directly to the Serbian ministry of the interior. It was officially incorporated into security system of Serbia in the spring of 1996, by merging paramilitary units which operated in Bosnian and Croatian wars under command of Željko Ražnatović "Arkan" ("Tigers") and Franko Simatović ("Red berets") and under auspice of Jovica Stanišić, head of Serbia security service (Resor državne dezbednosti, RDB) From 1996 to November 2001, when members of this unit organized a public protest, it was formally under the competence of the RDB. The unit was finally disbanded in March 2003, after Serbian prime minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated as a result of conspiracy in which some members of the unit were involved (Zvezdan Jovanović, officer of in the JSO is accused of committing this murder, Milorad Ulemek "Legija", former commander of the unit is a prime suspect in this case).

Patrons and numerous members and of the unit and its predecessors are sentenced, accused or held responsible for numerous war crimes in Yugoslav wars, as well as political assassinations in Serbia. The unit's official commander Franko Simatović and its gray eminence Jovica Stanišić (head of RDS during Slobodan Milošević rule) are being tried (as of 2006) at International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for war crimes. Various other members are convicted or being tried for the Ibarska magistrala assassination and murders of Ivan Stambolić and Slavko Ćuruvija.

[edit] Origins

Unit for Special Operations was formed in 1991, as a top secret formation. Because of its secrecy it had no name, and because of its distinctive red berets, it got nickname crvene beretke (red berets). Also a distinct red rose tattoo on the right side of the neck is prominent among ex members. On the Milorad Ulemek trial members of the unit, showing support for their former leader, wore T-shirts with the rose motif.

They drove black armor-plated Humvees; the unit's weapons, uniforms and equipment were foreign made, and their training and recruiting was according to Western (French legionnaire) standards. Training was highly unorthodox, even compared to other Serbian Special Forces. It included hazing and hard drilling.

They were among the elite of the Serbian fighting forces and used to do the dirty work at the behest of the Serbian government during the Balkan wars of the 1990s in Croatia and Bosnia. The trials in Serbia for the assassination of Zoran Djindjic, the Serbian Prime Minister 2001-2003, as well as the trials for war crimes at the Hague Tribunal have revealed the numerous and complicated connections between the activities of the Serbian government led by Slobodan Milosevic, Serbian secret services under his command, and the criminal groups operating in the combat zone where the war crimes were being committed.

http://www.crveneberetke.com/