| Special Operations Unit (Јединица за специјалне операције - ЈСО/JSO) |
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JSO logo |
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| Active | Spring 1996-25 March 2003 |
| Country | Serbia |
| Branch | Serbian Service of State Security |
| Type | elite special unit |
| Nickname | Red Berets Frenkies |
| Engagements | Operation Racak |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Franko Simatović, |
Special Operations Unit (Serbian: Јединица за специјалне операције - ЈСО, Jedinica za specijalne operacije - JSO), or the Frenkies (Serbian: Френкијевци, Frenkijevci), or the Red Berets (Serbian: Црвене беретке, Crvene beretke), was an elite special unit of the Serbian Service of State Security.
The JSO was founded in 1996 by merging paramilitary units under the command of Željko Ražnatović "Arkan" and Franko Simatović and incorporating them into the security system of the FR Yugoslavia under the auspice of Jovica Stanišić, head of Serbian security service (Resor državne bezbednosti, RDB). From 1996 to November 2001, it was formally under the competence of the RDB. The unit was finally disbanded in March 2003, after the Prime Minister of Serbia Zoran Đinđić was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy in which some members of the unit were involved.[1]
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[update]) 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. Also, this unit have been reported for war crimes in the Kosovo War.[2]
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The origins of the unit can be traced back to April 1991, on the eve of Croatian War of Independence, when a group of armed men, the predessesors to the JSO; led by Franko Simatović and Dragan Vasiljković set off from Belgrade to Knin. Several days earlier, on March 16, Milošević promised "preparations of appropriate units capable of defending interests of Serbia and Serb people outside Serbia" in a closed session with Serbian municipal presidents.[3]. The order of creating such a unit was given to Jovica Stanišić, Milošević's strongman and head of RDB, which committed the task to Stanišić. The unit had not have any formal connections with Belgrade, so the operation was taken solely within RDB, without involvement of Serbian Ministry of the Interior. In Knin, Simatović and Vasiljković contacted Milan Martić, minister of the interior of Republic of Serbian Krajina, who subordinated a group of fighters under Vasiljković's command, who gave them thorough training and imposed the discipline[3]; the unit would later became known under the name Knindže (a pun on "Knin" and "ninja"), and Vasiljković under the war name "Kapetan Dragan".[4] The name "Red Berets" came after the battle for Glina, when Vasiljković distributed the berets to his men.[3]
The other wing of the unit was apparently formed in May 1991, in Eastern Slavonia. According to the hints given by Simatović, the unit seems to have been involved in Borovo Selo killings on 1-2 May, when 12 Croatian policemen were killed and several tens wounded. May 4 will later be taken as the unit's anniversary. According to several witness accounts, Radovan Stojičić "Badža", an official of Serbian ministry of interior, was in charge for operations in Eastern Slavonia.[3][5]. Upon the arrival in the Eastern Slavonia theater, Željko Ražnatović "Arkan" took over the paramilitary unit under the name of "Serbian Volunteer Guard", better known as "Arkan's Tigers".[6]
The unit was disbanded by the decision of Government of Serbia on 25 March 2003, 13 days after assassination of Zoran Đinđić.[7]. Its members were sacked or transferred to other police units.