The Trial of Draža Mihailović, or the Belgrade Process, was the trial of Draža Mihailović and a number of other alleged so-called prominent collaborators for high treason and war crimes in 1946. Mihailović was tried as a leader of the Chetnik movement during World War II (the "Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland", JVUO). His co-defendants were other prominent figures of the movement and members of the Yugoslav government-in-exile, such as Slobodan Jovanović, but also members of ZBOR and of the Nedić regime like Velibor Jonić[1]. The trial opened on June 10, 1946, before the Military Council of the Supreme Court of the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, and lasted until July 15, 1946. The court was located in the Summer Hall of the Infantry Training School at Topčider in Belgrade.
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The accused were tried before a military court. The President of the council was Mihailo Đordević and the members Milija Laković and Mihailo Janković, with Todor Popadić as secretary. The assistant judges were Nikola Stanković and Radomir Ilić. The prosecutor was Miloš Minić, a high-ranking government official who took part in Tito-Mihailović negotiations in 1941. The assistant prosecutor was Miloš Jovanović.
Mihailović and others were tried mainly for their activities against Allied forces, the Yugoslav Partisans, for collaboration with the Germans and for war crimes against civilians. The latter was relegated to the end of the indictment and consisted of 7 items. Mihailović was indicted on 47 counts, 8 of which he was found guilty of and all of them for his actions against Tito's armed forces.
During the trial, Mihailović appeared physically and intellectually weakened, possibly by torture[2]. His answers were often incoherent. The Allied airmen he had rescued in 1944 were not allowed to testify in his favor. Only two women came to testify in favor of Mihailović. Reportedly, they were heckled by the audience and, after the trial, submitted to a professional interdiction[3].
The accused were, in order their names were read out at the trial:
Out of the twenty-four accused individuals mentioned above, ten were tried in absentia:
The following were represented by the counsel chosen by themselves:
The others were defended by the counsel chosen by the Court:
Teams were sent by the agencies TASS, ČTK, PAP, Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, United Press, Overseas News Agency, International News Service, the Jewish News Agency, Tele Press, the Albanian Telegraph Agency and following the newspapers: Pravda, Izvestia, The Times, the Daily Worker, The New York Times, the New York Herald Tribune, the News Chronicle, the Daily Express and others.
The trial showed, according to historian Jozo Tomasevich, that Mihailović had never had firm and full control over his local commanders[4]. A committee for the fair trial of General Mihailovic was set up in the United States, but to no avail. Mihailović is quoted as saying, in his final statement, "I wanted much; I began much; but the gale of the world carried away me and my work."[5].
Diplomat and author Walter Roberts considers that the trial was "anything but a model of justice" and that "it is clear that Mihailović was not guilty of all, or even many, of the charges brought against him" though Tito would probably not have had a fair trial either, had Mihailović prevailed[6].
Mihailović was sentenced to death by a firing squad on 15 July 1946. An appeal was rejected on 16 July and he was executed on 17 July along with a few others. The others in the process were convicted to penalties ranging from death to long prison sentences.
At the time of the trial, there were protests from the Americans and the French, although both moderated by their interest in the new government.[7]
According to Mihailović biographer Jean-Christophe Buisson, one of Mihailović's lawyers, Dragić Joksimović, was arrested a few days after the execution and died in prison under unclear circumstances[8].
More recently, there have been calls for a retrial and/or rehabilitation. Thus far, Momčilo Ninčić and Slobodan Jovanović have been officially rehabilitated in Serbia.[9][10]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 13 March | Mihailović is captured. |
| 24 March | Aleksandar Ranković announces the capture of Mihailović, as well as charges against him. |
| 2 April | The US State Department announces it has requested that American Army personnel be allowed to testify at the trial.[11] |
| 17 May | The trial is delayed to 10 June. |
| 10 June | The trial begins. |
| 15 July | Death sentence delivered to Mihailović. He is given eight and a half hours to appeal to the Yugoslav Presidency. |
| 16 July | Appeal is denied by the Presidency. |
| 17 July | Execution by firing squad is carried out. |