MoD releases RTS documents

The Ministry of Defense has removed the top secret stamp from documents linked to the 1999 RTS bombing, and published them on the net. Several NGOs had claimed that those documents contained evidence that the ministry had prior knowledge of the bombing of the Radio-Television building in April 1999. MoD releases RTS documents There is no such information contained within the released documents, nor for that matter, as was believed, transcripts of an intercepted conversation between a NATO pilot and his base. Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac says that it is in the ministry’s interests to ascertain the truth. "I said I would try to talk to NATO representatives via legal aid. They told me no such practice existed. I’ll ask them." "What’s most important for us is to find out whether or not someone sacrificed those people, but I don’t believe such evidence exists within the ministry, as the ministry’s capacities at that time were not such that they could have recorded every conversation between planes, AWACS, or NATO bases," said Sutanovac. "Even part of the documentation that was destroyed on October 5 we found copies of, we put them together, so that of what we were looking for, based on the numbers we received, all the documents are there," he added. Sixteen company employees were killed during the attack. Then RTS director Dragoljub Milanovic was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for failing to carry out orders to evacuate the building. Kandic: "Check them again" Natasa Kandic from the Humanitarian Law Center told B92 said that releasing the documents according to the numbers the NGOs had asked for, was the first time the ministry had reacted so quickly. Nonetheless, she added that for the time being, it is impossible to know whether they were all the original documents. Kandic explained that one document from August 2001 mentions some department or pilot from Podgorica who had information regarding the RTS bombing. In the document, she said, it was stated that it was worth checking either via flight control or Anti-Aircraft Defense (PVO) whether on April 23, 1999, a military or civil body had been informed of the attack. "In other words, that’s linked to the information we constantly refer to as being one part of the contents, or an excerpt from those transcripts. The fact that those documents contain no part of the transcript or an excerpt lead me to believe that something has been removed, taken away, so all that all we can do now is to check with flight control and PVO Podgorica," she concluded.

MoD releases RTS documents

There is no such information contained within the released documents, nor for that matter, as was believed, transcripts of an intercepted conversation between a NATO pilot and his base.

Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac says that it is in the ministry’s interests to ascertain the truth.

"I said I would try to talk to NATO representatives via legal aid. They told me no such practice existed. I’ll ask them."

"What’s most important for us is to find out whether or not someone sacrificed those people, but I don’t believe such evidence exists within the ministry, as the ministry’s capacities at that time were not such that they could have recorded every conversation between planes, AWACS, or NATO bases," said Šutanovac.

"Even part of the documentation that was destroyed on October 5 we found copies of, we put them together, so that of what we were looking for, based on the numbers we received, all the documents are there," he added.

Sixteen company employees were killed during the attack. Then RTS director Dragoljub Milanović was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for failing to carry out orders to evacuate the building. Kandić: "Check them again"

Nataša Kandić from the Humanitarian Law Center told B92 said that releasing the documents according to the numbers the NGOs had asked for, was the first time the ministry had reacted so quickly.

Nonetheless, she added that for the time being, it is impossible to know whether they were all the original documents. Kandić explained that one document from August 2001 mentions some department or pilot from Podgorica who had information regarding the RTS bombing.

In the document, she said, it was stated that it was worth checking either via flight control or Anti-Aircraft Defense (PVO) whether on April 23, 1999, a military or civil body had been informed of the attack.

"In other words, that’s linked to the information we constantly refer to as being one part of the contents, or an excerpt from those transcripts. The fact that those documents contain no part of the transcript or an excerpt lead me to believe that something has been removed, taken away, so all that all we can do now is to check with flight control and PVO Podgorica," she concluded.