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Zoran Lilić was President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1993 to 1997, and Deputy Prime Minister in 1998 and 1999. |
Zoran Lilić describes the decision-making process within the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the dominant political party in the 1990s, of which Slobodan Milošević was the President, and Lilić himself was a member:
"I think that the decisions were conceived primarily by President Milošević in his home and then through the narrow circle of associates, those decisions were passed on to the executive board or were immediately made public, even prior to the executive board having met, and that board actually only approved the decisions already taken by President Milošević and then through loyal cadres, through district and local boards those decisions were actually implemented, so that no decision of any significance could have been taken without the approval and authority of President Milošević."
Zoran Lilić relates an exchange he had with Slobodan Milošević’s close aide, Interior Minister and SPS member Vlajko Stojiljković, during a high-level meeting to discuss the situation in Kosovo on 13 June 1998:
I cautioned Mr. Stojiljković regarding what was going on [in] Kosovo and Metohija, particularly around the village of Ponaševac[/Ponashec, in the municipality of Djakovica/Djakova in western Kosovo], to which he responded very strongly. We had a heated dialogue, and he said, in the final analysis, they [referring to one and a half million Kosovo Albanians] should all be killed, but he was irritated by what I had said. And I said that because of what certain members of the reserve police force were doing, one day, we might be ashamed for being Serbs and our children will be ashamed and the children of our children will be ashamed.
Zoran Lilić, former Yugoslav President, Deputy Prime Minister, and closely associated with Slobodan Milošević, provided important testimony on Milošević’s authority over key organisations and institutions that the Prosecution alleged were conduits for Milošević’s power, and his control over his co-perpetrators. Lilić testified that no major decision could be taken by the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the dominant political party in Serbia through the 1990s, without Milošević’s approval.
Lilić also described Milošević’s authority over the Supreme Defence Council, a body of which Lilić was also a member, and which had command authority over the Yugoslav Army (VJ).
Lilić’s evidence corroborated that of several other witnesses in relation to the diversion of funds from the Federal Customs Administration to the military and police. Lilić’s testimony also corroborated that of other witnesses that Milošević was well-informed about events taking place in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999. Lilić stated that Milošević could have been informed from several sources: the Interior Ministry’s State Security and Public Security services, the Yugoslav Army, and civilian authorities.
As seen in the quote above about the 13 June 1998 meeting on the situation in Kosovo, Lilić’s testimony also provided crucial evidence about the state of mind of one of Slobodan Milošević’s co-accused, Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljković, who the Prosecution alleged participated in the crimes Milošević committed in Kosovo.
Zoran Lilić, a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia from 1990 to 2000, was President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1993 to 1997. In that capacity, he was also a member of the Supreme Defence Council, a Yugoslav body that had command authority over the Yugoslav Army. He served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1998 to 1999.
Zoran Lilić testified from 17 to 19 June 2003 and 9 July 2003. The relevant transcripts can be accessed through the Cases page on this site.