Samardžić: Not a single shell was fired at Split from my ship

Retired admiral Dragan Samardžić reacted to articles by "Vijesti" journalist Siniša Luković entitled "Split shelling and the role of Dragan Samardžić" and "Formed criminal case against Samardžić", published in "Vijesti" on August 7 and 9 this year.

"At the beginning of the reaction, I want to once again condemn any threats and attacks against the journalist of 'Vijesti', Siniša Luković, and appeal to the Prosecutor's Office and UP to urgently investigate who is behind it. It is certain that I, nor any member of my family, have anything to do with them.

It is interesting, however, and indicative that the texts of Siniša Luković: "The shelling of Split and the role of Dragan Samardžić" and "The criminal case was formed against Samardžić" appeared now, after 30 years, even though the journalist was well aware of my role in the events of 1991. Especially is indicative that the texts appeared after my open criticism of the violation of the Constitution and the law by the Government of Montenegro and the threat to the sovereignty of Montenegro, and especially after the criticism of the management of the Municipality of Tivat, which Luković, for reasons well known to all Tivat residents, unreservedly supports.

A lot of things are included in the mentioned texts, all with the aim of discrediting me. I will refer only to the most important:

All events should be viewed in the context of the time in which they occurred. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us were dragged into the civil war in 1991, without asking anything. And all of us, in addition to being professional, have survived personal and family dramas and suffering. No one came out of that terrible war without consequences.

Not disputing in a single word the right of Croatia to fight for its country, we must not ignore the facts and falsely accuse people who did not contribute anything to the conflict, nor violated the provisions of international law. Because if they had asked, the war would never have happened.

Detailed description of events on 14/15. November 1991, I will give the SDT, and I will only emphasize that no ship from TG Kaštela ever broke the truce, nor was the first to open fire. No one from TG Kaštela ever issued an order to target any civilian object, nor were they intentionally targeted. Not a single shell was fired at the city of Split from the ship I commanded, RTOP-406.

Luković's subterfuge that there are indications that "I was also an actor in combat events in Šibenik, when many civilian targets and objects in that Dalmatian city were also hit by artillery shells in addition to military ones from JRM vessels" is also extremely malicious.

I never took part in combat events in Šibenik, nor was a single shell fired at Šibenik, Dubrovnik or any other city in Croatia from the ship I commanded.

After the independence of Montenegro, a check of all officers was ordered due to possible criminal proceedings in the former republics of SFRY. Based on the verification, a list of officers was drawn up against whom it was determined that the Croatian authorities were conducting proceedings against them, and their retirement was ordered.

In addition, in 2008, when I was supposed to become the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Army, because of a story that was spread by "famous individuals" who did not like this solution (some of them later apologized to me for being involved in a dirty game), which is similar to this Siniša Luković, a recheck was carried out in the direct communication of the then heads of the military intelligence services Božidar Lakić from the Montenegrin side and General Gordan Čačić from the Croatian side. From the Croatian side, I received a written statement that no proceedings are being held against me, nor have any proceedings ever been held in the Republic of Croatia.

As the commander of the Navy of the Serbian Armed Forces, together with the commanders of the countries of the ADRION alliance, which are all members of NATO, including Croatia, I signed, on behalf of the country, the Cooperation Agreement in 2005. Due to the contribution to the development of cooperation within this alliance and the establishment of a data exchange network between naval operational centers (V-RMTC), in 2006 we were awarded the Commander of the Croatian Navy and my little one by the President of the Republic of Italy.

Later, as a long-term chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces, I had countless meetings with three Croatian colleagues, chiefs of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia. We have established excellent cooperation in many areas, both bilaterally and in various regional security initiatives. On the basis of my initiative and the agreement with the Croatian chief, we established a joint unit in Afghanistan, which functioned exceptionally well throughout our engagement in the mission. I had several official visits to the Croatian Army, with a welcome from the Croatian Guard, the Croatian and Montenegrin national anthems and full military honors, as well as many working visits, including meetings with Croatian ministers and presidents. The extraordinary cooperation with the representatives of Croatia continued in my duties at the OSCE in Vienna and the NATO Command in Brussels.

If there is an iota of truth in Siniša Luković's insinuations, can anyone even think that the country of Croatia - a member of NATO since 2009, which has an extraordinary intelligence and security service - would allow Dragan Samardžić to visit Croatia and cooperate with its statesmen , generals and admirals?

Luković's statements that the late Vukašin Maraš urged the Croatian authorities that "it appears that they should abandon the criminal prosecution and prosecution of Admiral Milan Zec and Admiral Dragan Samardžić" are untrue and illogical on many grounds. I first met Vukašin Maraš at the end of 2003, as the Deputy Minister of Defense of the State of SiCG, when all the proceedings in Croatia had already been completed. Until then, I did not know anyone from the state leadership of Montenegro, nor had anyone in Podgorica heard of Dragan Samardžić. After all, why would Maraš or anyone else urge for me, when no criminal proceedings against me have ever been initiated in Croatia? Also, I strongly doubt that one Vukašin Maraš urged the Croatian authorities for Admiral Zec, but putting me as a frigate lieutenant, from that period, and Admiral Zec on the same level, can only be done with extremely malicious motives.

It is absolutely false that the US embassy ever denied me a visa and that I was even scheduled to be part of the delegation that went to Washington for bilateral defense consultations at the end of 2007. In the archive, there is a Government platform for participation in that activity, with a precisely defined delegation. After all, at the beginning of that year, I traveled to Washington in order to reach an agreement regarding the provision of US support for the program to destroy surplus weapons and ammunition. So, I had an active American visa for 2007, and I traveled to the USA about fifteen times, both with a diplomatic and an ordinary visa.

Respected Minister of Defense, Raško Konjević did not hire me either as a permanent or as a temporary unofficial adviser. Upon assuming office, the minister, as a responsible leader, invited me to his cabinet to hear my view of the defense system. Absolutely, there was no talk of any of my involvement, nor did I ask the minister for anything. It's true, I know that panic arose among some in the MoD and GS when they saw that I was entering the minister's office. For which reason, they know best.

I was not "appointed" to any position by the former DPS leadership, but - to each - by the Council for Defense and Security, as prescribed by the Constitution of Montenegro. I am not a member of DPS, nor of any party. My only party is Montenegro.

The perseverance of the journalist Luković in slander and attempts to discredit me is simply incredible. Accusing someone of the most serious crime possible, without any evidence, is chilling. I am convinced that he is not doing this alone, and I can only guess at whose behest Luković and 'Vijesti' continue to slander me, even though they themselves know that there is not an iota of truth in this. Because if there was truth, I guess the entire Montenegrin and Croatian public would have known about this a long time ago, and they would not have waited 30 years for Siniša Luković to open their eyes, in addition to all the Montenegrin, Croatian and NATO services and checks.

Great South Grizelj said a long time ago:

'I think the most important thing is that good people reach journalism, that there are as few men as possible, as few grumpy and mean people as possible, as few people haters as possible, those who hate themselves until noon, and the whole world after noon.

The most dangerous are those who think that they have been deprived of something in their life, so they get to the newspapers - and start to pursue everything in order, to find in every person the worst in him, to see in everything a video affair, to see evil intent in everything '", it is stated in the reaction.

The journalist's answer tomorrow