The State Prosecutor’s Office led by Mladen Bajić submitted a request to police last Thursday for an investigation into former police chief Ranko Ostojić. The police will investigate who and what is hiding behind the so-called “Ostojić team”, which the former police chief created as a sort of parallel system, financed from secret police funds, which did not function within the police system. According to Nacional’s information, the internal police control launched its own investigation before the Prosecutor’s request was submitted, and it shared its findings with the prosecutor’s office. After careful review of the findings, the prosecutor’s office submitted its official request for an investigation.

The decision by the Prosecutor’s office to launch an investigation against Ranko Ostojić was a surprise only to those who have not been following the events on the Croatian media and political scene. It is likely clear to everyone now why a month and a half ago, Ostojić openly accused Franjo Turek, former director of POA, Željko Bagić, Secretary of the Office of the President and Ivo Pukanić, author of this article, accusing them of protecting organized crime. Ostojić knew that his entire pseudo-intelligence system had been uncovered, which he used to deceive both the domestic and foreign public, and primarily the Hague Tribunal and Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, with disinformation on the alleged movements of fugitive Ante Gotovina in Croatia. For that reason, he launched a “preventative attack” against us three, hoping that whatever we might have to say about him and his actions would not have the strength to get the mechanisms of the law abiding state in motion. Judging by the request by the State Prosecutor’s Office, it would appear that he was wrong.

As Nacional has learned from sources close to the police, there have been suspicions about Ostojić’s activities for some time by head of the crime police Dragutin Cestar and his associates. This aroused a silent revolt by the police professionals, who did not agree with these methods of working outside the system, which could lead only to chaos and complete anarchy. They believed that Ostojić had professionally humiliated them, and they were angry for the fact that he had had no police experience when SDP appointed him as police chief. Out of fear of retaliation, the crime police could do nothing against their chief, however, POA learned of the entire situation and began its own investigation. When Ostojić learned of this, he tried to get rid of Turek, but it was already too late. Turek, as thorough as he is, caught on to Ostojić’s system which culminated at the end of last summer and early autumn surrounding the Gotovina case.

The primary task of POA (Counter-intelligence agency) is counter-intelligence – to monitor the activities of foreign agents in Croatia who usually work under the guise of low ranking diplomatic titles. In doing so, POA uses all the permitted technical methods, which is completely legal. That is how similar agencies work in their own countries, monitoring among other, Croatian diplomats. Of course, if they are interesting intelligence wise. In one of those actions, Ostojić entered into telephone communication with one of the main foreign agents in southeast Europe, and he told him that the police was doing all it could to locate and arrest General Gotovina, but that POA and the Office of the President were preventing that from happening. That foreign agent was Oscar Vera, an American, advisor to the SFOR chief in BiH. He passed on this disinformation form Ostojić to the US authorities, to his colleagues in London and to Carla Del Ponte. Because of this disinformation, US Ambassador for War Crimes Issues, Pierre-Richard Prosper announced in Sarajevo that certain secret service agencies and state institutions in Croatia were protecting the fugitive general. Based on this disinformation, London applied serious pressures to Račan’s government and the British Parliament refused to ratify the SAA. Based on this disinformation, Carla Del Ponte sent her famous “non-paper” on 1 September 2003 with serious allegations against Croatia and its agencies. As time has passed, one cannot blame Washington, London or Carla Del Ponte, as they received this information from the Croatian police chief, and there truly can be no more relevant source than that. Had Ranko Ostojić told the truth, no one would be able to resent a single work, however, he placed a lie, intentionally or not, and thus inflicted great damage on Croatia. This also resulted in the breakdown of communications between the Hague Tribunal and General Gotovina, who offered a peaceful solution acceptable to all sides. Had this not happened, today the Gotovina case would be in the past both for Croatia and for the Hague Tribunal.

With his daily activities with the foreign spies, which he did not report to POA which is obligated to do by law, Ostojić also led a media campaign through his press followers, who were also enjoying the role of secret agent. Through these people, especially Goran Malić, Ostojić attempted to use the media to erect a monument to himself before the public.

The members of his parallel group were spies from the old system, who could not at all understand that they should be enjoying their retirement with their grandchildren, but instead were living the phrase, “once a spy, always a spy”. This group that Ostojić reactivated was composed of Drago Francisković, Božo Kovačević, Darko Starčević, Ljubo Ljubišić and Milovan Škorić. In addition to them, Ostojić had a group of loyal police employees: Marija Bertina, who is tied to Karmen Kardum, secretary of the special advisor to SFOR Oscar Vera, the ever present Željko Dolacki and Jadranka Belina, Zdravko Šeničnjak and Špiro Miše, head of the Office of police security. Also in this group was retired officer Dubravko Klarić.

This group had a special office within the Police Directorate in Zagreb. This is where they held their conspiratory meetings. They were also assisted in their activities by Damir Lončarić, the somewhat lost director of OA, the intelligence agency, who also let them in on certain secrets OA had. Ostojić also paid out fees to people, including Milovan Škorić, a registered employee of the Serbian Intelligence Agency, to whom he paid 15,000 Euro from the police black funds. Ante Barišić, whom Ostojić sent to Zadar to collect information on Gotovina, also bragged about having received a 3000 Euro fee from Ostojić. Each one of these foreign agents was given the task of keeping in touch with his journalists and agents. And just how this group operated was best seen in the fact that Munib Suljić, one of the executors of the Zec family, attended the party organized by Špiro Miše in Kustošija

What is most disappointing is that POA officially informed the state administration about these activities last October. Everything was covered up and the police investigation, launched at the request of the State Prosecutor, will have to find answers to who covered what up last year. After Turek held a presentation early this year in the Office of the President and the Premier, and he warned of the stupidities that Ostojić and his group were carrying out, he was quickly fired. We hope that this police investigation, which should have been initiated last October, will answer the question of why and on whose behalf Ranko Ostojić deceived the Croatian public, foreign diplomats and Carla Del Ponte. This investigation should also address who in the state administration protected Ostojić’s illegal activities and who halted the investigation and covered up the entire scandal. As Nacional has learned, Sanader’s government has supported the investigation. Its results will certainly by interesting.