Today, The Hague verdict is made for former Serbian secret police officers Jovica Stanisisq and Franco Simatovic

This case is being named historical, not only because of the long-term treatment of justice, but also about Belgrade's secret role in the Bosnian War in 92-95 and about the legal accountability of secret state sponsors of paramilitary groups, writes The Guardian, broadcast newspaper Express

This depleted case against two senior Serbian officials is a crucial test to witness the orchestrating of Belgrade's ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Croatia during the nineth years. The connection to the Belgrade leadership would be striking”, said David Scheffer, former United States envoy for war crimes issues and deputy chairman of the American Society for International Law.

Jovica Stanisic, former head of state security service (DB) and his deputy, Franco Simatovic, known even under the nickname “Frenki”, were charged for the first time in 2003 under suspicion of arming and leading paramilitary groups responsible for war crimes in the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. These two people were once the most powerful figures in Serbia. Stanisqi was reportedly also an informant of the CIA and the US agency had taken an unusual step, delivering a classified document to the tribunal to describe the assistance this person has given him.

The two Serbs had been acquitted in 2013, as most of the court judges had deemed there is no evidence to continue criminal investigations. In 2015, however, the Appeals Chamber decided that the judges have misinterpreted the legal threshold to testify to bias.

Stanisic and Simatovic were key members of Slobodan Milosevic's regime, which had tried to create a bigger Serbia from the ruins of Yugoslavia. While Stanisic was generally responsible for the secret police, DB (Drzavna Bezbednost), Simatovqi led its special operating units.

Stanisqi, meanwhile, seems to have played double games. CIA officials had told the newspaper “Los Angeles Times” in 2009 that he had given details to the regime's internal affairs, NATO hostages' whereabouts and mass cemetery sites.

Vladimir Dzuro, a Czech police officer who had questioned these two people while serving as investigators for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, said Wednesday's decision would be a critical moment for Belgrade's secret hand after crimes in Croatia and Bosnia.

These special units were, for example, Arkan Tigers, Scorpions or Red Berets, which became notorious for their brutality, and their crimes were well documented in the indictment”, he said.