Scorpions (paramilitary)
| Scorpions | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1991–1999 |
| Country |
 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1991) Republic of Serbian Krajina (1992–1995) Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1995–1999) |
| Type | Paramilitary unit |
| Engagements | |
| Disbanded | Yes |
The Scorpions (Serbian Cyrillic: Шкорпиони) was a Serbian paramilitary unit active during the Yugoslav Wars. The unit was involved in war crimes during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. After the wars, four members of the unit were found guilty of killing six prisoners during the Srebrenica massacre of July 1995 and five were found guilty of killing fourteen civilians, mostly women and children, during the Podujevo massacre in March 1999.
The Scorpions were founded in 1991 by Jovica Stanisic, the head of Serbia's State Security Services, who also had a secret relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency. It began as a regular unit of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). They identified as Chetniks (monarchist Greater Serbia troopers). Dozens of men joined the unit in mid-1991. Initially composed of Serbs from eastern Slavonia, the unit began its operations during the Battle of Vukovar in late 1991. It was led by two brothers, Slobodan and Aleksandar Medić, and was named after their favourite weapon—the Škorpion vz. 61. The unit was one of several hundred armed groups used by Bosnian and Croatian Serb military authorities for the purpose of terrorizing the non-Serb population in the Republika Srpska and the Republic of Srpska Krajina. In 1992, the Scorpions came under the command of the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina (ARSK).
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