Special Operations Unit (Serbia)
| Unit for Special Operations | |
|---|---|
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JSO emblem
|
|
| Active | 1991 – 2003 |
| Country |
 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (  Socialist Republic of Serbia) Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (  Republic of Serbia) State Union of Serbia and Montenegro ( Republic of Serbia)
|
| Branch | State Security Service |
| Type | Special forces |
| Role | Black ops Counter-terrorism Hostage resolution |
| Garrison/HQ | Kula |
| Nickname(s) |
Red Berets Frenkies |
| Mascot(s) | Wolf |
| Disbanded | 25 March 2003 |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Franko Simatović, Milorad Ulemek |
Unit for Special Operations (Jedinica za specijalne operacije, JSO) or Special Operations Unit, was an elite special forces police unit of the FR Yugoslav State Security Service (RDB).
The JSO was created in 1996 by merging paramilitary units under the command of Željko Ražnatović "Arkan" and Franko Simatović and incorporating them into the security system of the FR Yugoslavia under the auspice of Jovica Stanišić, head of the Serbian State Security (RDB). From 1996 to November 2001, it was formally under the competence of the RDB. The unit was finally disbanded in March 2003, after the Prime Minister of Serbia Zoran Đinđić was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy in which some members of the unit were involved.
Patrons and numerous members and of the unit and its predecessors have been implicated and some sentenced, for war crimes during the Yugoslav Wars, as well as criminal activity. The unit's official commander Franko Simatović and its gray eminence Jovica Stanišić (head of RDB during the first half of Slobodan Milošević's rule) were acquitted at International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for various war crimes. Various other members are convicted or being tried for the Ibar Highway assassination attempt and for the murders of Ivan Stambolić and Slavko Ćuruvija. The JSO was also reportedly involved in instances of war crimes in the Kosovo War.
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