November 7, 2000

Borivoje Borovic, attorney and the president of the People's Party "Justice"

The time has come for team decisions

Borivoje Borovic

   The attorney-at-law, Borivoje Borovic has been one of the most wanted figures on our political stage these days. Everything started with his request to Serbian Renewal Movement to ask for abolishment of notorious legislations about the University, public information, local selfgovernment and public security on the session of the Serbian Parliament. He also asked the top ranking officials of his former party to get rid of corupted politicians and return to its original programme.
   After that, the president of Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), Vuk Draskovic, released him from the post of member of Presidency of SPO on grounds of "his public statements in media being harmful to the reputation of the party", and then there was a session of the main board of SPO where Borovic, dissatisfied with the manner decisions were reached in the party, resigned from SPO. Before the storm about the session of main board of SPO becalmed, Borovic constituted a new party called People's Party "Justice".
   In spite of many obligations concerning the constitution of a new party, Borovic agreed on interview for FreeSerbia.org.

FS: On our political stage you have been present since the establishment of multiparty system in Serbia. You are one of the founders of Serbian Renewal Movement, in 1991 demonstrations you were on the balcony of National Theatre with Vuk Draskovic and current president of Yugoslavia Vojislav Kostunica, and a few days ago you founded People's party "Justice". What is your estimate of your political activities in the past decade?

My opinion is that I could have done a lot more. I was in inferior position because I had brought myself into that position on purpose. I was mainly practising law since I thought that people should reach the top in their profession in order to be valuable as politicians. Therefore, I had to prove myself on a very difficult field such as law. Many people practiced law, but they were mainly connected with the regime, or they were the members of the Communist Party or they were closely related with police and the Court of Appeals whereas I, as someone who had been the opposition from the very beginning, had some additional problems.

As far as the parliament is concerned, I gave speeches to the extent it was measured up by the top of the party since there were dramatic events regarding the wars in Bosnia, Croatia, and after that there was that situation in Kosovo, when some people were simply denied some open-mindedness since the country was in constant danger. Talking about my former party, I was completely autonomous. I must admit that the president of the party allowed me that autonomy; he has been a verbatim democrat for nine years. In the last year it was a bit different, but I would not talk about it right now.

FS: Why have you just now decided to constitute a new party?

I should have done it earlier, truly speaking. I thought that there were enough parties therefore some conditions induced me to think it was unnecessary. At the moment when the communism broke down, and it broke down in the last bastion of communism in Eastern Europe, when Milosevic is gone, I realized then that people who are experts in their profession, lawyers, miners, professors of the university, army elite could through one political party and the team of experts to do all those things which have been possible to be done till now only on improvised political stage.

To be precise, in some political parties there were spokespersons, the presidents of the parties who improvised the answers on all these questions and on what should be done. Now the time has come to make team decisions, to offer programmes by expert teams, and the one who offers the most practical programme, that one will survive on the political stage.

"Justice" is something new even by its name, which is not limiting the scope of its political actions, so that members come from parties other than SPO as well as from that party. In the beginning most of them used to come over from SPO, but also there are people from our branch, lawyers, former judges and other public workers, as we have often stressed. They all take part in the new party.

FS: Is your party going to stand for the forthcoming Republic elections?

Democracy and team decisions are our supreme principles. We will reach final decisions together after seven to ten days. We have abilities since we have already placed our men of trust to 17 county and 90 municipal boards. I need not tell of the power of the party, it can be checked on the elections, even if we do not stand for them. That means that if we are founding our party in the next 200 years, it is a serious business and I am honestly in it.

FS: What is your opinion on the Hague Tribunal?

Well, the Hague tribunal is, with regards to my modest legal education, a court where some not thoroughly defined processes are being conducted. If a large number of people from Serbia are there, and a small number from former Yugoslavia, that makes it a court meant to damage Yugoslav civilians under Milosevic regime. Now, when he is no longer in power, we will see whether it is a court exclusively for trials of Serbs or of all those who have committed criminal acts. Should the situation change my opinion will be positive, but should it remain the same, I will take it to be a place where politics against Yugoslavia of one or more states is being brought into practice.I am saying this not only as someone with legal knowledge, but also as a politician.

FS: Do you believe that Slobodan Milosevic ought to be tried for war crimes?

When what he is charged with is concerned, to do with Kosovo, I am absolutely against any sort of trial for the alleged war crimes in Kosovo. I am also against trials on the same ground of Vlajko Stojiljkovic and the others, since the state did in Kosovo what had to be done at that moment.

If there was anything contrary to the international norms and if the civilians got killed for no reason in military operations, that could be the ground for a trial. So far I haven't heard of or seen such evidence, the only thing I know is that most politicians in Serbia prompted Slobodan Milosevic to undertake military operations at that moment. People now in DOS did it, SPO did it, I did it in an indirect way when I asked the agony of Serbian people to be ended.

Should it not be proved that Slobodan Milosevic, Rade Markovic and other people from top have been undertaking actions followed by deaths of a great number of people, then we have strong evidence of classic criminal acts that have to be brought before justice here, but since punishments for them are great, meaning life sentence concerning the age of people in question, than it is the reason why they should not be tried in the Hague, if charged.

If charges to do with Bosnia, Croatia and some other regions are concerned, then I believe that according to what president Vojislav Kostunica has said, opening of the Hague office means taking over the international obligations I cannot comment on now. The statute article that our citizens are not to be extradited is still hierarchically under the international norms and the obligations Yugoslavia is taking over, so that the courts above the national have priority over the national ones. My personal attitude towards the alleged crimes regions outside Serbia is not finally shaped up, meaning that there is enough room and arguments left for many people to be tried here, and even the people are requiring it.

Bojan Bozic

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