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Beyond the News
Slobodan Milosevic, the president of the FR Yugoslavia, opened the temporary road and rail bridge in Novi Sad in the presence of tens of thousands of citizens. In his speech Milosevic said that the reconstruction of Serbia is something the whole of Europe should be proud of. "We in the FRY - the most European of all European countries - are building our country with much love, great knowledge and effort. Let nobody lecture us on where Europe is and is not, for Europe is in every foot of the European continent" said Milosevic. He Mentioned Europe in every other sentience, not mentioning the opposition at all - unlike the IV Congress of the Socialist Party of Serbia when he started the campaign against so-called domestic corruption, traitors and mercenaries. Thus Milosevic turned the page again and personally gave the example of how members of the regime should verbally act in the following period. Milosevic is arrogant enough not to even mention the opposition, since he believes to have finished with them, having closed the media and the opposition not being able to do anything about it. He has started his own campaign, directing his sword towards Europe, expecting the poll results to see whether to schedule elections for August, as Pedja Markovic of G17+ announced, of for November-December, as SPS members from Vracar have heard. While the opposition is estimating what it has accomplished and what not, whether to organize new rallies or a general strike, to wait for the elections or create "defense committees", Milosevic has already accessed the opposition's achievements and changed his tactics towards it, despite giving a of senseless speech on fast railroads, the victory against Nato and the morally superior bridge.
He has sensed very well that this is a turning point in the crises
of authority in Serbia, when support for the democratic forces is
increasing weakly and the opposition will start sinking because of
its impotence. Simultaneously the "silent fright" is still restraining
members of the opposition parties, Otpor activists and journalists of
the free media, and the anti-terrorism law is being mentioned more and
more, but sits quietly as the regime's last weapon in the fight against the Serbian majority.
In his yesterday's interview for television Palma, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, whose name is never even mentioned by the media, apart from customary insults aimed at "NATO mercenaries", said when asked to reveal a part of the content of the previously announced so-called anti-terrorism bill that he had no knowledge whatsoever about it because no one had told him anything. This piece of information also indicated, unless Deputy Prime Minister had just put on an act, that the Yugoslav United Left (JUL) was exclusively in charge of drafting the new bill given that the senior officials of this party were actually actively promoting it - Federal Telecommunications Minister Ivan Markovic, Federal Information Minister Goran Matic, Yugoslav Army Chief of Staff Nebojsa Pavkovic... Moreover, judging by its aggressiveness in this respect it is obvious that the United Left has not only taken the lead in the regime's campaign of hatred but also taken over the reins in operational terms of the ongoing repression. The Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) now appears to be a giant without his head. On the other hand, the plan according to which anti-terrorism bill was to be adopted urgently was eventually abandoned after the first night of violence in downtown Belgrade. The session of the Serbian parliament (which was supposedly to take place on Tuesday) was not even held. However, "anti-terrorist" campaign has continued unabated. This could mean that those in charge of the repression campaign will wait until Saturday to see what will be the outcome of the mass opposition rally scheduled for the day. Only then will they decide whether to adopt the anti-terrorism bill or not. It is an indisputable fact that illegal takeover of Studio B took place only two days after the opposition rally with relatively low turnout of the citizens. This action against Studio B had been actually announced by Federal Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic in Moscow, a day after the Belgrade rally itself, when he had claimed that the opposition had been losing strength and that the authorities had had no intention of accepting the opposition demands to hold early elections. According to our unofficial sources, the so-called anti-terrorism bill will contain provisions on the basis of which the police could detain suspected "terrorists" as long as necessary, search apartments of "terrorists" without search warrant and confiscate registered weapons in their possession. Rumours are circulating that the anti-terrorism bill might also contain articles banning "terrorist" organisations like opposition parties, student and civil associations and free media outlets. Anyone who dares criticise the government will be declared as "terrorist" and treated accordingly.
Therefore, the opposition must do everything in its power to attract as many people as possible, it has to offer an action plan and awake from its slumber and passivity which is becoming increasingly conspicuous. If it fails to do so and if fewer than a hundred thousand citizens come to take part in the rally, on Monday or Tuesday we will probably have so-called anti-terrorism law in effect which in turn will effectively put an end to political pluralism in Serbia.
Indicating that a part of the opposition bloc was unwilling to take risks and assume responsibility for further developments in the country, President of Social Democrat Union Zarko Korac said yesterday that there was a serious split within the ranks of the unified opposition bloc between a moderate and a radical faction, and went on to say that some opposition leaders thought there was no enough enthusiasm among the citizens for organising mass protests and actions of civil disobedience. President of Democratic Alternative Nebojsa Covic also estimated yesterday that the citizens were deeply discontented with the opposition and that it was only a matter of time before a critical point leading to eruption would be reached. Vuk Obradovic, President of Social Democracy sent a letter yesterday as well addressed to the opposition leaders criticising them of lukewarm and apathetic actions which only further dissipated the energy of the people. President of the Movement for Democratic Serbia Momcilo Perisic has also strongly criticised today some opposition leaders who, as he has put it, prefer status quo and have wasted people's energy on so many occasions just to maintain privileges and what is left of their position in power. In anticipation of a mass gathering on Saturday, the confronted forces within the opposition bloc - those in favour of active resistance to the regime and the moderates - are regrouping themselves. Rumours according to which Vuk Draskovic and Zoran Djindjic have improved their mutual relations which is "both good and bad" (as stated unofficially by one of the opposition leaders) only further fuel Korac, Covic, Obradovic and Perisic into thinking out loud. Namely, traditional divide within the opposition ranks between moderates represented by the Serbian Renewal Movement and the radicals led by the Democratic Party has virtually vanished a few days ago. Word has it that these two leaders have improved relations to such a degree that they have even made certain arrangements without other participants in the opposition meetings. This has not only enraged other members of the opposition bloc, which are in majority when it comes to the number of political parties involved, yet they represent minority in terms of party membership, but also accounted for, otherwise inexplicable, passivity of the opposition parties in their resistance to the regime.
Politics is a hazardous game and whoever is not prepared to take risks should not engage in politics at all. To give up on active resistance means that Serbia will be stripped of not only all the media but political pluralism as well. Given the circumstances it is certainly quite possible that 'a rebellion of ants' take place within the opposition bloc so that someone else on account of his articulating well-justified anger of the citizens might become more popular than self-styled sultans of the opposition
This morning the police took Dragan Gmizic, a journalist for Radio 021 and member of the Youth Club of the Serbian Renewal Movement in for questioning, as part of the investigation into the murder of Vojvodina's Prime Minister. A bit later at Bosko Perosevic's commemoration, attended by Sloobdan Milosevic and Mira Markovic, the Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Serbia Gorica Gajevic heavily criticized the opposition, media and "Otpor". Gajevic said that they represent a hand full of mercenaries and enemies with which the state will deal with, just as it has up to now. The government is again using the murder of its distinguished member to accuse "internal enemies" of the "destabilizing the country", even though it is absolutely clear that it is an atypical assassination. This is the first assassination at a public gathering and the only one whose perpetrator was caught at the scene. The profile of the murderer Milivoje Gutovic reveals that he is not a member of any political party, and his colleagues in the Novi Sad fair security claim he sometimes looked lost. The most interesting fact is that he is Perosevic's "neighbor" - they were both born in the village of Ratkovo, which instigates that the motive for murder was personal, rather than political or "business". This is even more probable considering the statements of the residents of Ratkovo that Gutovisc was unpleasant and stern man, with occasional neurotic outbursts.
Even though it is not impossible that the "deranged murderer" was chosen in order to hide some conspiracy, it is far more likely that the atypical murder is not part of this year's series of assassinations. The regime leaves the the impression that it is enraged by the fact that the administrator of Vojvodina was killed on Security Day and in its great fear is loosing all criteria in assaulting political adversaries.
Miroslav Filipovic, Kraljevo correspondent of the independent daily "Danas" has been released from the military prison in Nis after the investigative magistrate ended his detention. Since the military prosecutor, colonel Stanimir Radosavljevic informed the court today that he would not be demand an investigation of Filipovic within the 48-hour legal limit. This does not means that the indictment will not be filed, merely that it would not happen while Filipovic was in jail. The actions of the prosecutor and the president of the military court have been correct to the highest degree. They acted in accordance with the law in the swiftest fashion and saved Filipovic the unnecessary incarceration, from which he would be released anyway, since the indictment would not be filed in the legal time. The military court in Nis has obviously decided to follow the letter of the law only a day after the courageous actions of the justice and prosecution in Pozarevac. The determination of the investigative magistrate Papovic and the reckless pressure to prosecute the victims for attempted murder caused an avalanche of resignations and discharges. The district attorney Jovo Stanojevic and five of his deputies have resigned (though his press conference today was cancelled, probably due to the pressures, but the resignation remains), and the investigative magistrate Djordje Rankovic, the court vice-president was dismissed for participating in the "Otpor" rally in Pozarevac. When we recall that the chief of police in Pozarevac, colonel Radisa Jovic provided police protection for Mile Veljkovic last Saturday after a number of telephone threats, and that the president of the Kursumlija municipality, a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia who attend the opening of the local office of "Otpor" resigned from his function today under pressure - it becomes clear that the snowball has started rolling down the hill.
After the regime showed its true nature one part of the people in the system, the one that believed that the system was legal and legitimate (and served it persistently) has decided to strictly follow the law and not to allow any abuses. This is regarded as mutiny in the regime leadership and repressive actions against those who dared to respect the law and not dictatorship only increases resistance against illegitimate authority.
The president of the District Military Court in Nis stated that he has not seen the indictment against Miroslav Filipovic, the "Danas" reporter from Kraljevo. He said that as far as he knows Filipovic has been accused of espionage. If this is true and Filipovic somehow obtained confidential information then the texts he whore for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting might contain some truth. Before Filipovic was arrested his strange articles had to be read with great hesitance, due to the amount of unverifiable information. In "Serbian Agents Instigate Violence in Kosovo", published February 25, Filipovic, quoting Yugoslav military sources, writes about the infiltration of the Yugoslav military and police of civilians in Kosovo. According to Filipovic, the bas for the infiltration of Kosovo is the village of Brzece, nea r the border with Kosovo. In mid March, in the text titled "Serbs Resist Mobilization" Filipovic describes how the inhabitants of the village of Stubal used with spades and field tools to drive of government officials who came to mobilize them. FreeSerbia's correspondent in Kraljevo also reported about the incident. Filipovic wrote that there was mobilization in Nis, Leskovac, Vranje, Kraljevo, Raska, Krusevac and Kursumlija, quoting precise percentages of people accepting the summons. Surely the most significant of Filipovic's texts this year (dated April 4) is titled "Serbian Officers Reveal Crimes" and speaks of "brutal acts" performed by the Yugoslav Army in Kosovo during the NATO bombardment. The text quotes results of alleged investigations by the military security in the first two months of this year. The allegation that "according to the testimonies of officers, the units of the YA are responsible for the death of 800 Albanian children under the age of 5" is especially shocking. Such texts are created in two ways: either the author simply made them up or he really has sources within the Yugoslav Army. Had Filipovic made them up it is presumed that he would have been charged with dispersing false information or enemy propaganda.
Now the most important question is will the military investigators find the person that fed Filipovic confidential information. In any case, it is obvious that the Yugoslav Army has people ready to risk loosing their jobs and going to prison in order to give the public the truth.
More than twenty-four hours have passed since the revoking of the rally of the united democratic forces in Pozarevac. Fifty activists and journalists were arrested, and the entire town was blocked in a manner that has been seen in Serbia though never with such intensity, but the effects of what the government and opposition have achieved with this action is still being summarized. It seems that the regime has strengthened its position by arresting and blocking without any consequences, and was not threatened in a single point of its authority. That of course is a short-term gain, while in the middle and especially the long run the future of the regime is very dismal. The mobilization of democratic forces will become stronger, and ordinary people will want more and more to participate in some form of action against the regime because they have finally seen the true face of the regime: violence, repression and terror. Even those who stood by the regime out of opportunist and conformist notions will oppose the illegitimate authority - at first shyly and then with increasing mass and strength. The best example is Judge Papovic from Pozarevac, who first refused to accuse the arrested "Otpor" activists of attempted murder, and then resigned because the penal council, prosecutor and police overturned his ruling. An avalanche of resignations and dismissals in the Pozarevac judiciary followed, which shows the fading tendency of this regime. On the other side the democratic forces showed their weak sides. As much as the government was in panic and chaos on Tuesday the opposition was incapable of making quicker and more responsible decisions. Vuk Draskovic was the one to blame since ego he refused to hold a rally in Belgrade, because of his vain regarding the Ravna Gora celebration. After the other leaders of the opposition did "him the favor" and postponed the announced rally for Monday, Vuk (who was calling from the Montenegrin seaside) would not accept, but sent an ultimatum saying that he would not join them in Belgrade unless they went with him on Ravna Gora on Saturday. An hour later he agreed, but the feeling remains that Vuk is behaving like the sultan of the opposition. He is according to popularity and numbers, and no opposition action can be imagined without him, but it's not all smooth with him, because there is a lot of persuading and pressures in convincing him to act. The opposition is thus blocked from swift action, and every mess of the regime will only hasten decisions, and most of them (in any case) depend on the activists in the field. The democratic forces are capable of as much as they can accomplish. The presidents can (anyway) only pose and make decisions that are predictable and logical to all. The strength of the activists in the field is shown by express rallies in Kragujevac and Cacak (last night) and the forming of the crisis committees of the democratic forces for solidarity aid for victims of repression, suggested by "Otpor". If the leaders decide to continue applying pressure for early elections with a series of rallies, it will be give in to local opposition activists.
Until then the regime has finally shown what kind of resolution it wants for the crisis in Serbia. By avoiding a peaceful ending it is only speeding up its departure, but also the price. Like a gambler, "va bank" the regime is playing all or nothing. "All" is retaining illegitimate power at any cost, and "nothing" is (in the best-case scenario) a one-way ticket to the Hague.
Late last night, the police arrested Beta agency and Blic correspondent Mileta Veljkovic, his brother Momcilo and Radojko Lukovic (Otpor activists) and Danas reporters Natasa Bogovic and Bojan Toncic. They were sentenced to detention by the same judge who released the Otpor activists yesterday, while unofficial reports say they will be trailed for attempted murder after all. According to latest reports, League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina president Nenad Canak and his bodyguard Stevica have been arrested, while president of the Reform Democratic Party Mile Isakov was interrogated. Two Dutch journalists and their translator were brought in and then escorted out of Pozarevac this morning. A truck carrying technical equipment for the Rally in Pozarevac was stopped by the police before entering town, who explained the rally was banned. At 3 am, an official ban had still not been announced to the public. The police is on the lookout for all vehicles carrying Belgrade registration plates, while strong special police squadrons are stationed in town. A parallel gathering is scheduled for 14:00 in the main square to celebrate the Day of Victory Over Fascism, one hour before the opposition rally is due to start. The police have also prevented four buses from taking off to Pozarevac. All this, after an ostensible compromise yesterday, to create severe tension just before the rally. The pressure on the opposition is notably higher since the arrival of Mirjana Markovic, Vlajko Stojiljkovic and Uros Suvakovic to Pozarevac. They repeated accusations against democratic forces in Serbia at a joint meeting of Socialist Party and Yugoslav Left Municipal Boards, calling them outcasts from the Serbian nation. We may, thus, ask ourselves who is actually behind the crisis in Pozarevac? Is it the Internal Affairs department in Pozarevac or SPS and JUL officials who have recently come to town? The judge who respected the law and released the Otpor activists was obviously pushed into changing his decision. Head of Police in Pozarevac, Radisa Jovic, had given police protection to threatened journalist Momcilo Veljkovic, only to arrest him the day after.
It seems as if the "hard line" of the regime has tipped the scales and will try to prevent a gathering in the home town of Slobodan Milosevic and Mira Markovic with repression. The big question is whether they will succeed, but also what further steps will opposition leaders gathered at Sociademocracy offices take in light of latest events.
The chief investigator in Pozaravac released the "Otpor" activists who were jailed six days ago, after a fight with the security of the "Madona" discotheque, arrested and charged with attempted murder. It is possible that there are people in the judicial system who find personal integrity and strength of the law more important than passionate individuals like Ivan Markovic, Nikola Sainovic or Vlajko Stoiljkovic. However, there is a possibility that this is a calculated move of the regime before the opposition rally in Pozarevac. The government could want to decrease the number of people at the gathering for at least the number of nonaligned citizens that would come to demonstrate for the beating of people who are illegally imprisoned being charged with attempted murder, without even getting proper medical attention.
The rumors that followed the release of the "Otpor" activists that Vuk Draskovic would not be speaking at the rally in Pozarevac might have been exactly what the regime wanted to achieve. Nevertheless the remark that the rally in Pozarevac would be significant for the further
development of events in Serbia still stands.
The deadline for prohibiting the rally of the unified opposition of Serbia in Pozarevac passed on Sunday at 3 p.m. and the police have not issued a prohibition so according to the law on public gathering this means that the gathering has been allowed. It has happened before that the regime did not respect the law which it itself had enacted (and there are those who claim that the government has the right to prohibit a rally even 12 hours before its scheduled beginning). For this reason the permission for the rally in Pozarevac is still unresolved. According to the current situation, the rally will not be formally prohibited. The government will "only" prevent the gathering, according to the announcements of the president of the Pozarevac municipal assembly, which means blocking all entries to the town. Even the regime is not certain whether it will be able to prevent thousands of people from arriving in Pozarevac since similar attempts before democratic rallies in Belgrade failed when passengers on an opposition bus chased away a police patrol that tried to stop them. It is not certain whether the government will restrain from creating incidents. Vlajko Stojiljkovic, minister of police criticized most heavily Otpor, non-government and organizations, and parties of the democratic opposition. On the other side, all the opposition leaders noted that final phase of Milosevic's rule is coming in which the regime, motivated by preserving power, will stop at nothing, even open dictatorship.
In any case, the Pozarevac rally will announce a new direction in the resolution of the situation in Serbia: will the regime, which the majority of the population does not support be willing to leave the government through negotiation and fair elections or will it try to prolong its power through incidents, violence and terror.
Yugoslav Army HQ has accused certain opposition leaders of "verbal assaults on the President of FRY, which have culminated with threats of brutal physical extermination". On the same day, the largest opposition parties have called for "passive resistance by citizens, who are not to obey orders coming from arrogant authorities blinded by power". After the announcement of the rally in Pozarevac and a third consecutive financial castigation of Studio B television, the Army HQ statement which involves it in internal Serbian political affairs is, to this moment, the most serious threat to the Constitutional order in Serbia and Yugoslavia. There is an obvious connection between the Army HQ statement, the scheduled rally and the incident in Pozarevac, and it seems that the regime, anxious for its future, is making more destructive decisions as each day passes. Since it is obvious that legal institutions will not execute their duties and react to blatant breaching of authority and abuse of power for personal and political benefit, the question is whether lower ranked officers of the Yugoslav Army approve of their HQ's involvement in everyday political affairs, or rather, will the soldiers carry out orders which would violate current laws and undermine the Constitution.
If we can trust the what Nis mayor Zoran Zivkovic said on that issue - they won't.
At a meeting hosted by Socialdemocracy, opposition leaders and Otpor agreed to organise a rally in Pozarevac, on May 9. The rally should be the first in a series that are to be organised in towns all over Serbia. The initiative was put forward due to physical and verbal abuse committed against Otpor activists in the last few days. Three activists of the anti-regime movement have been brutally beaten in Pozarevac, while the police accused them of attempted murder and Yugoslav Left's spokesman Ivan Markovic called them "Hitler's Youth who should be legally abolished". A night watch in Otpor HQ in Belgrade, where Otpor activists were joined by opposition leaders and NGO activists, produced a conclusion that there will have to be a united stand. This is perfectly clear, since the Serbian Movement for Renewal was also linked with the incident in Pozarevac, while their members were beaten up in a village several days ago. Studio B, named NATOvision by Ivan Marovic, was promptly punished based on the Information Law and new investigations are scheduled for today.
There was no definite agreement on further opposition activities at the last meeting, while Vuk Draskovic said in an interview that there would be more gatherings when there is a motive. The motive just happened, and a rapid reaction by democratic forces (scheduling protests in Pozarevac) proves that joint opposition actions can only be triggered by regime filth.
The Serbian Parliament elected representatives for the upper house in the Federal Parliament today, based on a law that was adopted at a session prior to this one. Nine Socialist Party representatives, nine Radical Party and two Yugoslav Left representatives form the Serbian representative body were elected. Although the Law says that the Federal Parliament's Chamber of Republics should be comprised according to the ratio of Serbian Parliament seats taken by different parties, certain regulations of the Law authorise the speaker of the Parliament to determine which candidates can apply to be elected, and to deny the representative group, which fails to appear at the session, the right to have representatives in the upper house of the Federal Parliament. Officially, the law and the new representatives have been accepted, since the Federal Constitutional Court decided a few months ago that the former Council representatives were elected against constitutional regulations. Although it was, at first, thought that this was done in favour of the Montenegrin Government, who also claimed that representatives from Montenegro were elected against Constitutional regulations, it is now clear that the whole scheme was part of preparations of the regime for federal elections. Since the Serbian Renewal Movement's (SPO) representatives have not attended Parliament sessions for some time, because of the unsolved murders of their members on the Ibar motorway last October, the regime counted on electing a delegation for the upper house comprised only from members of the "war-waging" government. If one has in mind that regular elections for the Chamber of Citizens in Federal Parliament are scheduled for this year, then the current regime have confirmed their position regardless of the outcome of elections. Even if democratic forces in Serbia and the authorities in Montenegro win at these elections, the Chamber of Republics could veto all unfavourable decisions with only one representative from Montenegro (e.g. a Bulatovic's Socialist People's Party representative), such as: initiatives for the dismissal of FRY President, or alterations of the laws on the army, customs, the currency... Since republic elections have to be staged sooner or later, even if it means waiting until the regular elections date next year, all this is just an attempt of the regime to prolong their stay in power against the support of the majority of citizens. |
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