Informazione
BALKANS INFOS
http://www.b-i-infos.com/index.html
B. I. Balkans-Infos est un mensuel de politique internationale
totalement indépendant de tout gouvernement, institution ou parti, qui
paraît depuis près de sept ans. Il n'est diffusé que sur abonnements.
Fondé à l'origine pour réagir aux mensonges des grands médias
concernant la Yougoslavie et les Balkans, il est devenu un organe de
référence dans une dénonciation d'ensemble de l'impérialisme
économique, du fanatisme religieux et de la désinformation.
B.I. Balkans - Infos N° 72 décembre 2002
SOMMAIRE DU N° 72
* Le général Pierre-Marie Gallois fait, spécialement pour B. I.,
une brillante analyse de la situation internationale sous le titre "
Les dessous inavouables de la guerre à l'Irak ".
*** Pierre Hillard, que nos lecteurs connaissent pour sa découverte de
documents prouvant la volonté officielle de régionaliser ethniquement
notre continent en éliminant les grandes nations, déterre un nouveau
sujet d'inquiétude: le Code civil européen.
*** Le professeur Maurice Pergnier, qui fait autorité en matière de
linguistique, consacre une percutante étude à une aberration qui
semble gagner des partisans: le "Mythe de l'Occitanie"
*** Notre confrère allemand de la revue "Konkret", Jürgen Elsässer,
dont le dernier livre - "La RFA dans la guerre du Kosovo" - vient
d'être traduit en français et publié par les éditions de l'Harmattan,
a interviewé l'ex-chef des services secrets de Belgrade, qui fait des
révélations inédites sur le rôle de l'Allemagne dans le conflit
yougoslave.
*** Deux articles montrent comment fonctionne la justice du Nouvel
ordre mondial: le premier évoque le cas de l'ex-directeur de la
télévision de Belgrade, condamné à dix ans de prison pour avoir été
bombardé par l'OTAN; le second décrit la situation dramatique de
Slobodan Milosevic que le tribunal pénal de La Haye tue à petit feu.
*** Les "nouvelles de l'empire" décrivent les progrès dans le monde de
la colonisation américaine, et les plus récentes embardées du shérif
de Washington.
*** La rubrique "entre guillemets" raconte comment Patrick Besson a
défendu Peter Handke, et reproduit les opinions courageuses du
célèbre écrivain mexicain Carlos Fuentes, de l'ex-chancelier allemand
Helmut Schmidt et du chanteur mondialement connu Harry Belafonte.
*** Notre spécialiste de la Roumanie, Jean-Michel Bérard, examine le
calvaire de la paysannerie roumanie, d'abord collectivisée, puis
décollectivisée, avec la même brutalité.
*** Michel Blanzat trace le portrait d'un personnage incontournable de
la vie internationale, le pirate philanthrope George Soros, et Maurice
Livernault rend un hommage mérité à un grand peintre et sculpteur,
Milos Sobaïc.
*** Rappelons enfin que le quatrième roman d'Ivanka Mikic, "Komarac",
qui raconte l'histoire d'une jeune fille à la découverte de l'amour au
cours de l'occupation allemande de la Yougoslavie pendant la Seonde
guerre mondiale, est disponible en serbe pour le prix de 15 euros
(envoi compris). On peut le commander au journal.
B I
Rédaction / Administration
CAP 8
BP 391 75869 PARIS cedex 18
<lodalmas@...>
http://www.b-i-infos.com/index.html
B. I. Balkans-Infos est un mensuel de politique internationale
totalement indépendant de tout gouvernement, institution ou parti, qui
paraît depuis près de sept ans. Il n'est diffusé que sur abonnements.
Fondé à l'origine pour réagir aux mensonges des grands médias
concernant la Yougoslavie et les Balkans, il est devenu un organe de
référence dans une dénonciation d'ensemble de l'impérialisme
économique, du fanatisme religieux et de la désinformation.
B.I. Balkans - Infos N° 72 décembre 2002
SOMMAIRE DU N° 72
* Le général Pierre-Marie Gallois fait, spécialement pour B. I.,
une brillante analyse de la situation internationale sous le titre "
Les dessous inavouables de la guerre à l'Irak ".
*** Pierre Hillard, que nos lecteurs connaissent pour sa découverte de
documents prouvant la volonté officielle de régionaliser ethniquement
notre continent en éliminant les grandes nations, déterre un nouveau
sujet d'inquiétude: le Code civil européen.
*** Le professeur Maurice Pergnier, qui fait autorité en matière de
linguistique, consacre une percutante étude à une aberration qui
semble gagner des partisans: le "Mythe de l'Occitanie"
*** Notre confrère allemand de la revue "Konkret", Jürgen Elsässer,
dont le dernier livre - "La RFA dans la guerre du Kosovo" - vient
d'être traduit en français et publié par les éditions de l'Harmattan,
a interviewé l'ex-chef des services secrets de Belgrade, qui fait des
révélations inédites sur le rôle de l'Allemagne dans le conflit
yougoslave.
*** Deux articles montrent comment fonctionne la justice du Nouvel
ordre mondial: le premier évoque le cas de l'ex-directeur de la
télévision de Belgrade, condamné à dix ans de prison pour avoir été
bombardé par l'OTAN; le second décrit la situation dramatique de
Slobodan Milosevic que le tribunal pénal de La Haye tue à petit feu.
*** Les "nouvelles de l'empire" décrivent les progrès dans le monde de
la colonisation américaine, et les plus récentes embardées du shérif
de Washington.
*** La rubrique "entre guillemets" raconte comment Patrick Besson a
défendu Peter Handke, et reproduit les opinions courageuses du
célèbre écrivain mexicain Carlos Fuentes, de l'ex-chancelier allemand
Helmut Schmidt et du chanteur mondialement connu Harry Belafonte.
*** Notre spécialiste de la Roumanie, Jean-Michel Bérard, examine le
calvaire de la paysannerie roumanie, d'abord collectivisée, puis
décollectivisée, avec la même brutalité.
*** Michel Blanzat trace le portrait d'un personnage incontournable de
la vie internationale, le pirate philanthrope George Soros, et Maurice
Livernault rend un hommage mérité à un grand peintre et sculpteur,
Milos Sobaïc.
*** Rappelons enfin que le quatrième roman d'Ivanka Mikic, "Komarac",
qui raconte l'histoire d'une jeune fille à la découverte de l'amour au
cours de l'occupation allemande de la Yougoslavie pendant la Seonde
guerre mondiale, est disponible en serbe pour le prix de 15 euros
(envoi compris). On peut le commander au journal.
B I
Rédaction / Administration
CAP 8
BP 391 75869 PARIS cedex 18
<lodalmas@...>
----- Original Message -----
From: Petokraka78
To: antinato@...
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 5:01 PM
Subject: Observations on Serbia's Elections
below is an article from a "Marxist" website that offers a pretty
good analysis of the prevailing political mood and atmosphere in
Serbia. The article is especially relevant with respect to the
failures of the main political currents to garner votes among an
electorate that is sick of empty promises, "austerity" measures,
national chauvinism, corruption, and national debasement and that
wants to remain focused on the pressing social questions that plague
the country (including the desire to preserve their independence in
the face of Serbia's conversion into an branch-plant and
infrastructural hub - with no benefits to the locals - of the global
economy).
While I disagree with the author's complete dismissal of the SPS -
which in my opinion can form the basis of a real popular movement
in Serbia if it goes back to its grassroots - and his overly
rhetorical conclusion (which, like much Trot literature ignores major
developments in revolutionary theory, new strategies of resistance,
and the changing nature of the "working class" and the capitalist
system during the last 80 years or so) there is a sense in which much
of this article really hits on some key points in terms of the
ultimate implications that the failure of these elections may have for
the future of Serbia, Yugoslavia, and ultimately the Balkans. Fact of
the matter is that these elections are really a cause for optimism as
they indicate a real failure of neoliberal ideology and Western
supremecist thinking to gain a hegemonic foothold in the country.
The election results indicate that the electorate in Serbia - despite
an intense media campaign aimed at brainwashing the people into
sheepishness, submissiveness, and into accepting their "inferiority"
(the excesses of which I witnessed this summer) - is still
overwhelmingly committed to:
1) an anti-imperialist position (polls continue to show that the least
trusted institutions in the country are NATO, the ICTY, and the
IFIs, i.e. the WB and IMF; this is in addition to wide spread
opposition to the "War on Terror," the War on Iraq, and Bush's
generalized global tyranny),
2) committed to social justice in society and a pervasive desire to
eliminate the parisitic political elites and their mafia supporters
that dominate the country (as well as to defend the system of workers
self-management and the concepts of socially owned and state
owned capital), and
3) is intelligent and impervious to attempts to change "the deeply
held collectivist values of the people" (which was a main point of
desired change as expressed in the G-17s first program that was
drafted in the 1997-8 period).
I base these conclusions on polling data that has come out of
Politika in the past two years, but also by my own comparisons of
the glaringly obvious gap that exists between a very progressive and
no-nonsense popular discourse that pervades street-level politics as
it were, throughout Yugoslavia, and the official discourse and
rhetoric of the political class (that is completely detached from the
harsh realities of daily life in Serbia).
Since no political stream currently matches the popular consensus -
although many parties instrumentally borrow very narrowly
conceived portions of this consensus for their own purposes - there
is thus no reason for most voters in Serbia to cast their ballots and
give legitimacy to anyone who they know will ultimately forget
them once the people's mandate is given (i.e. the vote is being used
as it should be by Serbia's citizens showing a real political
maturity, i.e. it is being used as the fundamental legitimating factor
that keeps the peoples representatives in check and as a key tool of
the citizen in a democracy through which he or she can reject the
excesses elite rule (of course this moderate formulation already
departs substantially from the current neoliberal notion of proper
"governance")).
As an aside, in reference to the G-17's comments on the alleged
need to "change" the feelings of social solidarity that the Yugoslav
population has towards each other, I actually remember my
pro-American aunt, who works for Djukanovic, tell me how the
Americans were very frustrated by the fact that their propaganda
during the Cold War was always least effective in Yugoslavia, but
particularly in Serbia and Montenegro, all the way into the late
1990s. She saw the situation as lamentable. Reflecting a deeply held
belief among Balkan political elites and pro-Western intellectuals -
that is properly explained in the article below - my aunt stated that
the Serbs were too primitive to understand what is best for them!
With such racist and arrogant attitudes its no wonder the "masses"
quickly saw through the DOS.
While there is reason for optimism, I agree with the author that if a
clearly defined and credible leftist option doesn't emerge soon - i.e.
one that concentrates on fostering and harnessing the three
ideological predispositions of the "average" voter in Serbia
mentioned above - it is possible that a quasi-fascist option will
capitalize on current discontent.
While the chauvinist discourse of that option, currently represented
by Seselj, would have to be muted - as it has been in the campaign
since there is no way of mobilizing large numbers on a purely
chauvinist platform in today's Serbia (in fact its never been done
since the return to multiparty democracy to Serbia in December
1990) - it would never be far from the surface knowing the Serbian
Radical Party's past. Although the Seselj option may remove DOS
and restore an "independent" foreign policy to some degree, it will
also lead to the countries isolation, extreme tensions with minority
groupings in the Sandjak, Vojvodina and Montenegro, the possible
imposition of martial law to clean up "corruption" (something Seselj
openly advocates), the definate loss of Kosovo, etc.
The point is not that the West wouldn't engineer such things if a
leftist party came to power - one could imagine even worse - but
that with the triumph of Seselj these things will happen with
minimal Western involvement, while irreperable harm will be done
to Serbia as a democratic state of all its citizens (which was a key
legacy of the communist era) and to the social fabric of the Balkans
that can only be preserved through interethnic alliances (again
another legacy of the Yugoslav era, which Milosevic attempted to
preserve in some sense, at least rhetorically and within the bounds of
the possible at that time).
I could be wrong about Seselj, and it could be argued that he is the
lesser of two evils - i.e. between him and Kostunica - but I don't
see how the average citizen will "win" out in the end if either option
that currently prevails emerges triumphant. What is happening in
Serbia is that the people are in a state of permanent insurection -
not a day goes by without protests, strikes, blockades, etc. - and a
complete refusal to legitimize the current political class in the
country. Djindjic has cynically attempted to capitalize on the voter
boycott by perpetuating his rule and reading it, through the
customarily convoluted logic of pro-Western Serbs, as a "victory"
for the DOS (in an attempt to trap citizens in a logic in which they
are damned if they vote and damned if they don't)
The fact is that the current situation in Serbia is one of profound
"fluidity" - to borrow a State Department euphamism that is used
when the consolidation of US hegemony is still up in the air. In this
situation there needs to be a profound move towards a party - such
as the SPS can be if it chooses to move beyond a narrow focus on
the farcical process at the Hague - that will not only represent the
people's interests but also facilitate their empowerement through the
forging of participatory institutions at the state, regional and local
levels (as in today's Venezuela). Only by entrenching popular
participation in the institutions of governance, the economy, the
media, the armed-forces, etc. will the people of Serbia be able to
resist the further impositions of an ascendent, heavily militarized
form of global fascism.
Thus what is needed is not only institutions for workers
self-management of enterprises - a reality that has slowed the
neoliberal agenda incredibly throughout the Balkans - but also
meaningful self-management type institutions in the fields of
education, local governance, the media, agriculture,
macro-economic decision making, the military etc. (something that
was envisioned partially, for instance, in the SANU memorandum
of 1986). It is only by pursuing such a popular transformative
strategy that Venezuela actually became the first country where the
people succesfully reversed the results of a US-engineered coup in
Latin America, thereby suggesting a new dawn for a region plagued
for 150 yrs by North American interventionism.
Those committed to a free Serbia, a free Yugoslavia, and a free
Balkans, must take a page from the book of the Bolivarian
revolution - naturally adapted to local realities - in order to
understand how best to resist the current fascist onslaught which
seeks to divert a global popular insurection by channeling popular
forces into various chauvinisms or into "neoliberal civil society"
movements empty of any meaning and content.
For this project to work its adherents must not be afraid of drawing
on the history of national liberation projects in the region and
succesful, popular anti-imperial resistance. In fact, only by
reawakening those memories can the people be strenghtened in their
desire to see meaningful social change occur. This is not to say that
the sloganeering of that past should be resumed, or that it should be
viewed uncritically, but such an inspiring example must not be
consigned to the trash-heap simply b/c of a few flaws that where
cynically exploited by chauvinist and anti-communist politicians
throughout the former Yugoslavia.
Fact of the matter is that the chauvinist and irrationally
anti-communist and racist anti-Third World ideologies of the last
ten years have brought nothing but misery and despair to the
Balkan peoples. Control of the "masses" is the key to the continued
triumph of capitalism, and it is thus only by working persistently to
devise new methods of liberating and empowering the people and
rejecting imposed categories - such as national, ethnic, religious,
racial, etc. differences - that anti-hegemonistic movements can
hope to truly succeed in freeing themselves of this system (the recent
lessons learned, both positive and negative, from popular struggles in
Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Ecuador, Palestine, Haiti, Indonesia, East
Timor, Brazil, Argentina, Nepal, Namibia, South Africa, Chiapas,
Western Sahara, Congo etc. are more than instructive in this
regard).
This, therefore, means not only adopting a rejectionist strategy -
such as that offered by Seselj - but also seeking to forge new paths
that will restore historical and political agency to the world's
impoverished majority by creating new institutions of truly
participatory democracy which will finally give real content to the
basic and fundamental human-right of the self-determination of
peoples.
{Wow! That was much more rhetorical than what follows :-), sorry
about that little rant, happy further reading...)
http://www.marxist.com/Europe/serbian_elections_sep2002.html
"Rainy Days"
An analysis of the failure of the recent
Serbian presidential elections
By Goran M. in Belgrade
On September 29, the first round of the
Serbian Presidential elections was
held. The two candidates, Kostunica
(Democratic Party of Serbia) and
Labus (Group of Citizens), went
through to the second round. Kostunica
won 1,123,420 votes, 30.89 percent,
while Labus won 995.200 votes, 27.36
percent. The remaining votes went to
Seselj with 845,308 votes (23.24%),
Draskovic with 159.959 votes (4.4%)
and Pelevic with139.047 votes (3.82%),
Zivojinovic with 119.052 votes (3,27%)
and Nebojsa Pavkovic with 75.662
votes (2.08%), with the other
candidates all receiving less than 2%. A
total of 3,637,062 voters, or 55.5
percent of the total electorate voted in
the first round. This was already quite
a low turnout, but at least it was above
the minimum 50% required by the
electoral law for the elections to be
valid. In the second round Kostunica of
the Democratic Party received 66.9%
and Labus 30.9%. But the turnout was
so low, only 45.5% of the total
electorate, that the elections were not
valid. The elections will have to be held
again!
In this article by a Yugoslav Marxist,
we give an idea of the mood among the
masses that has led to this stalemate. It
was obvious in the first round that
there was not much enthusiasm, but in
the second round an absolute majority
of Serbian voters clearly found no
reason to support either of the two
candidates or their pro-capitalist
policies.
-------
The DOS establishment and its local
apologists have once again shown us
their capacity for hypocrisy and how
low they are prepared to go in order to
justify their own failures. As they have
done in the past, government officials
and their faithful servants (the media,
political analysts, the NGO's.), have
not refrained from making comments
which insult the very intelligence of the
average Yugoslav. This attitude is
passing into an open form of
antagonism to, and disgust with, the
masses. Thus, in trying to escape
reality, the main reason given by the
majority of the country's 'analysts' for
the failure of the elections in Serbia is
the rain and the cold weather, which
had supposedly forced people to stay at
home!
The days in which the elections were
held were indeed rainy and depressing.
But most of all, in all probability, they
were extremely depressing for the DOS
itself, a coalition which had
triumphantly come to power after the
fall of Milosevic, and which now could
not manage to inspire confidence even
in one of its two candidates [Kostunica
and Labus].
Of course, through its [the DOS']
various media campaigns we have all
received a lesson on how Yugoslavs
are, supposedly, very sensitive to the
vicissitudes of the weather and that
they are also a very 'lazy and primitive
people' who lack the 'civil
consciousness' of the 'European
nations'. 'It's not difficult to be
good-mannered' comes to mind as a
good example. (This is a TV show that
runs every evening after the news on
national television. It is only a small
part of the propaganda that the DOS is
pushing in order to win support for "the
transition". The main idea is to "teach"
the Yugoslav masses how to act like
"Europeans". Every evening they give
lessons about "good manners" and they
finish off with the line: "Let's live like
the rest of the normal world!")
But, as if this were not enough, apart
from the rain and the "primitive nature
of the people", those poor presidential
candidates had to overcome the further
obstacle of that 'non-sensical',
'socialist' electoral law which states
that more than half of the electorate
needs to participate in the elections for
these to be valid.
Suddenly, all their 'democratism',
oath-taking to parliamentarism, and
loyalty to the voice of the people have
been thrown in the rubbish bin. 'Why
should we waste money on elections
when we don't win them?' the
gentlemen from the DOS have been
asking, 'Why insist on the idea that the
majority of the people should take part
in the elections?' Would it not be better
to change the law to one's own
advantage, or, even better, remove the
cosmetics and have the president
chosen by parliament - where there is a
secured majority? Besides, it is in
parliament that the cream of society is
to be found, an elite which is able to
take the important decisions, instead of
those masses, who are not
good-mannered, who do not understand
the importance of the transition.
"A step further from the European
Union"
In one united chorus the media
immediately started to moan about the
unsuccessful elections and have been
trying to convince us that such
'irresponsibility' will cost us dearly.
'We are now a step further away from
the European Union', one of these
analysts was whining, after the final
count of the percentage of the
population that had voted in the second
round of the presidential elections was
announced.
But, after all, these very same
gentlemen analysts and NGOs have
discovered that everything is not so
grim. We have finally had a modern
electoral race with campaigns and
candidates that reflect their
counterparts in Europe. The world
press went to great lengths to
emphasise that the two leading
candidates were
'democratically-oriented', moderate
politicians, and who above all were
supporters of the so-called 'reformist
course' and the transition [i.e. of
wholesale privatisation].
Ironically, it is that very 'flicker of
light' [of Western style privatisation] -
that all-important achievement of 'the
young Yugoslav democracy', which
the bourgeois press keeps on referring
to - that explains the lack of interest on
the part of the people, and the failure of
the election.
Labus
That sparse minority that makes up the
Belgrade 'middle-class' followed with
great pride the feeble, unconvincing,
and pre-arranged television "duel"
between Kostunica and Labus,
commenting on how finally in this
country we have a 'civilised dialogue'
and political culture without too many
sharp words. But the majority of
Yugoslavs asked themselves what all
this was for? What is the difference
between Kostunica and Labus?
Yugoslavia had finally received its
version of the Democrats and
Republicans - its own brand of a coin
with two faces.
Labus, tried to capitalise on the
illusions which many Yugoslavs still
have about the West. He entered the
electoral race as the champion of
"economic reform", the "candidate of
the citizens", the independent "expert"
who would bring the country close to
shining Europe! He could only count,
however, on the votes of those
surviving middle classes and a part of
the youth - those sections that retain
the most illusions in the West. The
working class and rural Serbia were
looking to Labus but they saw through
him and they recognised the hated
image of Prime Minister Djindjic and
his companions - the local business
elite.
The working class, despite the
aggressive media campaign, still
rejects everything that is associated
with Djindjic. They feel the open
anti-working class tone of his rhetoric,
and they are overcome by rage at the
very sight of him. Although it is victim
to various fantasies and propaganda,
the working class in Yugoslavia,
although still in a rather confused way,
is beginning to understand the true
meaning of the transition.
They have seen how the finance
minister Djelic dealt with the bank
workers and everyday they hear of the
threats to sell off (state) firms, together
with the lay-offs all this involves, and
on top of this they are forced to listen to
all the other mockery of Djindjic's
ministers.
There was a well-known pre-election
anecdote of a meeting between Labus
and a peasant, which was an apt
indicator of this mood. The peasant
asks Labus for advice about his cows.
The farmer asks Labus: " I own two
cows. One of them gives 15 litres of
milk and the other only 5. You are an
educated man, you tell me, which one
should I sell?" Labus answers: "Well,
sell the one that gives less milk, of
course!" Then the peasant answers
back, "If that is the case, why do you
sell the best state companies first?"
Labus appeared to the workers, and
justifiably so, to be a pawn of Djindjic
and who knows who else.
Labus's electoral team tried to
understand what made Kostunica so
popular for the wider population - and
they surprisingly stumbled upon an
'ingenious' conclusion - nationalism!
Labus's campaign billboards were thus
adorned in national colours, and carried
slogans, which Seselj (the far right
politician) himself could have adopted
without any fear for his own reputation.
Labus, in the middle of his campaign,
suddenly decided to visit a monastery,
and started using the Cyrillic alphabet
to sign his name, and even the fact that
his grandfather was an orthodox priest
"accidentally" found its way into the
press.
Instead of pushing the programme of
the extreme "neo-liberal" wing of the
DOS coalition and leading an openly
anti-nationalist campaign, Labus tried
to dress up in the clothes of
nationalism, but without any luck. The
hardened nationalists would never vote
for him. And in the eyes of the majority
of the population, who have had
enough of nationalism in the last
decade, he did not appear as radically
different from the others and thus they
remained apathetic.
It is also worth mentioning the dirty
campaign which his team conducted.
At times this was completely based on
cheap insults against and mockery of
Kostunica as a person. In this way they
destroyed the media image of Labus as
a 'sympathetic moderate intellectual'.
Thus it was revealed that Labus was in
no way an alternative to Kostunica. He
was quite clearly ready to dress up in
the clothes of Serbian nationalism, use
cheap insults and promise anything, in
order to grab power and to implement
his (or, to put it more precisely), the
IMF's economic programme.
Kostunica
Kostunica, by contrast, was absolutely
convinced that victory was his. So sure
was he that he did not even make the
effort to think up a programme which
he would, allegedly, implement.
Relying on his trademark position -
national pride and the already overdone
story of a constitution, law and
institutions of state - only towards the
end did he add a few vague points such
as battling crime. Furthermore,
Kostunica finally became aware of his
potentially most useful joker in the
pack - the image of the man who
would fight for the ordinary person in
the street and halt 'unjust privatisation'.
During his campaign, he only
occasionally used this argument. But
when did decide upon this risky feat it
turned out to be the one that paid most
dividends.
The DSS (Kostunica's party) and the
other 'god-fearing patriots' still think
they have enough room to present
themselves as the lawful politicians
who have not dirtied their hands. These
"proud Serbs" hope that, when the ship
starts sinking, they will be able to tell
the people: 'It was not our fault! It was
Djindjic and the mafia, which stands
behind him. It is because of them that
the transition has not succeeded!' Thus,
the problem is not privatisation in itself
- but the corrupt people who are
implementing it.
Had he had more courage and built his
whole campaign on this sort of
anti-privatisation demagogy, not only
would the elections have been
successful, but Kostunica would have
also won back the renown and
eminence he had gained in the
aftermath of October 5. Kostunica is
hesitant about using anti-privatisation
rhetoric because this would put into
doubt the support of the Western
bourgeois press, who might start
questioning his 'democratic'
credentials and his support for the
transition.
Kostunica is a typical conservative,
bourgeois politician, far from a fascist
and not in the least inclined to
Bonapartism, as the domestic 'left' is
labeling him. The West has Kostunica,
as well as all the other politicians, in
their pocket. Kostunica does not have
the strength of character to break away
and to execute his own plans as
Milosevic had once done, even though
objectively he could do so. He is
unconvincing and mild, and confused
by his own petty-bourgeois illusions.
When push comes to shove he is forced
to back Djindjic's shock therapy
economists and to admit that he
supports the reforms from the depths of
his soul, reforms that are 'of
fundamental importance to our
country'. Thus he is doomed to failure.
Kostunica, who is reluctant to fence
himself off completely form the sinking
ship, has succeeded in losing the
elections for which he had been already
declared the winner.
The Success of the Far Right
Apart from the scarce interest shown
by the electorate in the elections, the
main surprise, for many was the high
percentage won by the leader of the far
right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) -
Vojislav Seselj. Despite the fact that his
campaign was very modest indeed (in
comparison with the two candidates of
the DOS), Seselj succeeded in winning
23% of the votes. Together with
Kostunica's votes, it appears therefore
that a majority of those who did vote
chose the Right wing.
The Serbian Radical Party is one of the
few 'real parties' on our political scene.
'Real' in the sense that it: cultivates its
own cadres and a nucleus of activists,
has a developed infrastructure across
the whole country, has real
representation among the workers, and
fosters a real inner-party culture.
Unlike the majority of small parties in
the DOS which generally survive on
the donations of wealthy backers and
which are made up of a narrow circle
of political careerists and business
interest groups, the Radicals have
stable foundations and even on bad
days (from their point of view, after the
October 5) they have succeeded in not
slipping below three or four percent.
Such a structure and organisation
allows them to grow easily when the
right conditions exist. Thus, Seselj's
result is in no way a surprise and is not
even the high-point of the Radicals'
potential.
We pointed out long ago that the Right
could easily make a huge comeback
once the privatisation programme that
the DOS is pursuing is discredited
among the masses. At such a point the
West would feel no revulsion at
supporting an ultra-rightist force which
could divert the anger of the working
class and would continue the
restoration of capitalism, but this time
wrapped in the Serbian tricolour flag. If
no clear leftist alternative (a workers'
party) exists when such a scenario
develops then the workers will once
again be trapped in the snare of
nationalist demagogy.
This moment, however, has not yet
arrived. It is a fact that among the
Serbian working class the virus of
nationalism is still very much alive.
These recent election results are a
confirmation of this. But, stories of a
so-called 'Serbian national being' and
the incurable disease of nationalism,
which will never let go, is an idiocy.
The overall tendency within Serbian
society these days is one of fading
national sentiments. That tendency
would be even clearer if the 'bourgeois
option' did not hold back from a
stand-off with nationalism because of
its own opportunistic calculations.
Besides those 'incurable' elements -
the ultra-nationalist wing - the
majority of Seselj's votes come from
normal people from the lower classes
who are disillusioned with the politics
of the DOS, and who have before them
no alternative. The Socialist Party is so
corrupted and obsessed with hiding its
own crimes, that they are neither
capable nor desirous of organizing
themselves into a decent opposition
party. Some kind of left reformist party
is not even in the initial stages of being
formed. Seselj is thus able to present
himself as the only alternative to the
establishment and many vote for him
not because he struggles for 'Serbian
lands', but because he 'criticises'
Djindjic and co. Seselj has, unlike
Kostunica, profited greatly from his
criticisms of privatisation and the sale
of state firms. Of course, Seselj does
not criticize privatisation as such but
'the choice of buyers' and the price at
which they are sold.
The working class, for lack of a better
alternative, sees in Kostunica and
Seselj characters with integrity, leaders
who have an ear for 'the man in the
street'. The workers hope that these
individuals can at least offer some
salvation from the apocalypse that is
coming and from its most obvious
prophets, the gang of slick talking
yuppies gathered around Djindjic and
the Democratic Party. In this way,
many attempt to opt for the lesser of
two evils. That is the explanation for
the high percentage of votes that the
Right has got, from those people who
bothered to vote at all.
A Civil Society?
Still, the majority of the people have
clearly refused to choose between the
lesser of two evils! This is a huge
encouragement to the Marxists of
Yugoslavia. The boycott on the part of
the majority of the population proves
that the pro-European analysts, in a
certain way were right, and that the
laments of the NGOs are justified:
Yugoslavs clearly do not have that
'civil consciousness of the Western
nations'! But that is nothing new. The
working class of the Balkans as long as
six decades ago overcame and buried,
apparently forever, the narrow canons
of bourgeois democracy. Milosevic's
was not overthrown at the ballot box
either. We also reject this barren lie of
bourgeois democracy called 'elections'.
The only thing that the Yugoslav
working class is allowed to do under
such a regime is to choose the wing of
the ruling oligarchy which will oppress
them over the next four years! The
bourgeois parliamentary system,
whichever party has a majority in it,
poses no solution. The Yugoslav
working class must organise its own
party which will struggle for its own
rights and build its own institutions
which will place real control of society
into the hands of the masses.
Unlike the petty-bourgeois liberals
who are embarrassed and shedding
tears over the unsuccessful elections,
we Marxists are elated and proud at
level of political maturity shown by the
people. Yugoslav workers have in no
way 'distanced' themselves from the
EU. On the contrary, they have come a
step closer to their sisters and brothers
in the rest of Europe who also for years
have not been giving much credence to
the charades called elections in their
own countries.
Having said this however, even though
it may seem effective at first sight, a
boycott of the elections is not a solution
to the problem. As we can see, the
ruling oligarchy always finds a way of
legitimising its own rule. The
government is preparing a change in
the electoral law, which will give it the
chance to continue smoothly in power.
What we desperately need is a mass,
independent workers' party with a
revolutionary perspective which will
present the interests of those who did
not go out to vote. Only in this way can
the workers take on the ruling
oligarchies. Only in that way can a new
birth of nationalism be stopped. Only in
that way can the sale of state property
be halted and the living standards of the
working class be defended. The clear
dissatisfaction with the political
establishment must be channelled in the
direction of creating a proper
alternative. Passive resistance is not the
answer.
"Civil Society" is a fairytale of the
Belgrade liberals. Bearing in mind the
world crisis of capitalism and the
economic standing of our country, we
can say that Yugoslavia in the future
can expect anything but stable
parliamentarism. The only thing that is
guaranteed under the present set-up is
a series of unashamed attacks on
everyone's rights. It is an urgent task to
build an organisation through which we
shall lead a battle to defend the interests
of the working class!
October 2002
From: Petokraka78
To: antinato@...
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 5:01 PM
Subject: Observations on Serbia's Elections
below is an article from a "Marxist" website that offers a pretty
good analysis of the prevailing political mood and atmosphere in
Serbia. The article is especially relevant with respect to the
failures of the main political currents to garner votes among an
electorate that is sick of empty promises, "austerity" measures,
national chauvinism, corruption, and national debasement and that
wants to remain focused on the pressing social questions that plague
the country (including the desire to preserve their independence in
the face of Serbia's conversion into an branch-plant and
infrastructural hub - with no benefits to the locals - of the global
economy).
While I disagree with the author's complete dismissal of the SPS -
which in my opinion can form the basis of a real popular movement
in Serbia if it goes back to its grassroots - and his overly
rhetorical conclusion (which, like much Trot literature ignores major
developments in revolutionary theory, new strategies of resistance,
and the changing nature of the "working class" and the capitalist
system during the last 80 years or so) there is a sense in which much
of this article really hits on some key points in terms of the
ultimate implications that the failure of these elections may have for
the future of Serbia, Yugoslavia, and ultimately the Balkans. Fact of
the matter is that these elections are really a cause for optimism as
they indicate a real failure of neoliberal ideology and Western
supremecist thinking to gain a hegemonic foothold in the country.
The election results indicate that the electorate in Serbia - despite
an intense media campaign aimed at brainwashing the people into
sheepishness, submissiveness, and into accepting their "inferiority"
(the excesses of which I witnessed this summer) - is still
overwhelmingly committed to:
1) an anti-imperialist position (polls continue to show that the least
trusted institutions in the country are NATO, the ICTY, and the
IFIs, i.e. the WB and IMF; this is in addition to wide spread
opposition to the "War on Terror," the War on Iraq, and Bush's
generalized global tyranny),
2) committed to social justice in society and a pervasive desire to
eliminate the parisitic political elites and their mafia supporters
that dominate the country (as well as to defend the system of workers
self-management and the concepts of socially owned and state
owned capital), and
3) is intelligent and impervious to attempts to change "the deeply
held collectivist values of the people" (which was a main point of
desired change as expressed in the G-17s first program that was
drafted in the 1997-8 period).
I base these conclusions on polling data that has come out of
Politika in the past two years, but also by my own comparisons of
the glaringly obvious gap that exists between a very progressive and
no-nonsense popular discourse that pervades street-level politics as
it were, throughout Yugoslavia, and the official discourse and
rhetoric of the political class (that is completely detached from the
harsh realities of daily life in Serbia).
Since no political stream currently matches the popular consensus -
although many parties instrumentally borrow very narrowly
conceived portions of this consensus for their own purposes - there
is thus no reason for most voters in Serbia to cast their ballots and
give legitimacy to anyone who they know will ultimately forget
them once the people's mandate is given (i.e. the vote is being used
as it should be by Serbia's citizens showing a real political
maturity, i.e. it is being used as the fundamental legitimating factor
that keeps the peoples representatives in check and as a key tool of
the citizen in a democracy through which he or she can reject the
excesses elite rule (of course this moderate formulation already
departs substantially from the current neoliberal notion of proper
"governance")).
As an aside, in reference to the G-17's comments on the alleged
need to "change" the feelings of social solidarity that the Yugoslav
population has towards each other, I actually remember my
pro-American aunt, who works for Djukanovic, tell me how the
Americans were very frustrated by the fact that their propaganda
during the Cold War was always least effective in Yugoslavia, but
particularly in Serbia and Montenegro, all the way into the late
1990s. She saw the situation as lamentable. Reflecting a deeply held
belief among Balkan political elites and pro-Western intellectuals -
that is properly explained in the article below - my aunt stated that
the Serbs were too primitive to understand what is best for them!
With such racist and arrogant attitudes its no wonder the "masses"
quickly saw through the DOS.
While there is reason for optimism, I agree with the author that if a
clearly defined and credible leftist option doesn't emerge soon - i.e.
one that concentrates on fostering and harnessing the three
ideological predispositions of the "average" voter in Serbia
mentioned above - it is possible that a quasi-fascist option will
capitalize on current discontent.
While the chauvinist discourse of that option, currently represented
by Seselj, would have to be muted - as it has been in the campaign
since there is no way of mobilizing large numbers on a purely
chauvinist platform in today's Serbia (in fact its never been done
since the return to multiparty democracy to Serbia in December
1990) - it would never be far from the surface knowing the Serbian
Radical Party's past. Although the Seselj option may remove DOS
and restore an "independent" foreign policy to some degree, it will
also lead to the countries isolation, extreme tensions with minority
groupings in the Sandjak, Vojvodina and Montenegro, the possible
imposition of martial law to clean up "corruption" (something Seselj
openly advocates), the definate loss of Kosovo, etc.
The point is not that the West wouldn't engineer such things if a
leftist party came to power - one could imagine even worse - but
that with the triumph of Seselj these things will happen with
minimal Western involvement, while irreperable harm will be done
to Serbia as a democratic state of all its citizens (which was a key
legacy of the communist era) and to the social fabric of the Balkans
that can only be preserved through interethnic alliances (again
another legacy of the Yugoslav era, which Milosevic attempted to
preserve in some sense, at least rhetorically and within the bounds of
the possible at that time).
I could be wrong about Seselj, and it could be argued that he is the
lesser of two evils - i.e. between him and Kostunica - but I don't
see how the average citizen will "win" out in the end if either option
that currently prevails emerges triumphant. What is happening in
Serbia is that the people are in a state of permanent insurection -
not a day goes by without protests, strikes, blockades, etc. - and a
complete refusal to legitimize the current political class in the
country. Djindjic has cynically attempted to capitalize on the voter
boycott by perpetuating his rule and reading it, through the
customarily convoluted logic of pro-Western Serbs, as a "victory"
for the DOS (in an attempt to trap citizens in a logic in which they
are damned if they vote and damned if they don't)
The fact is that the current situation in Serbia is one of profound
"fluidity" - to borrow a State Department euphamism that is used
when the consolidation of US hegemony is still up in the air. In this
situation there needs to be a profound move towards a party - such
as the SPS can be if it chooses to move beyond a narrow focus on
the farcical process at the Hague - that will not only represent the
people's interests but also facilitate their empowerement through the
forging of participatory institutions at the state, regional and local
levels (as in today's Venezuela). Only by entrenching popular
participation in the institutions of governance, the economy, the
media, the armed-forces, etc. will the people of Serbia be able to
resist the further impositions of an ascendent, heavily militarized
form of global fascism.
Thus what is needed is not only institutions for workers
self-management of enterprises - a reality that has slowed the
neoliberal agenda incredibly throughout the Balkans - but also
meaningful self-management type institutions in the fields of
education, local governance, the media, agriculture,
macro-economic decision making, the military etc. (something that
was envisioned partially, for instance, in the SANU memorandum
of 1986). It is only by pursuing such a popular transformative
strategy that Venezuela actually became the first country where the
people succesfully reversed the results of a US-engineered coup in
Latin America, thereby suggesting a new dawn for a region plagued
for 150 yrs by North American interventionism.
Those committed to a free Serbia, a free Yugoslavia, and a free
Balkans, must take a page from the book of the Bolivarian
revolution - naturally adapted to local realities - in order to
understand how best to resist the current fascist onslaught which
seeks to divert a global popular insurection by channeling popular
forces into various chauvinisms or into "neoliberal civil society"
movements empty of any meaning and content.
For this project to work its adherents must not be afraid of drawing
on the history of national liberation projects in the region and
succesful, popular anti-imperial resistance. In fact, only by
reawakening those memories can the people be strenghtened in their
desire to see meaningful social change occur. This is not to say that
the sloganeering of that past should be resumed, or that it should be
viewed uncritically, but such an inspiring example must not be
consigned to the trash-heap simply b/c of a few flaws that where
cynically exploited by chauvinist and anti-communist politicians
throughout the former Yugoslavia.
Fact of the matter is that the chauvinist and irrationally
anti-communist and racist anti-Third World ideologies of the last
ten years have brought nothing but misery and despair to the
Balkan peoples. Control of the "masses" is the key to the continued
triumph of capitalism, and it is thus only by working persistently to
devise new methods of liberating and empowering the people and
rejecting imposed categories - such as national, ethnic, religious,
racial, etc. differences - that anti-hegemonistic movements can
hope to truly succeed in freeing themselves of this system (the recent
lessons learned, both positive and negative, from popular struggles in
Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Ecuador, Palestine, Haiti, Indonesia, East
Timor, Brazil, Argentina, Nepal, Namibia, South Africa, Chiapas,
Western Sahara, Congo etc. are more than instructive in this
regard).
This, therefore, means not only adopting a rejectionist strategy -
such as that offered by Seselj - but also seeking to forge new paths
that will restore historical and political agency to the world's
impoverished majority by creating new institutions of truly
participatory democracy which will finally give real content to the
basic and fundamental human-right of the self-determination of
peoples.
{Wow! That was much more rhetorical than what follows :-), sorry
about that little rant, happy further reading...)
http://www.marxist.com/Europe/serbian_elections_sep2002.html
"Rainy Days"
An analysis of the failure of the recent
Serbian presidential elections
By Goran M. in Belgrade
On September 29, the first round of the
Serbian Presidential elections was
held. The two candidates, Kostunica
(Democratic Party of Serbia) and
Labus (Group of Citizens), went
through to the second round. Kostunica
won 1,123,420 votes, 30.89 percent,
while Labus won 995.200 votes, 27.36
percent. The remaining votes went to
Seselj with 845,308 votes (23.24%),
Draskovic with 159.959 votes (4.4%)
and Pelevic with139.047 votes (3.82%),
Zivojinovic with 119.052 votes (3,27%)
and Nebojsa Pavkovic with 75.662
votes (2.08%), with the other
candidates all receiving less than 2%. A
total of 3,637,062 voters, or 55.5
percent of the total electorate voted in
the first round. This was already quite
a low turnout, but at least it was above
the minimum 50% required by the
electoral law for the elections to be
valid. In the second round Kostunica of
the Democratic Party received 66.9%
and Labus 30.9%. But the turnout was
so low, only 45.5% of the total
electorate, that the elections were not
valid. The elections will have to be held
again!
In this article by a Yugoslav Marxist,
we give an idea of the mood among the
masses that has led to this stalemate. It
was obvious in the first round that
there was not much enthusiasm, but in
the second round an absolute majority
of Serbian voters clearly found no
reason to support either of the two
candidates or their pro-capitalist
policies.
-------
The DOS establishment and its local
apologists have once again shown us
their capacity for hypocrisy and how
low they are prepared to go in order to
justify their own failures. As they have
done in the past, government officials
and their faithful servants (the media,
political analysts, the NGO's.), have
not refrained from making comments
which insult the very intelligence of the
average Yugoslav. This attitude is
passing into an open form of
antagonism to, and disgust with, the
masses. Thus, in trying to escape
reality, the main reason given by the
majority of the country's 'analysts' for
the failure of the elections in Serbia is
the rain and the cold weather, which
had supposedly forced people to stay at
home!
The days in which the elections were
held were indeed rainy and depressing.
But most of all, in all probability, they
were extremely depressing for the DOS
itself, a coalition which had
triumphantly come to power after the
fall of Milosevic, and which now could
not manage to inspire confidence even
in one of its two candidates [Kostunica
and Labus].
Of course, through its [the DOS']
various media campaigns we have all
received a lesson on how Yugoslavs
are, supposedly, very sensitive to the
vicissitudes of the weather and that
they are also a very 'lazy and primitive
people' who lack the 'civil
consciousness' of the 'European
nations'. 'It's not difficult to be
good-mannered' comes to mind as a
good example. (This is a TV show that
runs every evening after the news on
national television. It is only a small
part of the propaganda that the DOS is
pushing in order to win support for "the
transition". The main idea is to "teach"
the Yugoslav masses how to act like
"Europeans". Every evening they give
lessons about "good manners" and they
finish off with the line: "Let's live like
the rest of the normal world!")
But, as if this were not enough, apart
from the rain and the "primitive nature
of the people", those poor presidential
candidates had to overcome the further
obstacle of that 'non-sensical',
'socialist' electoral law which states
that more than half of the electorate
needs to participate in the elections for
these to be valid.
Suddenly, all their 'democratism',
oath-taking to parliamentarism, and
loyalty to the voice of the people have
been thrown in the rubbish bin. 'Why
should we waste money on elections
when we don't win them?' the
gentlemen from the DOS have been
asking, 'Why insist on the idea that the
majority of the people should take part
in the elections?' Would it not be better
to change the law to one's own
advantage, or, even better, remove the
cosmetics and have the president
chosen by parliament - where there is a
secured majority? Besides, it is in
parliament that the cream of society is
to be found, an elite which is able to
take the important decisions, instead of
those masses, who are not
good-mannered, who do not understand
the importance of the transition.
"A step further from the European
Union"
In one united chorus the media
immediately started to moan about the
unsuccessful elections and have been
trying to convince us that such
'irresponsibility' will cost us dearly.
'We are now a step further away from
the European Union', one of these
analysts was whining, after the final
count of the percentage of the
population that had voted in the second
round of the presidential elections was
announced.
But, after all, these very same
gentlemen analysts and NGOs have
discovered that everything is not so
grim. We have finally had a modern
electoral race with campaigns and
candidates that reflect their
counterparts in Europe. The world
press went to great lengths to
emphasise that the two leading
candidates were
'democratically-oriented', moderate
politicians, and who above all were
supporters of the so-called 'reformist
course' and the transition [i.e. of
wholesale privatisation].
Ironically, it is that very 'flicker of
light' [of Western style privatisation] -
that all-important achievement of 'the
young Yugoslav democracy', which
the bourgeois press keeps on referring
to - that explains the lack of interest on
the part of the people, and the failure of
the election.
Labus
That sparse minority that makes up the
Belgrade 'middle-class' followed with
great pride the feeble, unconvincing,
and pre-arranged television "duel"
between Kostunica and Labus,
commenting on how finally in this
country we have a 'civilised dialogue'
and political culture without too many
sharp words. But the majority of
Yugoslavs asked themselves what all
this was for? What is the difference
between Kostunica and Labus?
Yugoslavia had finally received its
version of the Democrats and
Republicans - its own brand of a coin
with two faces.
Labus, tried to capitalise on the
illusions which many Yugoslavs still
have about the West. He entered the
electoral race as the champion of
"economic reform", the "candidate of
the citizens", the independent "expert"
who would bring the country close to
shining Europe! He could only count,
however, on the votes of those
surviving middle classes and a part of
the youth - those sections that retain
the most illusions in the West. The
working class and rural Serbia were
looking to Labus but they saw through
him and they recognised the hated
image of Prime Minister Djindjic and
his companions - the local business
elite.
The working class, despite the
aggressive media campaign, still
rejects everything that is associated
with Djindjic. They feel the open
anti-working class tone of his rhetoric,
and they are overcome by rage at the
very sight of him. Although it is victim
to various fantasies and propaganda,
the working class in Yugoslavia,
although still in a rather confused way,
is beginning to understand the true
meaning of the transition.
They have seen how the finance
minister Djelic dealt with the bank
workers and everyday they hear of the
threats to sell off (state) firms, together
with the lay-offs all this involves, and
on top of this they are forced to listen to
all the other mockery of Djindjic's
ministers.
There was a well-known pre-election
anecdote of a meeting between Labus
and a peasant, which was an apt
indicator of this mood. The peasant
asks Labus for advice about his cows.
The farmer asks Labus: " I own two
cows. One of them gives 15 litres of
milk and the other only 5. You are an
educated man, you tell me, which one
should I sell?" Labus answers: "Well,
sell the one that gives less milk, of
course!" Then the peasant answers
back, "If that is the case, why do you
sell the best state companies first?"
Labus appeared to the workers, and
justifiably so, to be a pawn of Djindjic
and who knows who else.
Labus's electoral team tried to
understand what made Kostunica so
popular for the wider population - and
they surprisingly stumbled upon an
'ingenious' conclusion - nationalism!
Labus's campaign billboards were thus
adorned in national colours, and carried
slogans, which Seselj (the far right
politician) himself could have adopted
without any fear for his own reputation.
Labus, in the middle of his campaign,
suddenly decided to visit a monastery,
and started using the Cyrillic alphabet
to sign his name, and even the fact that
his grandfather was an orthodox priest
"accidentally" found its way into the
press.
Instead of pushing the programme of
the extreme "neo-liberal" wing of the
DOS coalition and leading an openly
anti-nationalist campaign, Labus tried
to dress up in the clothes of
nationalism, but without any luck. The
hardened nationalists would never vote
for him. And in the eyes of the majority
of the population, who have had
enough of nationalism in the last
decade, he did not appear as radically
different from the others and thus they
remained apathetic.
It is also worth mentioning the dirty
campaign which his team conducted.
At times this was completely based on
cheap insults against and mockery of
Kostunica as a person. In this way they
destroyed the media image of Labus as
a 'sympathetic moderate intellectual'.
Thus it was revealed that Labus was in
no way an alternative to Kostunica. He
was quite clearly ready to dress up in
the clothes of Serbian nationalism, use
cheap insults and promise anything, in
order to grab power and to implement
his (or, to put it more precisely), the
IMF's economic programme.
Kostunica
Kostunica, by contrast, was absolutely
convinced that victory was his. So sure
was he that he did not even make the
effort to think up a programme which
he would, allegedly, implement.
Relying on his trademark position -
national pride and the already overdone
story of a constitution, law and
institutions of state - only towards the
end did he add a few vague points such
as battling crime. Furthermore,
Kostunica finally became aware of his
potentially most useful joker in the
pack - the image of the man who
would fight for the ordinary person in
the street and halt 'unjust privatisation'.
During his campaign, he only
occasionally used this argument. But
when did decide upon this risky feat it
turned out to be the one that paid most
dividends.
The DSS (Kostunica's party) and the
other 'god-fearing patriots' still think
they have enough room to present
themselves as the lawful politicians
who have not dirtied their hands. These
"proud Serbs" hope that, when the ship
starts sinking, they will be able to tell
the people: 'It was not our fault! It was
Djindjic and the mafia, which stands
behind him. It is because of them that
the transition has not succeeded!' Thus,
the problem is not privatisation in itself
- but the corrupt people who are
implementing it.
Had he had more courage and built his
whole campaign on this sort of
anti-privatisation demagogy, not only
would the elections have been
successful, but Kostunica would have
also won back the renown and
eminence he had gained in the
aftermath of October 5. Kostunica is
hesitant about using anti-privatisation
rhetoric because this would put into
doubt the support of the Western
bourgeois press, who might start
questioning his 'democratic'
credentials and his support for the
transition.
Kostunica is a typical conservative,
bourgeois politician, far from a fascist
and not in the least inclined to
Bonapartism, as the domestic 'left' is
labeling him. The West has Kostunica,
as well as all the other politicians, in
their pocket. Kostunica does not have
the strength of character to break away
and to execute his own plans as
Milosevic had once done, even though
objectively he could do so. He is
unconvincing and mild, and confused
by his own petty-bourgeois illusions.
When push comes to shove he is forced
to back Djindjic's shock therapy
economists and to admit that he
supports the reforms from the depths of
his soul, reforms that are 'of
fundamental importance to our
country'. Thus he is doomed to failure.
Kostunica, who is reluctant to fence
himself off completely form the sinking
ship, has succeeded in losing the
elections for which he had been already
declared the winner.
The Success of the Far Right
Apart from the scarce interest shown
by the electorate in the elections, the
main surprise, for many was the high
percentage won by the leader of the far
right Serbian Radical Party (SRS) -
Vojislav Seselj. Despite the fact that his
campaign was very modest indeed (in
comparison with the two candidates of
the DOS), Seselj succeeded in winning
23% of the votes. Together with
Kostunica's votes, it appears therefore
that a majority of those who did vote
chose the Right wing.
The Serbian Radical Party is one of the
few 'real parties' on our political scene.
'Real' in the sense that it: cultivates its
own cadres and a nucleus of activists,
has a developed infrastructure across
the whole country, has real
representation among the workers, and
fosters a real inner-party culture.
Unlike the majority of small parties in
the DOS which generally survive on
the donations of wealthy backers and
which are made up of a narrow circle
of political careerists and business
interest groups, the Radicals have
stable foundations and even on bad
days (from their point of view, after the
October 5) they have succeeded in not
slipping below three or four percent.
Such a structure and organisation
allows them to grow easily when the
right conditions exist. Thus, Seselj's
result is in no way a surprise and is not
even the high-point of the Radicals'
potential.
We pointed out long ago that the Right
could easily make a huge comeback
once the privatisation programme that
the DOS is pursuing is discredited
among the masses. At such a point the
West would feel no revulsion at
supporting an ultra-rightist force which
could divert the anger of the working
class and would continue the
restoration of capitalism, but this time
wrapped in the Serbian tricolour flag. If
no clear leftist alternative (a workers'
party) exists when such a scenario
develops then the workers will once
again be trapped in the snare of
nationalist demagogy.
This moment, however, has not yet
arrived. It is a fact that among the
Serbian working class the virus of
nationalism is still very much alive.
These recent election results are a
confirmation of this. But, stories of a
so-called 'Serbian national being' and
the incurable disease of nationalism,
which will never let go, is an idiocy.
The overall tendency within Serbian
society these days is one of fading
national sentiments. That tendency
would be even clearer if the 'bourgeois
option' did not hold back from a
stand-off with nationalism because of
its own opportunistic calculations.
Besides those 'incurable' elements -
the ultra-nationalist wing - the
majority of Seselj's votes come from
normal people from the lower classes
who are disillusioned with the politics
of the DOS, and who have before them
no alternative. The Socialist Party is so
corrupted and obsessed with hiding its
own crimes, that they are neither
capable nor desirous of organizing
themselves into a decent opposition
party. Some kind of left reformist party
is not even in the initial stages of being
formed. Seselj is thus able to present
himself as the only alternative to the
establishment and many vote for him
not because he struggles for 'Serbian
lands', but because he 'criticises'
Djindjic and co. Seselj has, unlike
Kostunica, profited greatly from his
criticisms of privatisation and the sale
of state firms. Of course, Seselj does
not criticize privatisation as such but
'the choice of buyers' and the price at
which they are sold.
The working class, for lack of a better
alternative, sees in Kostunica and
Seselj characters with integrity, leaders
who have an ear for 'the man in the
street'. The workers hope that these
individuals can at least offer some
salvation from the apocalypse that is
coming and from its most obvious
prophets, the gang of slick talking
yuppies gathered around Djindjic and
the Democratic Party. In this way,
many attempt to opt for the lesser of
two evils. That is the explanation for
the high percentage of votes that the
Right has got, from those people who
bothered to vote at all.
A Civil Society?
Still, the majority of the people have
clearly refused to choose between the
lesser of two evils! This is a huge
encouragement to the Marxists of
Yugoslavia. The boycott on the part of
the majority of the population proves
that the pro-European analysts, in a
certain way were right, and that the
laments of the NGOs are justified:
Yugoslavs clearly do not have that
'civil consciousness of the Western
nations'! But that is nothing new. The
working class of the Balkans as long as
six decades ago overcame and buried,
apparently forever, the narrow canons
of bourgeois democracy. Milosevic's
was not overthrown at the ballot box
either. We also reject this barren lie of
bourgeois democracy called 'elections'.
The only thing that the Yugoslav
working class is allowed to do under
such a regime is to choose the wing of
the ruling oligarchy which will oppress
them over the next four years! The
bourgeois parliamentary system,
whichever party has a majority in it,
poses no solution. The Yugoslav
working class must organise its own
party which will struggle for its own
rights and build its own institutions
which will place real control of society
into the hands of the masses.
Unlike the petty-bourgeois liberals
who are embarrassed and shedding
tears over the unsuccessful elections,
we Marxists are elated and proud at
level of political maturity shown by the
people. Yugoslav workers have in no
way 'distanced' themselves from the
EU. On the contrary, they have come a
step closer to their sisters and brothers
in the rest of Europe who also for years
have not been giving much credence to
the charades called elections in their
own countries.
Having said this however, even though
it may seem effective at first sight, a
boycott of the elections is not a solution
to the problem. As we can see, the
ruling oligarchy always finds a way of
legitimising its own rule. The
government is preparing a change in
the electoral law, which will give it the
chance to continue smoothly in power.
What we desperately need is a mass,
independent workers' party with a
revolutionary perspective which will
present the interests of those who did
not go out to vote. Only in this way can
the workers take on the ruling
oligarchies. Only in that way can a new
birth of nationalism be stopped. Only in
that way can the sale of state property
be halted and the living standards of the
working class be defended. The clear
dissatisfaction with the political
establishment must be channelled in the
direction of creating a proper
alternative. Passive resistance is not the
answer.
"Civil Society" is a fairytale of the
Belgrade liberals. Bearing in mind the
world crisis of capitalism and the
economic standing of our country, we
can say that Yugoslavia in the future
can expect anything but stable
parliamentarism. The only thing that is
guaranteed under the present set-up is
a series of unashamed attacks on
everyone's rights. It is an urgent task to
build an organisation through which we
shall lead a battle to defend the interests
of the working class!
October 2002
1. Links
2. Analysis Of Macedonian NGO Web Sites
3. Albanian Parties of FYROM Support Kosovo "Independence"
4. Attacks on Police Checkpoints in Kumanovo Leave Policeman Wounded
5. Ahmeti allowed to travel to Switzerland
6. ITALIA-MACEDONIA: BERLUSCONI INCONTRA TRUPPE DI OCCUPAZIONE
7. OLTRE 400 MINATORI IN SCIOPERO DELLA FAME
8. Islamisti UCK colpiscono anche all'estero: Attentato a consolato
Macedonia in Pakistan causa tre vittime
=== 1 ===
LINKS
> http://www.antiwar.com/orig/deliso59.html
Greater Albania: a Place, or Just a State of Mind?
ANTIWAR, Monday, November 4, 2002
by Christopher Deliso in Skopje
> http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=2397
Taliban-Like Edict Disseminated in Tetovo High School
Unknown persons spread radical islamist propaganda among Tetovo
Albanians. Unofficially, some parents required one of the classrooms
to be used as praying space.
> http://www.serbianna.com/columns/deliso/010.shtml
The Vlach Attack II: Changes in Macedonia's Interior Ministry (by
Christopher Deliso)
=== 2 ===
Analysis Of Macedonian NGO Web Sites
Breakdown of the data on .ORG.MK domains: numbers, languages, update
rhytim.
English version:
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=2399
Macedonian version:
http://www.agora.org.mk/napis.asp?lang=mac&rubrika=2&id=100#
=== 3 ===
Albanian Parties of FYROM Support Kosovo "Independence"
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=34047&LangID=1
Seeurope
Saturday, November 9, 2002
MACEDONIA: Albanian Parties Support Kosovo Assembly's
Resolution
The Democratic Party of Albanians in Macedonia (DPA)
and the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) [Ali
Ahmeti's Western-refashioned UCK terrorism grouping,
formerly based in NATO-occupied Kosovo] strongly
support the resolution of the Kosovo Assembly, Fakti
daily said, quoting statements by DPA's General
secretary Ruzdi Matoshi and DUI's Representative in
parliament Hisni Shakiri.
Matoshi underlined that Kosovo Assembly's resolution
'reflects the red line of political constructivity of
Albanians. Matoshi recommend that the international
community should take into consideration the
Albanians' constructivity.
DPA's General Secretary pledges full support to the
statement by Kosovo's Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi,
who said Kosovo will declare independence if Kosovo is
put in the preamble of the Constitutional Charter,
reported Makfax agency.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=23232
Skopje 11/8/02
Macedonia: Albanian parties in Macedonia support
Kosovo Assembly's resolution
The Kosovo Assembly adopted anonymously a resolution
that rejects and voids the preamble of the
Constitutional Charter of the future union of Serbia
and Montenegro.
Skopje's Albanian-language daily Fakti says the
Representatives of Kosovar Serb coalition Return did
not take part in Thursday's debate in the Kosovo
Assembly. The resolution urges the international
community not to recognize the proposed version of the
Constitutional Charter, in particular the preamble.
The Democratic Party of Albanians in Macedonia (DPA)
and the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI)
strongly support the resolution of the Kosovo
Assembly, Fakti daily said, quoting statements by
DPA's General secretary Ruzdi Matoshi and DUI's
Representative in parliament Hisni Shakiri.
Matoshi underlined that Kosovo Assembly's resolution
'reflects the red line of political constructivity of
Albanians. Matoshi recommend that the international
community should take into consideration the
Albanians' constructivity.
DPA's General Secretary pledges full support to the
statement by Kosovo's Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi,
who said Kosovo will declare independence if Kosovo is
put in the preamble of the Constitutional Charter.
"Kosovo Assembly did a good thing because the proposal
of the Federation or the so-called union of Serbia and
Montenegro on alteration of the preamble is seen as
provocative act on Kosovo', DPA's deputy Hisni Skakiri
said, adding that Kosovo follows the path towards
independence since June 10, 1999, therefore, nobody
must allow such provocative acts aiming to put Kosovo
under Serbia's control.
=== 4 ===
Attacks on Police Checkpoints in Kumanovo Leave Policeman Wounded
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=2396
REALITY MACEDONIA
Web posted
November 08, 2002
Source: MakFax
Monday Attacks on Police Checkpoints in Kumanovo Leave Policeman
Wounded
Monday 04.11.2002- Kumanovo: Attacks on police checkpoints left police
reservist injured
The security police checkpoint near Kumanovo's village of Novo Selo
had been reportedly attacked last night (02:30 hrs). The attack left
one police reservist Dejan Avramovski severely injured.
Police sources say there was another attack on police checkpoint at
the village of Umin Dol. The attack left no casualties or injuries.
The security forces responded the attacks.
Before the attacks were carried out, there was an anonymous call from
a cellar phone. The person spoke in Albanian language and threatened
the police, police official said, adding that person made several
calls and he even talked with the chief of Kumanovo police station.
Kumanovo police pursued a thorough investigation into the latest
incidents, trying to trace the phone calls and ascertain whether the
calls are connected to the attacks on security police checkpoints.
The injured reservist was transferred to Medical Center in Kumanovo
where he was treated for leg injuries.
=== 5 ===
Ahmeti allowed to travel to Switzerland
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/
20021109/ap_wo_en_po/switzerland_macedonia_travel_ban_1
Switzerland lift entry ban on ethnic Albanian former rebel leader
Sat Nov 9,12:50 PM ET
BERN Switzerland - Swiss authorities said Saturday they had lifted
temporarily an entry ban imposed on an ethnic Albanian former rebel
leader-turned politician.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Manuel Sager said Ali Ahmeti would be
allowed to travel to Switzerland for two days next week to attend a
meeting of Balkan officials.
The Nov.15-16 conference in Lucerne, central Switzerland, was
organized by the U.S.-based Project on Ethnic Relations and Swiss
authorities.
Swiss authorities decided in July 2001 to bar Ahmeti from entering the
country because he was head of Macedonia's National Liberation Army.
The ethnic Albanian rebels seized control of Macedonia's northwest in
February last year, saying they were fighting for broader rights for
the community, nearly one-third of Macedonia's 2 million people.
The six-month war ended with a Western-brokered peace deal that gave
the minority broader constitutional rights. Last month a new coalition
government was formed, including ministers from Ahmeti's Democratic
Union for Integration.
However, Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski refused to include Ahmeti
in the Cabinet, arguing that he was directly involved in the conflict
that cost Macedonia dozens of lives.
Ahmeti lived as a refugee in Lucerne in the early 1980s after he fled
his native Kosovo following a crackdown on an ethnic Albanian student
movement by Yugoslav authorities.
Switzerland is home to a sizable ethnic Albanian community, including
some 45,000 from Macedonia. Last year the Justice Ministry banned two
Swiss-based National Liberation Army leaders from all political
activity, ordering them to stop using the neutral Alpine country as a
support base for the rebels or face expulsion.
=== 6 ===
ITALIA-MACEDONIA: BERLUSCONI INCONTRA MILITARI ITALIANI
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 15 NOV - Abbracci ed ovazioni per il presidente del
consiglio Silvio Berlusconi che ha voluto concludere oggi la sua
visita in Macedonia incontrando gli oltre 400 soldati italiani
presenti nella base di ''Camp Italy'' alle porte di Skopje. E' stato
lo stesso Berlusconi a chiedere ai soldati un lanciare a gran voce un
''urra''' per il generale Gaetano Cigna, comandante delle forze Nato
in Macedonia. Immediatamente Cigna ha ricambiato la cortesia,
chiedendo ai soldati di salutare nello stesso modo il presidente del
consiglio. ''Lei e' piu' giovane di me ma ha meno capelli'' ha poi
detto con un battuta Berlusconi all'ufficiale. Berlusconi oltre al
generale Cigna ha incontrato il colonnello Luigi Orsini, vice
comandante della missione Nato ''Amber Fox'' che opera in Macedonia e
il colonnello Franco Primicery, vice comandante della brigata
multinazionale sud-ovest della Kfor presente in Kosovo. Prima di
partire il presidente del Consiglio si e' intrattenuto nella mensa
della base insieme ai soldati con i quali ha voluto brindare. Gli
stessi militari lo hanno informato di aver raccolto 3.000 euro da
destinare ai terremotati del Molise, e Berlusconi ha promesso che
entro pochi giorni fara' conoscere un progetto preciso al quale
destinare la somma ''cosi' che resti visibile'' il contributo offerto
dai nostri soldati. (ANSA). BLL 15/11/2002 20:25
=== 7 ===
OLTRE 400 MINATORI IN SCIOPERO DELLA FAME
+++ ARBEITERKAMPF IN MAZEDONIEN. SKOPLJE. Die Arbeiter in
Mazedonien haben am Mittwoch wegen unbezahlter Löhne und
Gehälter mit neuen Streiks begonnen. Auch Beschäftigte
der Eisenbahn haben am Morgen die Arbeit niedergelegt.
Damit gibt es jetzt Proteste in mindestens 17 Unternehmen
und Betrieben. Mehrere hundert Minenarbeiter sind bereits
in einem Hungerstreik. Viele Beschäftigte haben seit
Monaten kein Geld mehr bekommen und wollen jetzt Druck
auf die neue prowestliche Regierung machen, die von dem
Vorsitzenden der Sozialdemokratischen Union, Branko
Crvenkovski, geführt wird. STIMME KOSOVOS +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 27. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
MACEDONIA: NO GOVERNO A RICHIESTE MINATORI IN SCIOPERO
(ANSA-REUTERS) - SKOPJE, 25 NOV - Il governo macedone ha detto oggi
che non puo' soddisfare le richieste di centinaia di minatori in
sciopero che hanno occupato una miniera risalente all'epoca del regime
comunista (quando la Macedonia era una Repubblica della Jugoslavia) e
protestano perche' non vengono pagati da mesi. Circa 400 minatori,
alcuni dei quali in sciopero della fame, hanno incrociato le braccia
martedi' scorso nell'impianto statale di Zletevo, dove si estrae
piombo e zinco, circa 160 km a sud della capitale Skopje. Molti sono
scesi nelle gallerie e rifiutano di andarsene. Gli scioperanti, che
chiedono migliori condizioni di lavoro e quattro mesi di salari
arretrati, hanno annunciato che non cesseranno la protesta finche' le
loro richieste non saranno accolte. Ma cio' e' impossibile,
secondo il ministro del Lavoro Jovan Manasievski. ''Il governo non ha
intenzione di pagare, perche' non c'e' denaro in bilancio'', ha detto
oggi in un comunicato. Lo sciopero dei minatori e' la prima seria
sfida sul piano sociale per il nuovo governo di coalizione, a guida
social- democratica, insediatosi il mese scorso, dopo la sconfitta dei
nazionalisti alle elezioni generali.
(ANSA-REUTERS). DIG 25/11/2002 22:47
MACEDONIA: OLTRE 400 MINATORI IN SCIOPERO DELLA FAME
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 26 NOV - Oltre 400 minatori macedoni sono giunti oggi
al loro settimo giorno di sciopero della fame. Gli operai stanno
conducendo la loro protesta a 800 metri di profondita', nella miniera
di zinco e piombo di Makendonska Kamenica, nell'est del paese, per
chiedere un miglioramento delle condizioni di lavoro, garanzie sui
pagamenti dei salari e nuovi investimenti nella miniera. Il complesso
minerario di ''Sasa'' e' in attesa di privatizzazione, e finora il
governo si e' rifiutato di mettere a disposizione i 150mila Euro
richiesti per rimettere a nuovo gli impianti molti dei quali sono
ormai corrosi dall'umidita' e dalla ruggine. Anche oggi si sono svolti
colloqui tra una delegazione di minatori, il vice ministro delle
Finanze Dimko Kokarovski e il ministro dell'Economia Kiro Spandzevski,
ma finora non e' stato raggiunto alcun accordo.(ANSA) BLL-COR
26/11/2002 19:54
=== 8 ===
Attentato in consolato Macedonia a Karachi, 3 morti
(ANSA)- KARACHI, 5 DIC - Una bomba e' esplosa nel consolato di
Macedonia a Karachi, nel sud del Pakistan, uccidendo una guardia e
altre due persone. Nessuno ha finora rivendicato l'attentato. La
guardia era un cristiano, mentre le altre due vittime, un uomo e una
donna, sono stati trovati con la gola tagliata e piedi e mani legate
nel luogo dell'esplosione. 'Pare essere un atto di terrorismo', ha
detto il capo della polizia locale, le 3 vittime sono certamente state
uccise prima dell'esplosione. 05/12/2002 11:54
2. Analysis Of Macedonian NGO Web Sites
3. Albanian Parties of FYROM Support Kosovo "Independence"
4. Attacks on Police Checkpoints in Kumanovo Leave Policeman Wounded
5. Ahmeti allowed to travel to Switzerland
6. ITALIA-MACEDONIA: BERLUSCONI INCONTRA TRUPPE DI OCCUPAZIONE
7. OLTRE 400 MINATORI IN SCIOPERO DELLA FAME
8. Islamisti UCK colpiscono anche all'estero: Attentato a consolato
Macedonia in Pakistan causa tre vittime
=== 1 ===
LINKS
> http://www.antiwar.com/orig/deliso59.html
Greater Albania: a Place, or Just a State of Mind?
ANTIWAR, Monday, November 4, 2002
by Christopher Deliso in Skopje
> http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=2397
Taliban-Like Edict Disseminated in Tetovo High School
Unknown persons spread radical islamist propaganda among Tetovo
Albanians. Unofficially, some parents required one of the classrooms
to be used as praying space.
> http://www.serbianna.com/columns/deliso/010.shtml
The Vlach Attack II: Changes in Macedonia's Interior Ministry (by
Christopher Deliso)
=== 2 ===
Analysis Of Macedonian NGO Web Sites
Breakdown of the data on .ORG.MK domains: numbers, languages, update
rhytim.
English version:
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=2399
Macedonian version:
http://www.agora.org.mk/napis.asp?lang=mac&rubrika=2&id=100#
=== 3 ===
Albanian Parties of FYROM Support Kosovo "Independence"
http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=34047&LangID=1
Seeurope
Saturday, November 9, 2002
MACEDONIA: Albanian Parties Support Kosovo Assembly's
Resolution
The Democratic Party of Albanians in Macedonia (DPA)
and the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) [Ali
Ahmeti's Western-refashioned UCK terrorism grouping,
formerly based in NATO-occupied Kosovo] strongly
support the resolution of the Kosovo Assembly, Fakti
daily said, quoting statements by DPA's General
secretary Ruzdi Matoshi and DUI's Representative in
parliament Hisni Shakiri.
Matoshi underlined that Kosovo Assembly's resolution
'reflects the red line of political constructivity of
Albanians. Matoshi recommend that the international
community should take into consideration the
Albanians' constructivity.
DPA's General Secretary pledges full support to the
statement by Kosovo's Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi,
who said Kosovo will declare independence if Kosovo is
put in the preamble of the Constitutional Charter,
reported Makfax agency.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=23232
Skopje 11/8/02
Macedonia: Albanian parties in Macedonia support
Kosovo Assembly's resolution
The Kosovo Assembly adopted anonymously a resolution
that rejects and voids the preamble of the
Constitutional Charter of the future union of Serbia
and Montenegro.
Skopje's Albanian-language daily Fakti says the
Representatives of Kosovar Serb coalition Return did
not take part in Thursday's debate in the Kosovo
Assembly. The resolution urges the international
community not to recognize the proposed version of the
Constitutional Charter, in particular the preamble.
The Democratic Party of Albanians in Macedonia (DPA)
and the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI)
strongly support the resolution of the Kosovo
Assembly, Fakti daily said, quoting statements by
DPA's General secretary Ruzdi Matoshi and DUI's
Representative in parliament Hisni Shakiri.
Matoshi underlined that Kosovo Assembly's resolution
'reflects the red line of political constructivity of
Albanians. Matoshi recommend that the international
community should take into consideration the
Albanians' constructivity.
DPA's General Secretary pledges full support to the
statement by Kosovo's Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi,
who said Kosovo will declare independence if Kosovo is
put in the preamble of the Constitutional Charter.
"Kosovo Assembly did a good thing because the proposal
of the Federation or the so-called union of Serbia and
Montenegro on alteration of the preamble is seen as
provocative act on Kosovo', DPA's deputy Hisni Skakiri
said, adding that Kosovo follows the path towards
independence since June 10, 1999, therefore, nobody
must allow such provocative acts aiming to put Kosovo
under Serbia's control.
=== 4 ===
Attacks on Police Checkpoints in Kumanovo Leave Policeman Wounded
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=2396
REALITY MACEDONIA
Web posted
November 08, 2002
Source: MakFax
Monday Attacks on Police Checkpoints in Kumanovo Leave Policeman
Wounded
Monday 04.11.2002- Kumanovo: Attacks on police checkpoints left police
reservist injured
The security police checkpoint near Kumanovo's village of Novo Selo
had been reportedly attacked last night (02:30 hrs). The attack left
one police reservist Dejan Avramovski severely injured.
Police sources say there was another attack on police checkpoint at
the village of Umin Dol. The attack left no casualties or injuries.
The security forces responded the attacks.
Before the attacks were carried out, there was an anonymous call from
a cellar phone. The person spoke in Albanian language and threatened
the police, police official said, adding that person made several
calls and he even talked with the chief of Kumanovo police station.
Kumanovo police pursued a thorough investigation into the latest
incidents, trying to trace the phone calls and ascertain whether the
calls are connected to the attacks on security police checkpoints.
The injured reservist was transferred to Medical Center in Kumanovo
where he was treated for leg injuries.
=== 5 ===
Ahmeti allowed to travel to Switzerland
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/
20021109/ap_wo_en_po/switzerland_macedonia_travel_ban_1
Switzerland lift entry ban on ethnic Albanian former rebel leader
Sat Nov 9,12:50 PM ET
BERN Switzerland - Swiss authorities said Saturday they had lifted
temporarily an entry ban imposed on an ethnic Albanian former rebel
leader-turned politician.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Manuel Sager said Ali Ahmeti would be
allowed to travel to Switzerland for two days next week to attend a
meeting of Balkan officials.
The Nov.15-16 conference in Lucerne, central Switzerland, was
organized by the U.S.-based Project on Ethnic Relations and Swiss
authorities.
Swiss authorities decided in July 2001 to bar Ahmeti from entering the
country because he was head of Macedonia's National Liberation Army.
The ethnic Albanian rebels seized control of Macedonia's northwest in
February last year, saying they were fighting for broader rights for
the community, nearly one-third of Macedonia's 2 million people.
The six-month war ended with a Western-brokered peace deal that gave
the minority broader constitutional rights. Last month a new coalition
government was formed, including ministers from Ahmeti's Democratic
Union for Integration.
However, Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski refused to include Ahmeti
in the Cabinet, arguing that he was directly involved in the conflict
that cost Macedonia dozens of lives.
Ahmeti lived as a refugee in Lucerne in the early 1980s after he fled
his native Kosovo following a crackdown on an ethnic Albanian student
movement by Yugoslav authorities.
Switzerland is home to a sizable ethnic Albanian community, including
some 45,000 from Macedonia. Last year the Justice Ministry banned two
Swiss-based National Liberation Army leaders from all political
activity, ordering them to stop using the neutral Alpine country as a
support base for the rebels or face expulsion.
=== 6 ===
ITALIA-MACEDONIA: BERLUSCONI INCONTRA MILITARI ITALIANI
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 15 NOV - Abbracci ed ovazioni per il presidente del
consiglio Silvio Berlusconi che ha voluto concludere oggi la sua
visita in Macedonia incontrando gli oltre 400 soldati italiani
presenti nella base di ''Camp Italy'' alle porte di Skopje. E' stato
lo stesso Berlusconi a chiedere ai soldati un lanciare a gran voce un
''urra''' per il generale Gaetano Cigna, comandante delle forze Nato
in Macedonia. Immediatamente Cigna ha ricambiato la cortesia,
chiedendo ai soldati di salutare nello stesso modo il presidente del
consiglio. ''Lei e' piu' giovane di me ma ha meno capelli'' ha poi
detto con un battuta Berlusconi all'ufficiale. Berlusconi oltre al
generale Cigna ha incontrato il colonnello Luigi Orsini, vice
comandante della missione Nato ''Amber Fox'' che opera in Macedonia e
il colonnello Franco Primicery, vice comandante della brigata
multinazionale sud-ovest della Kfor presente in Kosovo. Prima di
partire il presidente del Consiglio si e' intrattenuto nella mensa
della base insieme ai soldati con i quali ha voluto brindare. Gli
stessi militari lo hanno informato di aver raccolto 3.000 euro da
destinare ai terremotati del Molise, e Berlusconi ha promesso che
entro pochi giorni fara' conoscere un progetto preciso al quale
destinare la somma ''cosi' che resti visibile'' il contributo offerto
dai nostri soldati. (ANSA). BLL 15/11/2002 20:25
=== 7 ===
OLTRE 400 MINATORI IN SCIOPERO DELLA FAME
+++ ARBEITERKAMPF IN MAZEDONIEN. SKOPLJE. Die Arbeiter in
Mazedonien haben am Mittwoch wegen unbezahlter Löhne und
Gehälter mit neuen Streiks begonnen. Auch Beschäftigte
der Eisenbahn haben am Morgen die Arbeit niedergelegt.
Damit gibt es jetzt Proteste in mindestens 17 Unternehmen
und Betrieben. Mehrere hundert Minenarbeiter sind bereits
in einem Hungerstreik. Viele Beschäftigte haben seit
Monaten kein Geld mehr bekommen und wollen jetzt Druck
auf die neue prowestliche Regierung machen, die von dem
Vorsitzenden der Sozialdemokratischen Union, Branko
Crvenkovski, geführt wird. STIMME KOSOVOS +++
Balkan-Telegramm, 27. November 2002 - http://www.amselfeld.com
MACEDONIA: NO GOVERNO A RICHIESTE MINATORI IN SCIOPERO
(ANSA-REUTERS) - SKOPJE, 25 NOV - Il governo macedone ha detto oggi
che non puo' soddisfare le richieste di centinaia di minatori in
sciopero che hanno occupato una miniera risalente all'epoca del regime
comunista (quando la Macedonia era una Repubblica della Jugoslavia) e
protestano perche' non vengono pagati da mesi. Circa 400 minatori,
alcuni dei quali in sciopero della fame, hanno incrociato le braccia
martedi' scorso nell'impianto statale di Zletevo, dove si estrae
piombo e zinco, circa 160 km a sud della capitale Skopje. Molti sono
scesi nelle gallerie e rifiutano di andarsene. Gli scioperanti, che
chiedono migliori condizioni di lavoro e quattro mesi di salari
arretrati, hanno annunciato che non cesseranno la protesta finche' le
loro richieste non saranno accolte. Ma cio' e' impossibile,
secondo il ministro del Lavoro Jovan Manasievski. ''Il governo non ha
intenzione di pagare, perche' non c'e' denaro in bilancio'', ha detto
oggi in un comunicato. Lo sciopero dei minatori e' la prima seria
sfida sul piano sociale per il nuovo governo di coalizione, a guida
social- democratica, insediatosi il mese scorso, dopo la sconfitta dei
nazionalisti alle elezioni generali.
(ANSA-REUTERS). DIG 25/11/2002 22:47
MACEDONIA: OLTRE 400 MINATORI IN SCIOPERO DELLA FAME
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, 26 NOV - Oltre 400 minatori macedoni sono giunti oggi
al loro settimo giorno di sciopero della fame. Gli operai stanno
conducendo la loro protesta a 800 metri di profondita', nella miniera
di zinco e piombo di Makendonska Kamenica, nell'est del paese, per
chiedere un miglioramento delle condizioni di lavoro, garanzie sui
pagamenti dei salari e nuovi investimenti nella miniera. Il complesso
minerario di ''Sasa'' e' in attesa di privatizzazione, e finora il
governo si e' rifiutato di mettere a disposizione i 150mila Euro
richiesti per rimettere a nuovo gli impianti molti dei quali sono
ormai corrosi dall'umidita' e dalla ruggine. Anche oggi si sono svolti
colloqui tra una delegazione di minatori, il vice ministro delle
Finanze Dimko Kokarovski e il ministro dell'Economia Kiro Spandzevski,
ma finora non e' stato raggiunto alcun accordo.(ANSA) BLL-COR
26/11/2002 19:54
=== 8 ===
Attentato in consolato Macedonia a Karachi, 3 morti
(ANSA)- KARACHI, 5 DIC - Una bomba e' esplosa nel consolato di
Macedonia a Karachi, nel sud del Pakistan, uccidendo una guardia e
altre due persone. Nessuno ha finora rivendicato l'attentato. La
guardia era un cristiano, mentre le altre due vittime, un uomo e una
donna, sono stati trovati con la gola tagliata e piedi e mani legate
nel luogo dell'esplosione. 'Pare essere un atto di terrorismo', ha
detto il capo della polizia locale, le 3 vittime sono certamente state
uccise prima dell'esplosione. 05/12/2002 11:54
PSICHIATRIA DEMOCRATICA
La dottoressa Anna Schutzenberger, nel corso di una relazione
presentata ad un congresso mondiale di Psichiatria recentemente
tenutosi a Vienna, ha affermato che e' "scientificamente dimostrato"
che "l'assassinio ed il genocidio siano modello comportamentale dei
serbi" ["Morden und Genozidhaftes ein Modell des serbischen Verhaltens
seien"].
(Fonte: Milos Markovic su "Artel" - http://www.artel.co.yu)
La dottoressa Anna Schutzenberger, nel corso di una relazione
presentata ad un congresso mondiale di Psichiatria recentemente
tenutosi a Vienna, ha affermato che e' "scientificamente dimostrato"
che "l'assassinio ed il genocidio siano modello comportamentale dei
serbi" ["Morden und Genozidhaftes ein Modell des serbischen Verhaltens
seien"].
(Fonte: Milos Markovic su "Artel" - http://www.artel.co.yu)
"C'ERA UNA VOLTA LA JUGOSLAVIA"
E' il nome di un ristorante jugoslavo aperto a Montroil, alla
periferia di Parigi. Il proprietario, Zoran Milinkovic, e' un fiero
jugoslavista. Durante i bombardamenti passava tutto il tempo in piazza
a protestare. Talvolta portava il suo proiettore al Trocadero, davanti
alla sede dei Diritti Umani, e mostrava documentari turistici sulla
Jugoslavia: il mare con le bellissime isole, i boschi e i campi, le
donne in costume...
E' il nome di un ristorante jugoslavo aperto a Montroil, alla
periferia di Parigi. Il proprietario, Zoran Milinkovic, e' un fiero
jugoslavista. Durante i bombardamenti passava tutto il tempo in piazza
a protestare. Talvolta portava il suo proiettore al Trocadero, davanti
alla sede dei Diritti Umani, e mostrava documentari turistici sulla
Jugoslavia: il mare con le bellissime isole, i boschi e i campi, le
donne in costume...
PRECONDIZIONI
Il ministro degli Esteri jugoslavo Goran Svilanovic il 2 dicembre ha
annunciato che il governo jugoslavo ha ritirato la denuncia contro la
NATO presentata nel 1999 alla Corte Internazionale di Giustizia
(fonte: "The Balkan Times"). Il ritiro della denuncia e' una delle
precondizioni per la associazione a diverse organizzazioni
internazionali, compreso il Consiglio d'Europa ed il programma NATO
"Partnership for Peace". Si tratta della ennesima archiviazione di
procedimenti penali riguardanti la aggressione NATO della primavera
1999, dopo l'insabbiamento delle denunce presentate in molti paesi
europei ed al "Tribunale" dell'Aia contro i governanti NATO
responsabili dei crimini contro la popolazione jugoslava.
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2002/12/4-SEE/see-031202.asp
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 3, 2002
YUGOSLAVIA TO DROP LAWSUIT AGAINST NATO
Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic announced on 2
December that the Yugoslav government has dropped a
lawsuit filed against NATO with the International
Court of Justice, "The Balkan Times" reported.
Dropping the lawsuit is one of the preconditions for
membership in a number of international organizations,
including the Council of Europe and NATO's Partnership
for Peace program. UB
Il ministro degli Esteri jugoslavo Goran Svilanovic il 2 dicembre ha
annunciato che il governo jugoslavo ha ritirato la denuncia contro la
NATO presentata nel 1999 alla Corte Internazionale di Giustizia
(fonte: "The Balkan Times"). Il ritiro della denuncia e' una delle
precondizioni per la associazione a diverse organizzazioni
internazionali, compreso il Consiglio d'Europa ed il programma NATO
"Partnership for Peace". Si tratta della ennesima archiviazione di
procedimenti penali riguardanti la aggressione NATO della primavera
1999, dopo l'insabbiamento delle denunce presentate in molti paesi
europei ed al "Tribunale" dell'Aia contro i governanti NATO
responsabili dei crimini contro la popolazione jugoslava.
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2002/12/4-SEE/see-031202.asp
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 3, 2002
YUGOSLAVIA TO DROP LAWSUIT AGAINST NATO
Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic announced on 2
December that the Yugoslav government has dropped a
lawsuit filed against NATO with the International
Court of Justice, "The Balkan Times" reported.
Dropping the lawsuit is one of the preconditions for
membership in a number of international organizations,
including the Council of Europe and NATO's Partnership
for Peace program. UB
---------- Initial Header -----------
From : "Vladimir Krsljanin"
Date : Mon, 2 Dec 2002 17:35:12 +0100
Subject : Carla del Ponte - a dirty washer of NATO dirty laundry
(translation from Konkret, 12, 2002)
TRANSLATION OF INTERVIEW BY JURGEN ELSAESSER WITH FELIPE TUROVER ON
CARLA DEL PONTE (source, Konkret, December 2002)
Translated by Colin Meade 02/12/02
[quotation]
Felipe Turover: "Carla del Ponte told the hit-men where to find me".
[Introduction]
"Justice is a woman", said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about Carla
del Ponte, currently Chief Prosecutor in the Hague trial of Slobodan
Milosevic. Felipe Turover's experience of the Swiss jurist is very
different. 37-year old Felipe comes from a Spanish Republican family
whose parents fled with him from Franco to the Soviet Union. After the
death of the dictator, Felipe returned to his native land before going
back at the end of the 1980s to Moscow as a financial expert. From 1992
to 1999 he worked for the Yeltsin government managing debts with Western
creditor banks.
[Interview]
Elsässer: You are the chief witness in the Mabetex case, also known as
Russiagate. What is it about and how does Carla del Ponte come into it?
Turover: Mabetex is a construction company based in Lugano in Italian
Switzerland. It belongs to the Kosovo Albanian Beghijet Pacolli who now
has a Swiss passport. In the 1990s Pacolli and his business partner
Viktor Stolpovskich won some two billion euros-worth of orders from the
Kremlin, supposedly for building and restoration work in the government
and presidential complex. It has been proved that billions of dollars
vanished from Russia through this operation, with millions being spent
on bribes in Moscow in return. Pacolli acted as guarantor for credit
cards for Yeltsin and both his daughters, according to the Banca del
Gottardo which issued the cards. Carla del Ponte, at that time a Swiss
public prosecutor contacted me in 1997 and asked me to be ready to
testify in the case. Later she invited the Russian investigating
prosecutor Yuri Skuratov to Switzerland and put me in touch with him.
At that time she already had a reputation as a great fighter for justice
and I therefore did as she asked. That was an almost fatal error.
Elsässer: Why?
Turover: I was dependent on her honesty and had made it clear to her
from the start that my testimony placed my life in danger. I was still
at the time working as an advisor to the Russian authorities, i.e. for
the very people I was incriminating with these documents. So what did
Ms del Ponte do? She gave my full name and job to the press. This was
as if I had given information to the US Drug Enforcement Agency about
the Escobar Clan out of Medellin and then, while still in the lions'
den, read in the New York Times that I was the chief witness against
Escobar. In my case, it was Moscow rather than Medellin and the
newspaper was the Corriere della Sera but the effect was the same. I
was in big trouble and saved my life by hurriedly getting out of
Moscow. Since then, for the past three years, I have been living
undercover. I have Carla del Ponte to thank for this. She told the
hit-men where to find me.
Elsässer: Isn't that an exaggeration? How is a Swiss Federal
Prosecutor responsible for an article in an Italian newspaper?
Turover: Both the Corriere journalists got all their information from
del Ponte, including my mobile phone number. They told me so
themselves, because they knew my life was in danger.
Elsässer: Del Ponte has denied that.
Turover: Then she's not telling the truth. And I've already said this
many times and she has never threatened to sue for slander. The reason
is simple: she has no proof, but I do.
Elsässer: Mabetex boss Pacolli is not only a construction magnate, but
is also said to have close ties to the Kosovo Albanian KLA terrorists.
Turover: That's right. He himself has stated that at least until 2000
his group owned the Kosovo Albanian daily "Bota Sot" which even the OSCE
condemned for racist articles. Its agitation was aimed mainly at the
Serbs, but it also made an anti-Semitic attack on me as the "Jew
Turover".
Elsässer: If it were the case that the Yeltsin clan had received Kosovo
Albanian bribes, this might explain his behaviour in spring 1999. As
NATO prepared for war against Yugoslavia, he didn't lift a finger to
help the Serbs, his supposed brother people. At the Rambouillet
Conference, when the NATO states took an extremely biased pro-Albanian
position, Moscow didn't protest, although its diplomats were at the
negotiating table. Did the Kosovo Albanians buy Yeltsin's passivity?
Turover: That's possible. We're looking here at a symbiosis of
politics, plunder and money laundering on a large scale.
Elsässer: And del Ponte?
Turover: All the preliminary inquiries in the Mabetex case in
Switzerland were politically abandoned at the highest level. Moreover,
the documents that del Ponte had received from her Russian colleague
Skuratov somehow ended up in Pacolli's possession. He reported back to
his Russian friends Yeltsin and Borodin and subsequently Skuratov, an
honest and competent lawyer, was shunted aside, in spite of three almost
unanimous resolutions in his support from the Russian Senate. The end
of Skuratov was also the end of the Moscow Mabetex case - the
proceedings were finally abandoned in December 2000.
Elsässer: Was del Ponte acting to protect the Albanian Mafia or the
Yeltsin clan?
Turover: Neither. She acts only in her own interest. She is
indifferent to political goals. Look at the point in time when she made
public what she knew about the Mabetex case, including my name - the end
of August 1999. That was a blow not only to me, but to Yeltsin too.
It's true that she later failed to follow through on the case, but at
that moment her revelations did serious damage to Yeltsin. The
immediate background was the spectacular coup by Russian elite units in
Kosovo in summer 1999; after the ceasefire they occupied Pristina
airport, getting there before NATO. According to the British head of
KFOR, Michael Jackson, this could have led to world war three. Moscow
was playing for high stakes. It wanted its own occupation zone in
Kosovo to protect the Serbs. In this situation Yeltsin had to be
repudiated. The current US Foreign Minister, Madeleine Albright,
therefore met del Ponte at London Heathrow airport in July 1999 and
probably spelt all this out to her. So then del Ponte went public with
her revelations about Yeltsin in Corriere della Sera and in
mid-September Albright in a statement on CNN stoked up the heat about
Russian government corruption. Yeltsin had to fear an effort to impeach
him and then prosecution. He was let off the hook by two bombings in
Moscow, allegedly by Chechen terrorists. Russian troops went into
Chechnya and public attention was diverted from Russiagate.
Elsässer: Was del Ponte acting as an agent of Washington in this
situation?
Turover: She is no more pro-American than she is pro-Albanian. She
acts in Swiss interests, i.e. in the interests of the Mafia in
Switzerland.
Elsässer: Explain.
Turover: Switzerland and the Swiss banks live mainly off money
laundering. All the world's dictators and major criminals deposit their
money here. Above all the canton of Tessin is exceptionally well placed
for this. People simply carry millions in suitcases and glove
compartments over the border from Italy. Every politician in Tessin
knows about it and benefits from it. And as the canton's public
prosecutor del Ponte protected this activity even before the Mabetex
case at the end of the 1990s. Take the case of a company in Chiasso
accused of money laundering for the Italian Mafia. She stopped the
proceedings. But basically del Ponte is pro-del Ponte. She would do
anything for her career, even bring a case against George W. Bush. She
is in any case a useless lawyer. To my knowledge she has never won a
case in her entire career. Her only talent is self-promotion,
self-marketing.
Elsässer: Her agreement with Albright in any case proved profitable. A
little later she became the Chief Prosecutor at the Hague, at
Washington's behest. The Zurich Weltwoche expressed surprise: "why the
Americans wanted her to succeed the difficult and prematurely ousted
Louise Arbour remains a puzzle. After all they had made no secret of
the fact that they regarded the Court as a useless waste of time".
Turover: Del Ponte and the Swiss government helped Albright and the
Americans - they're honest people, they pay their bills - therefore
rewarded her with the Hague job. Here too she has sold herself
brilliantly. With her, the trial is a total disaster. She has nothing
on Milosevic, and legally he ought therefore to be released
immediately. And so Milosevic, who himself is nothing but a bandit and
con man, can present himself as an innocent victim of persecution and
Serb nationalism is on the rise as the recent elections showed[1]. Do
people in the Hague really not know that the Swiss Federal Government
has appointed a special investigator to look into the del Ponte affair?
How can a woman who is herself the subject of judicial investigation at
the highest level because of serious crimes stay on as Chief Prosecutor
at the UN war crimes tribunal?
Elsässer: In March 2001 you reported Carla del Ponte and persons
unknown to the police for, among other things, endangering your life and
attempted murder (tentato assassinio) in connection with Russiagate.
But the Swiss Federal Prosecutor, Valentin Roschacher, dismissed the
charges against his predecessor. So how can you say that a special
investigation of del Ponte is ongoing?
Turover: Roschacher protected del Ponte and I have therefore brought a
case against him for bias in her favour. This case has not only been
taken up, but in May 2002 the Swiss Federal Council appointed a special
investigator, Arthur Hublard, the former public prosecutor of Jura
canton. He is investigating my accusations against Roschacher - but the
del Ponte case is obviously also involved here. Furthermore, I have
laid charges against Switzerland at the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg.
Elsässer: Against Switzerland, not against del Ponte?
Turover: You can't bring cases against private persons in Strasbourg.
But in substance the charges relate primarily to del Ponte because as
the Swiss Federal Prosecutor she placed my life in danger. It's
preposterous for her to continue to hold office in the Hague when two
such cases are pending.
Elsässer: You are living in hiding, constantly moving house. How long
will you keep this up?
Turover: I have to, otherwise I'm dead because of del Ponte. I have of
course insured myself by making sure that in the event of my demise even
more explosive information than hitherto will be revealed. But that
does not provide me with real security. So far at least five
prosecution witnesses in the Mabetex case have been cleared out of the
way. The most recent victim was Pacolli's personal secretary, a 32-year
old woman, who was found dead in the bathroom, allegedly from a blood
clot. There was no autopsy and she was cremated the next day.
ENDS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Obviously, these disparaging remarks about Mr Milosevic do not
represent the views of the ICDSM. The reason why Carla del Ponte has
got nothing on Mr Milosevic is that the charges against him have no
basis in reality. However incompetent del Ponte may be, she has had a
multitude of "experts", investigators and compliant officials within and
outside Yugoslavia to help her in her quest for "evidence". They have
found nothing because there was never anything there to find.
To join or help this struggle, visit:
http://www.sps.org.yu/ (official SPS website)
http://www.belgrade-forum.org/ (forum for the world of equals)
http://www.icdsm.org/ (the international committee to defend Slobodan
Milosevic)
icdsm temporary address:
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/index.htm
for your donations:
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/donations.htm
From : "Vladimir Krsljanin"
Date : Mon, 2 Dec 2002 17:35:12 +0100
Subject : Carla del Ponte - a dirty washer of NATO dirty laundry
(translation from Konkret, 12, 2002)
TRANSLATION OF INTERVIEW BY JURGEN ELSAESSER WITH FELIPE TUROVER ON
CARLA DEL PONTE (source, Konkret, December 2002)
Translated by Colin Meade 02/12/02
[quotation]
Felipe Turover: "Carla del Ponte told the hit-men where to find me".
[Introduction]
"Justice is a woman", said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about Carla
del Ponte, currently Chief Prosecutor in the Hague trial of Slobodan
Milosevic. Felipe Turover's experience of the Swiss jurist is very
different. 37-year old Felipe comes from a Spanish Republican family
whose parents fled with him from Franco to the Soviet Union. After the
death of the dictator, Felipe returned to his native land before going
back at the end of the 1980s to Moscow as a financial expert. From 1992
to 1999 he worked for the Yeltsin government managing debts with Western
creditor banks.
[Interview]
Elsässer: You are the chief witness in the Mabetex case, also known as
Russiagate. What is it about and how does Carla del Ponte come into it?
Turover: Mabetex is a construction company based in Lugano in Italian
Switzerland. It belongs to the Kosovo Albanian Beghijet Pacolli who now
has a Swiss passport. In the 1990s Pacolli and his business partner
Viktor Stolpovskich won some two billion euros-worth of orders from the
Kremlin, supposedly for building and restoration work in the government
and presidential complex. It has been proved that billions of dollars
vanished from Russia through this operation, with millions being spent
on bribes in Moscow in return. Pacolli acted as guarantor for credit
cards for Yeltsin and both his daughters, according to the Banca del
Gottardo which issued the cards. Carla del Ponte, at that time a Swiss
public prosecutor contacted me in 1997 and asked me to be ready to
testify in the case. Later she invited the Russian investigating
prosecutor Yuri Skuratov to Switzerland and put me in touch with him.
At that time she already had a reputation as a great fighter for justice
and I therefore did as she asked. That was an almost fatal error.
Elsässer: Why?
Turover: I was dependent on her honesty and had made it clear to her
from the start that my testimony placed my life in danger. I was still
at the time working as an advisor to the Russian authorities, i.e. for
the very people I was incriminating with these documents. So what did
Ms del Ponte do? She gave my full name and job to the press. This was
as if I had given information to the US Drug Enforcement Agency about
the Escobar Clan out of Medellin and then, while still in the lions'
den, read in the New York Times that I was the chief witness against
Escobar. In my case, it was Moscow rather than Medellin and the
newspaper was the Corriere della Sera but the effect was the same. I
was in big trouble and saved my life by hurriedly getting out of
Moscow. Since then, for the past three years, I have been living
undercover. I have Carla del Ponte to thank for this. She told the
hit-men where to find me.
Elsässer: Isn't that an exaggeration? How is a Swiss Federal
Prosecutor responsible for an article in an Italian newspaper?
Turover: Both the Corriere journalists got all their information from
del Ponte, including my mobile phone number. They told me so
themselves, because they knew my life was in danger.
Elsässer: Del Ponte has denied that.
Turover: Then she's not telling the truth. And I've already said this
many times and she has never threatened to sue for slander. The reason
is simple: she has no proof, but I do.
Elsässer: Mabetex boss Pacolli is not only a construction magnate, but
is also said to have close ties to the Kosovo Albanian KLA terrorists.
Turover: That's right. He himself has stated that at least until 2000
his group owned the Kosovo Albanian daily "Bota Sot" which even the OSCE
condemned for racist articles. Its agitation was aimed mainly at the
Serbs, but it also made an anti-Semitic attack on me as the "Jew
Turover".
Elsässer: If it were the case that the Yeltsin clan had received Kosovo
Albanian bribes, this might explain his behaviour in spring 1999. As
NATO prepared for war against Yugoslavia, he didn't lift a finger to
help the Serbs, his supposed brother people. At the Rambouillet
Conference, when the NATO states took an extremely biased pro-Albanian
position, Moscow didn't protest, although its diplomats were at the
negotiating table. Did the Kosovo Albanians buy Yeltsin's passivity?
Turover: That's possible. We're looking here at a symbiosis of
politics, plunder and money laundering on a large scale.
Elsässer: And del Ponte?
Turover: All the preliminary inquiries in the Mabetex case in
Switzerland were politically abandoned at the highest level. Moreover,
the documents that del Ponte had received from her Russian colleague
Skuratov somehow ended up in Pacolli's possession. He reported back to
his Russian friends Yeltsin and Borodin and subsequently Skuratov, an
honest and competent lawyer, was shunted aside, in spite of three almost
unanimous resolutions in his support from the Russian Senate. The end
of Skuratov was also the end of the Moscow Mabetex case - the
proceedings were finally abandoned in December 2000.
Elsässer: Was del Ponte acting to protect the Albanian Mafia or the
Yeltsin clan?
Turover: Neither. She acts only in her own interest. She is
indifferent to political goals. Look at the point in time when she made
public what she knew about the Mabetex case, including my name - the end
of August 1999. That was a blow not only to me, but to Yeltsin too.
It's true that she later failed to follow through on the case, but at
that moment her revelations did serious damage to Yeltsin. The
immediate background was the spectacular coup by Russian elite units in
Kosovo in summer 1999; after the ceasefire they occupied Pristina
airport, getting there before NATO. According to the British head of
KFOR, Michael Jackson, this could have led to world war three. Moscow
was playing for high stakes. It wanted its own occupation zone in
Kosovo to protect the Serbs. In this situation Yeltsin had to be
repudiated. The current US Foreign Minister, Madeleine Albright,
therefore met del Ponte at London Heathrow airport in July 1999 and
probably spelt all this out to her. So then del Ponte went public with
her revelations about Yeltsin in Corriere della Sera and in
mid-September Albright in a statement on CNN stoked up the heat about
Russian government corruption. Yeltsin had to fear an effort to impeach
him and then prosecution. He was let off the hook by two bombings in
Moscow, allegedly by Chechen terrorists. Russian troops went into
Chechnya and public attention was diverted from Russiagate.
Elsässer: Was del Ponte acting as an agent of Washington in this
situation?
Turover: She is no more pro-American than she is pro-Albanian. She
acts in Swiss interests, i.e. in the interests of the Mafia in
Switzerland.
Elsässer: Explain.
Turover: Switzerland and the Swiss banks live mainly off money
laundering. All the world's dictators and major criminals deposit their
money here. Above all the canton of Tessin is exceptionally well placed
for this. People simply carry millions in suitcases and glove
compartments over the border from Italy. Every politician in Tessin
knows about it and benefits from it. And as the canton's public
prosecutor del Ponte protected this activity even before the Mabetex
case at the end of the 1990s. Take the case of a company in Chiasso
accused of money laundering for the Italian Mafia. She stopped the
proceedings. But basically del Ponte is pro-del Ponte. She would do
anything for her career, even bring a case against George W. Bush. She
is in any case a useless lawyer. To my knowledge she has never won a
case in her entire career. Her only talent is self-promotion,
self-marketing.
Elsässer: Her agreement with Albright in any case proved profitable. A
little later she became the Chief Prosecutor at the Hague, at
Washington's behest. The Zurich Weltwoche expressed surprise: "why the
Americans wanted her to succeed the difficult and prematurely ousted
Louise Arbour remains a puzzle. After all they had made no secret of
the fact that they regarded the Court as a useless waste of time".
Turover: Del Ponte and the Swiss government helped Albright and the
Americans - they're honest people, they pay their bills - therefore
rewarded her with the Hague job. Here too she has sold herself
brilliantly. With her, the trial is a total disaster. She has nothing
on Milosevic, and legally he ought therefore to be released
immediately. And so Milosevic, who himself is nothing but a bandit and
con man, can present himself as an innocent victim of persecution and
Serb nationalism is on the rise as the recent elections showed[1]. Do
people in the Hague really not know that the Swiss Federal Government
has appointed a special investigator to look into the del Ponte affair?
How can a woman who is herself the subject of judicial investigation at
the highest level because of serious crimes stay on as Chief Prosecutor
at the UN war crimes tribunal?
Elsässer: In March 2001 you reported Carla del Ponte and persons
unknown to the police for, among other things, endangering your life and
attempted murder (tentato assassinio) in connection with Russiagate.
But the Swiss Federal Prosecutor, Valentin Roschacher, dismissed the
charges against his predecessor. So how can you say that a special
investigation of del Ponte is ongoing?
Turover: Roschacher protected del Ponte and I have therefore brought a
case against him for bias in her favour. This case has not only been
taken up, but in May 2002 the Swiss Federal Council appointed a special
investigator, Arthur Hublard, the former public prosecutor of Jura
canton. He is investigating my accusations against Roschacher - but the
del Ponte case is obviously also involved here. Furthermore, I have
laid charges against Switzerland at the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg.
Elsässer: Against Switzerland, not against del Ponte?
Turover: You can't bring cases against private persons in Strasbourg.
But in substance the charges relate primarily to del Ponte because as
the Swiss Federal Prosecutor she placed my life in danger. It's
preposterous for her to continue to hold office in the Hague when two
such cases are pending.
Elsässer: You are living in hiding, constantly moving house. How long
will you keep this up?
Turover: I have to, otherwise I'm dead because of del Ponte. I have of
course insured myself by making sure that in the event of my demise even
more explosive information than hitherto will be revealed. But that
does not provide me with real security. So far at least five
prosecution witnesses in the Mabetex case have been cleared out of the
way. The most recent victim was Pacolli's personal secretary, a 32-year
old woman, who was found dead in the bathroom, allegedly from a blood
clot. There was no autopsy and she was cremated the next day.
ENDS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Obviously, these disparaging remarks about Mr Milosevic do not
represent the views of the ICDSM. The reason why Carla del Ponte has
got nothing on Mr Milosevic is that the charges against him have no
basis in reality. However incompetent del Ponte may be, she has had a
multitude of "experts", investigators and compliant officials within and
outside Yugoslavia to help her in her quest for "evidence". They have
found nothing because there was never anything there to find.
To join or help this struggle, visit:
http://www.sps.org.yu/ (official SPS website)
http://www.belgrade-forum.org/ (forum for the world of equals)
http://www.icdsm.org/ (the international committee to defend Slobodan
Milosevic)
icdsm temporary address:
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/index.htm
for your donations:
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/donations.htm
* Another side of Srebrenica *
from: Radio Nederlands, 29/11/2002
---
Come documentazione precedente si veda / As previous documentation see:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1747
Was there a massacre in Srebrenica? What really happened and why?
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/list-s.htm
Altri link / More links:
Was the Srebrenica 'Massacre' a Hoax? (by R. Grémaux & A. de Vries)
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/falsely.htm
Srebrenica (by Carlos Martins Branco)
http://www.balkanpeace.org/cib/bos/boss/boss07.shtml
Srebrenica, a small town in Yugoslavia: 5 years on and the lies
continue.
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/jared/texts2.htm
A journey through evidence and documents (two years after)
http://www.serbianlinks.freehosting.net/srebrenica.html
---------- Initial Header -----------
From : Rick Rozoff
Date : Tue, 3 Dec 2002 02:14:31 -0800 (PST)
Subject : [yugoslaviainfo] FRI: Another Side Of Srebrenica
http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/bos021129.html
Radio Netherlands
November 29, 2002
Another side of Srebrenica
by David Jan Godfroid
Serbian cousins Aco and Darko are butchering pigs for
winter in the village of Fakovici, along the banks of
the River Drina in Eastern Bosnia. The two cousins are
the men of the house; ten years ago, when they were
still kids, their fathers were killed by Muslims from
Srebrenica. The attack happened near this very spot.
The drama of Srebrenica, one of the darkest chapters
of the Bosnian civil war, is a story often told in
simple terms. Bosnian Serb troops surround the town,
isolate it for years, then finally capture it and
slaughter 7000 men and boys, mainly Muslims. But the
reality is far more complex.
There was a lot of violence here before the siege of
Srebrenica began. Serbs attacked Muslim villages in
the surroundings, torched the houses and killed the
villagers. And Muslims did the same. From September
1992 until January 1993, dozens of Serbian villages
fell prey to Muslim sorties from Srebrenica. Hundreds
of Serbs, mainly civilians, were killed.
Destructive raiders
The village of Skelani nestles in the mountains on the
eastern border of Bosnia. During the war, a Muslim
army unit from Srebrenica often raided the Serbian
villages in this area, under the command of Naser
Oric. After ten years, you can still see the results.
Birches grow out of a demolished house. Down the road,
there's a group of partly destroyed houses; three of
them are abandoned, two others are inhabited again,
but only the ground floor has been provisionally repaired.
Naser Oric was the local commander of the Bosnian
Muslim army in Srebrenica. Just the mention of his
name causes outrage among Serbs in this region. A man
who goes by the pseudonym of Petar Jovanovic remembers
Oric from the days when they both worked on the
Srebrenica police force.
"Oric came to Srebrenica on orders to organise a
Muslim army and prepare them for war. He knew nothing
about religion. Oric told me this himself. He was
willing to fight for whoever made him the best offer.
He was 25 or 26 years old and he wanted only three
things: money, fancy cars and women."
Memories of death
In the village of Fakovici, Aco and Darko don't feel
like talking about the attack ten years ago, but they
think about the deaths of their fathers and other
relatives every day. They still live in the house
where the slaughter occurred. "Look," says Aco,
"That's where we found grandfather . . . his hands
were tied and his skull was crushed."
Sitting on the very spot where that man was killed is
Mica, one of the few defenders of Fakovici. Mica, who
himself was injured in the assault, is still furious
with his own people:
"If only one person had tried to defend our villages,
the Muslims would never have attacked us. We had
enough arms and men at our disposal, but one
paramilitary group after another came to tell us that
we were under their command. And when the Muslims
finally attacked, our commanders were across the
border in Serbia, and our defenders went picking
walnuts in the forest or fishing, three kilometres up
the river Drina. We had less than 15 men to defend the
village against over 200 attackers. It was one big
confusion."
Animal response
Twenty-four people were killed in Fakovici, including
Darko's parents and Aco's father and grandfather. Mica
is one of the few Serbs who think Muslims are not to
blame.
"First we chased them out of their villages. And a man
who has been forced to leave his house and live in the
forest becomes an animal. They had no choice but to
respond. First they were chased away, then they
organized themselves and they attacked. Of course."
From the graveyard of Bajina Basta, just across the
River Drina in Serbia, you can see the mountains of
Bosnia, where the war started ten years ago. Many of
those who died in those mountains in 1992-93 lie
buried here in a Serbian grave.
There are dozens of them. All of the victims are from
the villages across the river. Fakovici, Skelani...
small villages, often no more then a couple of houses.
The civilians who lived in such places were killed by
the attackers from Srebrenica.
Hari has just visited the grave of a good friend. He
looks at the other side of the river Drina, his eyes
filled with tears.
"It hurts, because I know how many young people lost
their lives there. You can rebuild a house or a
village. You can replant fields and orchards. But a
lost life, a young life . . . that hurts most."
from: Radio Nederlands, 29/11/2002
---
Come documentazione precedente si veda / As previous documentation see:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1747
Was there a massacre in Srebrenica? What really happened and why?
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/list-s.htm
Altri link / More links:
Was the Srebrenica 'Massacre' a Hoax? (by R. Grémaux & A. de Vries)
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/falsely.htm
Srebrenica (by Carlos Martins Branco)
http://www.balkanpeace.org/cib/bos/boss/boss07.shtml
Srebrenica, a small town in Yugoslavia: 5 years on and the lies
continue.
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/jared/texts2.htm
A journey through evidence and documents (two years after)
http://www.serbianlinks.freehosting.net/srebrenica.html
---------- Initial Header -----------
From : Rick Rozoff
Date : Tue, 3 Dec 2002 02:14:31 -0800 (PST)
Subject : [yugoslaviainfo] FRI: Another Side Of Srebrenica
http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/bos021129.html
Radio Netherlands
November 29, 2002
Another side of Srebrenica
by David Jan Godfroid
Serbian cousins Aco and Darko are butchering pigs for
winter in the village of Fakovici, along the banks of
the River Drina in Eastern Bosnia. The two cousins are
the men of the house; ten years ago, when they were
still kids, their fathers were killed by Muslims from
Srebrenica. The attack happened near this very spot.
The drama of Srebrenica, one of the darkest chapters
of the Bosnian civil war, is a story often told in
simple terms. Bosnian Serb troops surround the town,
isolate it for years, then finally capture it and
slaughter 7000 men and boys, mainly Muslims. But the
reality is far more complex.
There was a lot of violence here before the siege of
Srebrenica began. Serbs attacked Muslim villages in
the surroundings, torched the houses and killed the
villagers. And Muslims did the same. From September
1992 until January 1993, dozens of Serbian villages
fell prey to Muslim sorties from Srebrenica. Hundreds
of Serbs, mainly civilians, were killed.
Destructive raiders
The village of Skelani nestles in the mountains on the
eastern border of Bosnia. During the war, a Muslim
army unit from Srebrenica often raided the Serbian
villages in this area, under the command of Naser
Oric. After ten years, you can still see the results.
Birches grow out of a demolished house. Down the road,
there's a group of partly destroyed houses; three of
them are abandoned, two others are inhabited again,
but only the ground floor has been provisionally repaired.
Naser Oric was the local commander of the Bosnian
Muslim army in Srebrenica. Just the mention of his
name causes outrage among Serbs in this region. A man
who goes by the pseudonym of Petar Jovanovic remembers
Oric from the days when they both worked on the
Srebrenica police force.
"Oric came to Srebrenica on orders to organise a
Muslim army and prepare them for war. He knew nothing
about religion. Oric told me this himself. He was
willing to fight for whoever made him the best offer.
He was 25 or 26 years old and he wanted only three
things: money, fancy cars and women."
Memories of death
In the village of Fakovici, Aco and Darko don't feel
like talking about the attack ten years ago, but they
think about the deaths of their fathers and other
relatives every day. They still live in the house
where the slaughter occurred. "Look," says Aco,
"That's where we found grandfather . . . his hands
were tied and his skull was crushed."
Sitting on the very spot where that man was killed is
Mica, one of the few defenders of Fakovici. Mica, who
himself was injured in the assault, is still furious
with his own people:
"If only one person had tried to defend our villages,
the Muslims would never have attacked us. We had
enough arms and men at our disposal, but one
paramilitary group after another came to tell us that
we were under their command. And when the Muslims
finally attacked, our commanders were across the
border in Serbia, and our defenders went picking
walnuts in the forest or fishing, three kilometres up
the river Drina. We had less than 15 men to defend the
village against over 200 attackers. It was one big
confusion."
Animal response
Twenty-four people were killed in Fakovici, including
Darko's parents and Aco's father and grandfather. Mica
is one of the few Serbs who think Muslims are not to
blame.
"First we chased them out of their villages. And a man
who has been forced to leave his house and live in the
forest becomes an animal. They had no choice but to
respond. First they were chased away, then they
organized themselves and they attacked. Of course."
From the graveyard of Bajina Basta, just across the
River Drina in Serbia, you can see the mountains of
Bosnia, where the war started ten years ago. Many of
those who died in those mountains in 1992-93 lie
buried here in a Serbian grave.
There are dozens of them. All of the victims are from
the villages across the river. Fakovici, Skelani...
small villages, often no more then a couple of houses.
The civilians who lived in such places were killed by
the attackers from Srebrenica.
Hari has just visited the grave of a good friend. He
looks at the other side of the river Drina, his eyes
filled with tears.
"It hurts, because I know how many young people lost
their lives there. You can rebuild a house or a
village. You can replant fields and orchards. But a
lost life, a young life . . . that hurts most."
International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic
emperor.vwh.net/icdsm
Subscribe to the ICDSM email list at
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/maillist.htm
Receive articles posted at emperor.vwh.net/icdsm
Send the link to this text to a friend! If you are receiving this
article via e-mail please forward it to a friend.
=================================
Slobodan Milosevic's Cross-Examination of
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic: PART XII
Because the transcript of the cross-examination
is 150 pages long we have broken it into 12
easy to read segments. If you wish to read the whole thing
at once go to: http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/more/mesic.htm
=================================
Page 10735
1 You've got another five minutes. Do you want to ask some more
2 questions, Mr. Milosevic, this afternoon, or are you finished for the
day?
3 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
4 Q. Tell me, Mr. Mesic: Were your claim correct, what sort of
5 obligation would the army have to obey me had I ordered the army, the
then
6 JNA, to do something? Why would they have had to obey me? How could I
7 have issued them with orders?
8 A. Formally they were under no obligation. That's precisely the
9 point. You issued orders to that army, and when I asked General
Kadijevic
10 why he was obeying only you, he said: Everybody else in Serbia is
even
11 worse. You should discuss this with General Kadijevic.
12 Q. As far as I know, you asked him why he was communicating with me
13 at all, not why he was obeying me. Because, as you know, that is
untrue.
14 A. General Kadijevic, as the Secretary of National Defence, never,
15 throughout my term of office in Belgrade, came to see me. Just recall
how
16 many times you talked to him.
17 Q. Less than you, I assume as his supreme commander.
18 A. You're making me laugh again. This is no place for us to laugh.
19 Q. On page 17 of your statement, you say that the Rump Presidency
20 implemented a putsch, a coup d'etat. Was this a Rump Presidency
because
21 you obstructed its functioning and those who followed you in your
22 obstruction, or was it a Rump Presidency because those who continued
to
23 attend the sessions were continuing to fulfil their obligations? Was
it a
24 Rump Presidency because you left it or because they remained at their
25 posts performing their duty? Is there any logic in this, Mr. Mesic?
Page 10736
1 A. The Rump Presidency could not be established by any legal and
2 legitimate means, by any extensive interpretations of the
constitution.
3 This was an illegal group of people which introduced a state of
emergency,
4 at the suggestion of Slobodan Milosevic, because he was the only one
who
5 had any influence over those people and over that Rump Presidency. And
6 let me give you a piece of information. My advisor remained in
Belgrade.
7 The room, the premises where the Presidency and later the Rump
Presidency
8 had its sessions had a connecting door leading to my former cabinet.
My
9 advisor listened to what they were talking about. He came to Croatia
by
10 way of Hungary and reported to me, so that I knew what the Rump
Presidency
11 was discussing. Slobodan Milosevic asked that Vukovar be left alone
and
12 that the army go to Zagreb. And General Kadijevic said that this was
13 impossible because the Croats had gained in military strength to such
an
14 extent that they would attack his flanks and he would not be able to
reach
15 Zagreb. So the opinion prevailed in the end that Vukovar had to be
16 destroyed. This is my interpretation now, but it was the accused who
17 asked that Zagreb be attacked. The witness to this is my advisor who
told
18 me this.
19 JUDGE MAY: Let's follow this. When were you told that there had
20 been this discussion about Vukovar, Mr. Mesic? What sort of date are
we
21 dealing with?
22 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] This was the time when I was not
23 going to Belgrade, when there were frequent army attacks from Novi
Sad and
24 Belgrade against Vukovar, and my advisor was still in Belgrade. He
was in
25 Belgrade until Vukovar fell. And he used to come to see me by way of
Page 10737
1 Hungary, via Hungary.
2 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
3 Q. Mr. Mesic, do you know that the presidents of the republics at the
4 session of the Presidency, that they arrived only rarely and by
5 invitation, and that except on those rare occasions when all the other
6 presidents of the republics were present, I never took part in any
7 sessions of the Presidency? How can you put forward such fabrications,
8 such falsehoods? You should know that. And you say this was put to you
9 by your advisor --
10 JUDGE MAY: It's suggested, Mr. Mesic, that this is not true.
11 Perhaps you could answer that and then we'll adjourn.
12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] First I have to say that the accused
13 is now speculating. These are not sessions of the Presidency of the
SFRY,
14 because I know very well how any session chaired by me was convocated
[As
15 interpreted]. I'm speaking about sessions of the Rump Presidency. Who
16 they invited and how, I don't know. I only know what my advisor told
me.
17 JUDGE MAY: We're going to adjourn now. It's 2.00. Tomorrow
18 morning -- you can go on tomorrow morning about this.
19 JUDGE KWON: Before we adjourn and before too late, I'd like to
20 suggest the registrar to exhibit Mr. Mesic's transcript the in
Dokmanovic,
21 which we didn't.
22 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honours, I believe it was marked Exhibit 329.
23 JUDGE KWON: Those are exhibits.
24 THE REGISTRAR: I will look into that.
25 MR. NICE: I think the position is that part of the transcript was
Page 10738
1 marked on its side as exhibited pursuant to the 92 bis package and the
2 other part wasn't. So there might be grounds for simply taking the
whole
3 Dokmanovic transcript and exhibiting it as His Honour Judge Kwon
proposes.
4 JUDGE MAY: Just a moment. First of all, we'll deal with the
5 exhibit number. Yes.
6 THE REGISTRAR: Prosecution's Exhibit 331.
7 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I asked that the other transcript,
8 which contains a more extensive testimony by Mr. Mesic, also be
tendered
9 into evidence. I will not say what the case is, because he was a
10 protected witness in that case.
11 JUDGE MAY: We haven't seen that. Is there any objection to that
12 being done?
13 MR. NICE: Can I think about that over night. One of my problems
14 is is that in two cases the page references of the accused don't
match the
15 transcript I have and I haven't been able to find the references he
made.
16 JUDGE MAY: We'll consider that overnight. Meanwhile, I would
17 remind everybody that we are sitting tomorrow from 9.00 in the
morning
18 until half past 4.00, 4.00 to half past tomorrow, 4.00 or half past
19 tomorrow.
20 Mr. Mesic, would you be back, please, for the first session
21 tomorrow. Thank you. 9.00 tomorrow.
22 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 2.04 p.m.,
23 to be reconvened on Thursday, the 3rd day of
24 October 2002, at 9.00 a.m.
25
***** Urgent Message from Sloboda (Freedom) Association and the
International
Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic!
The Freedom Association in Belgrade and the ICDSM, based outside
Yugoslavia, are the two
organizations formed at the request of Slobodan Milosevic to aid in his
defense.
Up until now our main work has been threefold. We have publicized the
truth about The
Hague's phony trial. We have organized research to help President
Milosevic expose
NATO's lies. And we have initiated legal action in the Dutch and
European Courts.
Now our job has increased. The defense phase of the "trial" starts in
May 2003. No longer
will Mr. Milosevic be limited to cross-examining Hague witnesses. The
prosecution will be
forced further onto the defensive as victims of NATO's aggression and
experts from
Yugoslavia and the NATO countries tell what really happened and expose
media lies.
Moreover, Mr. Milosevic will call leaders, from East and West, some
friendly and some
hostile to the truth.
The controlled mass media will undoubtedly try to suppress this
testimony as they have tried
to suppress Mr. Milosevic's cross-examinations. Nevertheless this phase
of the "trial" will
be the biggest international forum ever to expose NATO's use of racism,
violence and lies to
attack Yugoslavia.
We urgently need the help of all people who care about what is happening
in The Hague.
Right now, Nico Steijnen , the Dutch lawyer in the ICDSM, is waging
legal battles in the
Dutch courts and before the European Court, about which more news soon.
These efforts
urgently require financial support. We now maintain a small staff of
Yugoslav lawyers in
Holland, assisting and advising Mr. Milosevic full-time. We need to
expand our Dutch
facilities, perhaps bringing in a non-Yugoslav attorney full-time.
Definitely we must
guarantee that we have an office and office manager available at all
times, to compile and
process evidence and for meetings with witnesses and lawyers and as a
base for organizing
press conferences.
All this costs money. And for this, we rely on those who want Mr.
Milosevic to have the best
possible support for attacking NATO's lies.
************
Here's how you can help...
************
* You may contribute by credit card. By the end of September we will
have an ICDSM
secure server so you can contribute directly on the Internet.
For now, you can contribute by credit card in two ways: *
You can Contribute by Credit Card over the Telephone by calling:
ICDSM office, USA: 1 617 916-1705
SLOBODA (Freedom) Association office, Belgrade: 381 63 279 819
You can Contribute using PayPal at:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=icdsm%40aol.com
PayPal accepts VISA and MasterCard
You can Contribute by mail to:
ICDSM
831 Beacon St., #295
Newton Centre, MA 02459 (USA)
- OR -
You can Contribute by wire transfer to Sloboda Association
Intermediary:
UBS AG
Zurich, Switzerland
Swift Code: UBSWCHZH
Account with:
/ 756 - CHF
/ 840 - USD
/ 978 - EUR
Kmercijalna Banka AD
SV. Save 14, 11000 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Swift Code: KOBBYUBG
Beneficiary: Account No. 5428-1246-16154-6
SLOBODA
Rajiceva 16, 11000 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Thank you!
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm
emperor.vwh.net/icdsm
Subscribe to the ICDSM email list at
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/maillist.htm
Receive articles posted at emperor.vwh.net/icdsm
Send the link to this text to a friend! If you are receiving this
article via e-mail please forward it to a friend.
=================================
Slobodan Milosevic's Cross-Examination of
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic: PART XII
Because the transcript of the cross-examination
is 150 pages long we have broken it into 12
easy to read segments. If you wish to read the whole thing
at once go to: http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm/more/mesic.htm
=================================
Page 10735
1 You've got another five minutes. Do you want to ask some more
2 questions, Mr. Milosevic, this afternoon, or are you finished for the
day?
3 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
4 Q. Tell me, Mr. Mesic: Were your claim correct, what sort of
5 obligation would the army have to obey me had I ordered the army, the
then
6 JNA, to do something? Why would they have had to obey me? How could I
7 have issued them with orders?
8 A. Formally they were under no obligation. That's precisely the
9 point. You issued orders to that army, and when I asked General
Kadijevic
10 why he was obeying only you, he said: Everybody else in Serbia is
even
11 worse. You should discuss this with General Kadijevic.
12 Q. As far as I know, you asked him why he was communicating with me
13 at all, not why he was obeying me. Because, as you know, that is
untrue.
14 A. General Kadijevic, as the Secretary of National Defence, never,
15 throughout my term of office in Belgrade, came to see me. Just recall
how
16 many times you talked to him.
17 Q. Less than you, I assume as his supreme commander.
18 A. You're making me laugh again. This is no place for us to laugh.
19 Q. On page 17 of your statement, you say that the Rump Presidency
20 implemented a putsch, a coup d'etat. Was this a Rump Presidency
because
21 you obstructed its functioning and those who followed you in your
22 obstruction, or was it a Rump Presidency because those who continued
to
23 attend the sessions were continuing to fulfil their obligations? Was
it a
24 Rump Presidency because you left it or because they remained at their
25 posts performing their duty? Is there any logic in this, Mr. Mesic?
Page 10736
1 A. The Rump Presidency could not be established by any legal and
2 legitimate means, by any extensive interpretations of the
constitution.
3 This was an illegal group of people which introduced a state of
emergency,
4 at the suggestion of Slobodan Milosevic, because he was the only one
who
5 had any influence over those people and over that Rump Presidency. And
6 let me give you a piece of information. My advisor remained in
Belgrade.
7 The room, the premises where the Presidency and later the Rump
Presidency
8 had its sessions had a connecting door leading to my former cabinet.
My
9 advisor listened to what they were talking about. He came to Croatia
by
10 way of Hungary and reported to me, so that I knew what the Rump
Presidency
11 was discussing. Slobodan Milosevic asked that Vukovar be left alone
and
12 that the army go to Zagreb. And General Kadijevic said that this was
13 impossible because the Croats had gained in military strength to such
an
14 extent that they would attack his flanks and he would not be able to
reach
15 Zagreb. So the opinion prevailed in the end that Vukovar had to be
16 destroyed. This is my interpretation now, but it was the accused who
17 asked that Zagreb be attacked. The witness to this is my advisor who
told
18 me this.
19 JUDGE MAY: Let's follow this. When were you told that there had
20 been this discussion about Vukovar, Mr. Mesic? What sort of date are
we
21 dealing with?
22 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] This was the time when I was not
23 going to Belgrade, when there were frequent army attacks from Novi
Sad and
24 Belgrade against Vukovar, and my advisor was still in Belgrade. He
was in
25 Belgrade until Vukovar fell. And he used to come to see me by way of
Page 10737
1 Hungary, via Hungary.
2 MR. MILOSEVIC: [Interpretation]
3 Q. Mr. Mesic, do you know that the presidents of the republics at the
4 session of the Presidency, that they arrived only rarely and by
5 invitation, and that except on those rare occasions when all the other
6 presidents of the republics were present, I never took part in any
7 sessions of the Presidency? How can you put forward such fabrications,
8 such falsehoods? You should know that. And you say this was put to you
9 by your advisor --
10 JUDGE MAY: It's suggested, Mr. Mesic, that this is not true.
11 Perhaps you could answer that and then we'll adjourn.
12 THE WITNESS: [Interpretation] First I have to say that the accused
13 is now speculating. These are not sessions of the Presidency of the
SFRY,
14 because I know very well how any session chaired by me was convocated
[As
15 interpreted]. I'm speaking about sessions of the Rump Presidency. Who
16 they invited and how, I don't know. I only know what my advisor told
me.
17 JUDGE MAY: We're going to adjourn now. It's 2.00. Tomorrow
18 morning -- you can go on tomorrow morning about this.
19 JUDGE KWON: Before we adjourn and before too late, I'd like to
20 suggest the registrar to exhibit Mr. Mesic's transcript the in
Dokmanovic,
21 which we didn't.
22 THE REGISTRAR: Your Honours, I believe it was marked Exhibit 329.
23 JUDGE KWON: Those are exhibits.
24 THE REGISTRAR: I will look into that.
25 MR. NICE: I think the position is that part of the transcript was
Page 10738
1 marked on its side as exhibited pursuant to the 92 bis package and the
2 other part wasn't. So there might be grounds for simply taking the
whole
3 Dokmanovic transcript and exhibiting it as His Honour Judge Kwon
proposes.
4 JUDGE MAY: Just a moment. First of all, we'll deal with the
5 exhibit number. Yes.
6 THE REGISTRAR: Prosecution's Exhibit 331.
7 THE ACCUSED: [Interpretation] I asked that the other transcript,
8 which contains a more extensive testimony by Mr. Mesic, also be
tendered
9 into evidence. I will not say what the case is, because he was a
10 protected witness in that case.
11 JUDGE MAY: We haven't seen that. Is there any objection to that
12 being done?
13 MR. NICE: Can I think about that over night. One of my problems
14 is is that in two cases the page references of the accused don't
match the
15 transcript I have and I haven't been able to find the references he
made.
16 JUDGE MAY: We'll consider that overnight. Meanwhile, I would
17 remind everybody that we are sitting tomorrow from 9.00 in the
morning
18 until half past 4.00, 4.00 to half past tomorrow, 4.00 or half past
19 tomorrow.
20 Mr. Mesic, would you be back, please, for the first session
21 tomorrow. Thank you. 9.00 tomorrow.
22 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned at 2.04 p.m.,
23 to be reconvened on Thursday, the 3rd day of
24 October 2002, at 9.00 a.m.
25
***** Urgent Message from Sloboda (Freedom) Association and the
International
Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic!
The Freedom Association in Belgrade and the ICDSM, based outside
Yugoslavia, are the two
organizations formed at the request of Slobodan Milosevic to aid in his
defense.
Up until now our main work has been threefold. We have publicized the
truth about The
Hague's phony trial. We have organized research to help President
Milosevic expose
NATO's lies. And we have initiated legal action in the Dutch and
European Courts.
Now our job has increased. The defense phase of the "trial" starts in
May 2003. No longer
will Mr. Milosevic be limited to cross-examining Hague witnesses. The
prosecution will be
forced further onto the defensive as victims of NATO's aggression and
experts from
Yugoslavia and the NATO countries tell what really happened and expose
media lies.
Moreover, Mr. Milosevic will call leaders, from East and West, some
friendly and some
hostile to the truth.
The controlled mass media will undoubtedly try to suppress this
testimony as they have tried
to suppress Mr. Milosevic's cross-examinations. Nevertheless this phase
of the "trial" will
be the biggest international forum ever to expose NATO's use of racism,
violence and lies to
attack Yugoslavia.
We urgently need the help of all people who care about what is happening
in The Hague.
Right now, Nico Steijnen , the Dutch lawyer in the ICDSM, is waging
legal battles in the
Dutch courts and before the European Court, about which more news soon.
These efforts
urgently require financial support. We now maintain a small staff of
Yugoslav lawyers in
Holland, assisting and advising Mr. Milosevic full-time. We need to
expand our Dutch
facilities, perhaps bringing in a non-Yugoslav attorney full-time.
Definitely we must
guarantee that we have an office and office manager available at all
times, to compile and
process evidence and for meetings with witnesses and lawyers and as a
base for organizing
press conferences.
All this costs money. And for this, we rely on those who want Mr.
Milosevic to have the best
possible support for attacking NATO's lies.
************
Here's how you can help...
************
* You may contribute by credit card. By the end of September we will
have an ICDSM
secure server so you can contribute directly on the Internet.
For now, you can contribute by credit card in two ways: *
You can Contribute by Credit Card over the Telephone by calling:
ICDSM office, USA: 1 617 916-1705
SLOBODA (Freedom) Association office, Belgrade: 381 63 279 819
You can Contribute using PayPal at:
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=icdsm%40aol.com
PayPal accepts VISA and MasterCard
You can Contribute by mail to:
ICDSM
831 Beacon St., #295
Newton Centre, MA 02459 (USA)
- OR -
You can Contribute by wire transfer to Sloboda Association
Intermediary:
UBS AG
Zurich, Switzerland
Swift Code: UBSWCHZH
Account with:
/ 756 - CHF
/ 840 - USD
/ 978 - EUR
Kmercijalna Banka AD
SV. Save 14, 11000 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Swift Code: KOBBYUBG
Beneficiary: Account No. 5428-1246-16154-6
SLOBODA
Rajiceva 16, 11000 Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Thank you!
http://emperor.vwh.net/icdsm
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 11:34:28 -0500 (EST)
From: "Wolfgang Mueller"
Subject: The "Last" Republic Day
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 04:18:34 EST
From: Petokraka78
Subject: The "Last" Republic Day
The "Last" Republic Day
By: K. Kilibarda
Nov. 29, 2002 - Today is the "last" Republic Day to be celebrated in
Yugoslavia. The day was designed to commemorate the establishment of
communist Yugoslavia and to remember the forging of a national
liberation project out of a bloody conflict triggered by Nazi German
and Italian fascist occupation of the Balkans. It was a decisive
break with the old monarchical system and a step towards a new future
of free peoples.
The current nationalist and monarchist tendencies in the DOS regime
have sought to put an end to this "communist" holliday, fittingly
exised by the Yugoslav parliament as the country lurches into deeper
and deeper colonization and its final dissolution.
A "constitutional reform" is being foisted upon the country by Javier
Solana, who three years ago led the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, in
a top-down process that nobody in the country really wants and has no
other purpose but to wipe the name "Yugoslavia" off the world map.
"Republic Day" and "Yugoslavia" aren't the only things
being "cleansed" by NATO from the Balkan space - new history books in
Serbia, for instance, now teach children that contrary to "myth" the
rulers of the medieval Serbian state didn't develop an advanced
Byzantine civilization, but instead probably lived in mud-huts and
were inferior to the kingdoms in Western Europe.
Yet the assumption that by wiping out memory one can wipe out
resistance is foolish. Next year Yugoslavia will remember the popular
deposition of the pro-Hapsburgh Obrenovic dynasty in 1903 - which
incidently shares many similiarities with the DOS regime, including
the contempt with which they are held in by the people - and in 2004
the 200 year anniversary of the first Serbian uprising that set in
motion the process of national liberation for the peoples of the
Balkans will also be marked (coincidently the same year that the
Haitian people liberated themselves from colonial oppression and
established the first state of freed slaves in the modern world).
History also has a lesson for fascist puppet regimes, like the one
that rules in Serbia currently under the DOS and its twin evil in
Montenegro, the DPS.
The people of Serbia rose up in 1941 against the regency that had
signed onto the Axis Pact and soundly rejected this policy of
collaboration and servility (and eventually defeating Serbian
fascists like Stojadinovic, Nedic, Ljotic, and of course Djurisic in
Montenegro).
It is noteworthy that many DOS ideologues believe that "the Serbs"
made a "foolish" mistake for resisting Hitler, essentially arguing
that Serbia would have been better off if the Serbs never resisted
Nazi occupation.
In the late 1980s it was workers throughout Yugoslavia, but
particularly in Serbia - where 2 out of every three workers slated to
lose their jobs under Ante Markovic's reforms aimed at liquidating
nearly 2,500 state firms - that stood up and said no to the
neoliberal agenda.
In 1989, workers in Montenegro seized power of the government and
refused to cooperate with the neoliberal agenda (and this episode has
already long-ago been forgotten in discourses about the Yugoslav
wars).
In fact what happened in the republics of Serbia and Montenegro was
that the people chose the wrong script for what was supposed to
be "The End of History".
But why look to the past? In fact, resistance is fertile in
Yugoslavia at this very moment, with strikes, blockades, boycots,
protests and hunger fasts being employed by citizens to once again
resist the imposition of a neoliberal agenda on Yugoslavia.
The walls of the country proclaim the dissolusionment with
DOS: "propaDOSmo" (we've been ruined), "DOS-TA" (Enough!), and "GOTOV
JE DOS" (DOS is Finished) can be seen on most street corners.
While the colonizer and collaborators may relish in erradicating the
people's memory of resistence, the project will never be accomplished
so long as there are people to resist.
They may not have a party that represents them, they may not have a
leader yet, but the people of these lands will sooner or later show
the occupier the way out (as they have done so many times in the
past). It's only a matter of time before the people celebrate another
victory and another evil is relegated to the history books...
From: "Wolfgang Mueller"
Subject: The "Last" Republic Day
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 04:18:34 EST
From: Petokraka78
Subject: The "Last" Republic Day
The "Last" Republic Day
By: K. Kilibarda
Nov. 29, 2002 - Today is the "last" Republic Day to be celebrated in
Yugoslavia. The day was designed to commemorate the establishment of
communist Yugoslavia and to remember the forging of a national
liberation project out of a bloody conflict triggered by Nazi German
and Italian fascist occupation of the Balkans. It was a decisive
break with the old monarchical system and a step towards a new future
of free peoples.
The current nationalist and monarchist tendencies in the DOS regime
have sought to put an end to this "communist" holliday, fittingly
exised by the Yugoslav parliament as the country lurches into deeper
and deeper colonization and its final dissolution.
A "constitutional reform" is being foisted upon the country by Javier
Solana, who three years ago led the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, in
a top-down process that nobody in the country really wants and has no
other purpose but to wipe the name "Yugoslavia" off the world map.
"Republic Day" and "Yugoslavia" aren't the only things
being "cleansed" by NATO from the Balkan space - new history books in
Serbia, for instance, now teach children that contrary to "myth" the
rulers of the medieval Serbian state didn't develop an advanced
Byzantine civilization, but instead probably lived in mud-huts and
were inferior to the kingdoms in Western Europe.
Yet the assumption that by wiping out memory one can wipe out
resistance is foolish. Next year Yugoslavia will remember the popular
deposition of the pro-Hapsburgh Obrenovic dynasty in 1903 - which
incidently shares many similiarities with the DOS regime, including
the contempt with which they are held in by the people - and in 2004
the 200 year anniversary of the first Serbian uprising that set in
motion the process of national liberation for the peoples of the
Balkans will also be marked (coincidently the same year that the
Haitian people liberated themselves from colonial oppression and
established the first state of freed slaves in the modern world).
History also has a lesson for fascist puppet regimes, like the one
that rules in Serbia currently under the DOS and its twin evil in
Montenegro, the DPS.
The people of Serbia rose up in 1941 against the regency that had
signed onto the Axis Pact and soundly rejected this policy of
collaboration and servility (and eventually defeating Serbian
fascists like Stojadinovic, Nedic, Ljotic, and of course Djurisic in
Montenegro).
It is noteworthy that many DOS ideologues believe that "the Serbs"
made a "foolish" mistake for resisting Hitler, essentially arguing
that Serbia would have been better off if the Serbs never resisted
Nazi occupation.
In the late 1980s it was workers throughout Yugoslavia, but
particularly in Serbia - where 2 out of every three workers slated to
lose their jobs under Ante Markovic's reforms aimed at liquidating
nearly 2,500 state firms - that stood up and said no to the
neoliberal agenda.
In 1989, workers in Montenegro seized power of the government and
refused to cooperate with the neoliberal agenda (and this episode has
already long-ago been forgotten in discourses about the Yugoslav
wars).
In fact what happened in the republics of Serbia and Montenegro was
that the people chose the wrong script for what was supposed to
be "The End of History".
But why look to the past? In fact, resistance is fertile in
Yugoslavia at this very moment, with strikes, blockades, boycots,
protests and hunger fasts being employed by citizens to once again
resist the imposition of a neoliberal agenda on Yugoslavia.
The walls of the country proclaim the dissolusionment with
DOS: "propaDOSmo" (we've been ruined), "DOS-TA" (Enough!), and "GOTOV
JE DOS" (DOS is Finished) can be seen on most street corners.
While the colonizer and collaborators may relish in erradicating the
people's memory of resistence, the project will never be accomplished
so long as there are people to resist.
They may not have a party that represents them, they may not have a
leader yet, but the people of these lands will sooner or later show
the occupier the way out (as they have done so many times in the
past). It's only a matter of time before the people celebrate another
victory and another evil is relegated to the history books...
Giriamo questa intervista a Kostunica - sperando di poterla tradurre
presto anche in italiano - che contiene, anche tra le righe, molte
informazioni interessanti, negate alla nostra opinione pubblica. Tra
queste:
* Il famoso gruppo di funzionari della Banca Mondiale e del FMI,
"G17", diventerà un partito.
* Si parla della "lustracija" in atto nelle istituzioni
serbe/jugoslave. "Lustracija" e' un termine eufemisticamente adoperato
e lanciato da Bozidar Djelic - uomo dei francesi che prima di andare
in missione "imperiale" post-Milosevic a Belgrado lavorava per
Disneyland... Abbiamo visto tutti come hanno "lustrato" dopo il 5
ottobre le aziende, gli enti ed i ministeri nella Serbia, cacciando i
socialisti ed i sindacalisti con le botte ed i licenziamenti di massa.
La chiamano "lustracija" ma sono *purghe* vere e proprie.
(a cura di Olga ed Andrea)
---
http://www.glas-javnosti.co.yu/danas/srpski/I02120101.shtml
Glas javnosti, 2.decembar, 2002.
Intervju:
Vojislav Kostunica, predsednicki kandidat
DSS, o izborima, ustavnoj povelji, srpskim
strankama
Demokratske promene koce jaki ljudi na vlasti
Izbore je raspisala Vlada Srbije: ako ne uspeju, Vlada je
odgovorna za to
- Ako se izbori raspisu u nevreme, u vreme kada to nije
moralo, onda je jasno da su prepreke namerno
postavljene. Za to vreme mogla je da se zavrsi ustavna
povelja da bi zemlja mogla da postane clan Saveta Evrope.
Da smo krajem avgusta sve snage tome posvetili, taj posao
bismo zavrsili. Izbori su toboze ranije raspisani da bi se
zavrsili do kraja godine. Medutim, nekima je sasvim
svejedno da li ce Srbija imati predsednika. Smatraju da
nam ne treba niz institucija, sem Vlade i premijera - kaze
Vojislav Kostunica, predsednik SRJ i predsednicki
kandidat DSS-a na izborima 8. decembra.
U intervjuu "Glasu javnosti", Kostunica ukazuje da je u
prethodnom periodu Skupstina tavorila, a da pre toga
dugo nije obrazovan Ustavni sud.
............................
Moguca saradnja
Kako komentarisete najavu da ce G17 Plus da se
transformise u politicku stranku.
- Za mene je pozitivno da oni nemaju potcenjivacki
odnos prema izborima i imaju drugaciji odnos prema
institucijama nego Demokratska stranka. Oni imaju
odgovoran
stav, i to je osnov i za neku saradnju. Mozemo da
razgovaramo, ali ne moramo da se slozimo o svemu. Ali,
u razgovor se ne moze uci unapred ocekujuci da ce druga
strana prihvatiti sve. To je bio nas problem u
komunikaciji sa DS-om.
..............................
Kome je u interesu da ovi izbori propadnu?
- Srbiji je potreban novi ustav, sto podrazumeva siroku
javnu debatu. Ta debata i novi ustav vode nas necemu
vrlo nepozeljnom za Vladu Srbije, a to su novi, odnosno
prevremeni parlamentarni izbori. I tu se nalazimo u
vrzinom kolu, posto Vlada to nece. Zato pokusavaju da
osujete predsednicke izbore, koje dodatno obesmisljavaju
pricom da predsednik ne treba da se bira na neposrednim
izborima. Jednostavno, tu se radi samo o nastojanju da se
vlast koncentrise na jednom mestu i da bude sto
veca. A upravo smo protiv toga bili kad smo pozvali
gradane da nas podrze 2000.
DOS nije zauzeo jedinstven stav oko izbora. Sta je
konkretno DS trazio od Vas u zamenu za podrsku?
- Nejedinstvo DOS-a je prirodno, jer je on stvoren da bi
obavio jedan zadatak. Nije ni ranije bilo jedinstvenog
gledanja na drzavu, ekonomske promene, stanje u zemlji i
to se vremenom samo pojacalo. To se pokazalo i na
poslednjoj sednici DOS-a, jer su se stranke prakticno
podelile na one koje imaju odgovoran odnos prema drzavi,
koje su za vlast omedenu institucijama, i na one koje
su za odsustvo zakona, slabije institucije, a mocne,
cak svemocne pojedince. To je suprotno demokratskom
preuredenju zemlje i vladavini prava. Moji stavovi su
poznati i nisu se menjali ni pre ni posle 2000. godine i
sve politicke stranke koje se zalazu za demokratski razvoj
imaju mogucnost da podrze te stavove.
Prica celnika DS - da vidimo program, vi podrzite Vladu
Srbije, pa cemo i mi vas - neodoljivo podseca na izgovore
koje su nama pre desetak godina postavljali socijalisti.
Kome nije jasna razlika izmedu mog i programa Vojislava
Seselja? Srbija bira izmedu jedne demokratske opcije i
druge koja ima mnogo elemenata demagogije,
neodgovornosti i nudi stanje kakvo je bilo pre 24.
septembra. Mi sad biramo hocemo li da se vratimo dve
godine unazad ili hocemo da idemo dalje uz jedan normalan
dijalog. Predsednik Vlade, medutim, dijalog shvata
iskljucivo kao pohvale Vladi.
Optimista ste kada je rec o uspehu izbora, ali ako se desi
suprotno, ne iskljucujete mogucnost pada Vlade. Kako
DSS to moze da ostvari?
- Izbori su raspisani pod uslovima koje je odredila
prakticno Vlada Srbije, odnosno vladajuca grupacija. Ako
ti izbori ne uspeju, uz sav trud koji ulaze javnost,
medunarodna zajednica i svi koji su se angazovali, pitanje
je ko bi snosio odgovornost osim onoga ko ih je raspisao.
Izbori su kod nas organizovani po kriterijumima koje
je uveo Slobodan Milosevic, a preuzela Vlada Srbije.
Nema cak ni sredenih birackih spiskova, upisani su i oni
koji ne mogu da glasaju jer vise nisu medu zivima, vlast ne
omogucava da glasaju oni koji imaju nase drzavljanstvo, a
zive u inostranstvu, imamo problem invalida.
..........................
Podrska iz sveta
Postoje razlicite pretpostavke o podrsci nasim strankama
iz inostranih centara moci.
- Svet razlicito kalkulise, u pojedinim zemljama oni bi da
podrze i nekog ko nema mnogo uticaja, i to pokusavaju
na mnoge nacine. Ja sam potpuno miran i spokojan
iako me neki drugi podrzavaju, ne samo Evropljani koji su
nam najblizi, svesni cinjenice da tu podrsku imam i u
narodu, a to je ipak najvaznije.
...............................
U septembru je krajnje licemerno napravljena kozmeticka
promena: "sirokogrudo" je ukinut cenzus u drugom
krugu, ali je ostavljen za prvi. Zato, ako predsednicki
izbori ne uspeju, onda su tu drugi - parlamentarni. U tom
slucaju morace da se promeni redosled i to ce nam
oduzeti jos vremena kada je rec o radu na novom ustavu. Vlada
Srbije sada ima klimavu vecinu, a to se videlo nedavno pri
utvrdivanju dnevnog reda u Skupstini Srbije.
Da li je moguc kompromis sa DS-om buduci da sve
ukazuje da ce i posle sledecih parlamentarnih izbora
koalicije biti neminovne?
- Bice neophodne koalicije, ali zdrave. To su one koje se
sklapaju posle, a ne pre izbora. Sada ima stranaka koje
politicki nista ne znace, a samim tim nemaju nikakvu
odgovornost. Jednim madionicarskim trikom predsednik
DS-a Zoran Dindic tu njihovu nemoc pretvara u moc.
Glasovi se sabiraju u virtuelnom telu koje se zove
Predsednistvo DOS-a.
Posto ne sme da se suoci s cinjenicom da nema podrsku
u birackom telu, Dindic vredno sabira glasove "velikih"
stranaka, kao sto su Koalicija "Za Sumadiju",
Perisiceva i stranka Veselinova. Sve kombinacije posle
izbora su moguce, kad se prode kroz sito i reseto i kad se
odmeri realna snaga. DS sad trazi podrsku u
strankama koje su jedva mikroskopski vidljive.
Vas je slogan "Za demokratsku Srbiju", koje nema bez
reformi. U cemu se razlikuje Vas i plan premijera Srbije?
- Razlika nije u brzini, to su pogresne pretpostavke: ja
sam cak za brze reforme. Za to sam da Srbija dobije novi
ustav, a to je moglo da se desi i pre ustavne povelje.
Jer, kad smo potpisali Beogradski sporazum, mi smo vec
imali konture drzavne zajednice. Kad se pogleda prica o
demokratskim, jakim institucijama i o podeli vlasti,
jasno se vidi da premijer i ja imamo potpuno razlicita
gledista. Teret promena moraju podjednako poneti svi. To
je moguce samo dijalogom izmedu sindikata, vlasti i
poslodavaca.
Medutim, svedoci smo da pojedina tela, kojima je Vlada
Srbije poverila borbu protiv korupcije, napustaju ljudi koji
su tu usli iz najboljih namera. I tu se nista ne menja. I
dalje postoji sprega ljudi kojima je dobro islo u starom
rezimu, a kojima dobro ide i sada. Oni su samo promenili
gospodara.
Nisam, medutim, za lustraciju jer je to za mene cistka, ne
zna se gde bi se pocelo, ni gde bi se stalo, a imali bismo i
velike potrese u drustvu. Neprihvatljivo je i to da
malo-malo neko iz Vlade Srbije kaze da neku sudsku
presudu nece postovati. Znaci, ili cemo imati sistem u
kome ce sudstvo biti vazno, ili ce biti samo privezak vlasti.
Kompromis je neophodan za usvajanje ustavne povelje -
ko sad treba da popusti?
- Ustavnu povelju treba da usvoje sve tri skupstine,
najpre republicke pa Savezna. Nadam se da ce SNP da
prihvati odgovornost i da ce kod njih prevladati stav da
ono sto je nedavno dobijeno nije Dukanoviceva vec njihova
pobeda. On je taj koji je po svaku cenu bio protiv
neposrednih izbora i imao je psiholoski problem da
izgovori te dve reci. U ustavnoj povelji bice zapisano da
su neposredni izbori pravilo, a da su posredni izuzetak.
Dvojica vasih protivkandidata stalno pominju zastitu
nasih nacionalnih interesa. Sta su sad nasi nacionalni
interesi?
- Srbiji je potrebno donosenje novog ustava, potrebno je
da se poveca bezbednost na Kosovu i Metohiji, da se vrate
raseljeni, da pocne da se realizuje Sporazum o
slobodnoj trgovini. Takode, treba da pocne da se resava i
jedno od najbolnijih pitanja, a to je mogucnost povratka,
integracije i imovinskog statusa izbeglica. Interes je da
se regulisu odnosi s nasim najprirodnijim okruzenjem, sa
Evropom, sa Amerikom, Rusijom, Kinom... Potrebno je
da se koriste mogucnosti ekonomske saradnje sa
zemljama Treceg sveta koje su bili nasi jaki poslovni
partneri. Na njihovom trzistu imamo daleko vece sanse
nego na zapadnoevropskom.
Sta nam predstoji u saradnji s Haskim tribunalom?
- Ta saradnja se ne moze izbeci, ali ona mora da bude
dvosmerna i malo vise u nasu korist nego sto je to bilo
dosad. Jer i Haski tribunal mora da preuzme odredene
obaveze kad je rec o ljudima koji su se dobrovoljno
predali. Garancije za odbranu sa slobode dali su Savezna i
Republicka vlada, ali do njihovog pustanja nije doslo.
Nisu ispostovali tu nepisanu obavezu. Hasko tuzilastvo je
veoma zahtevno i ono stvara jednu projekciju dogadaja.
Odgovornih ima na svim stranama, a neki uopste nisu
spomenuti. Deo vlasti se vise ponasao kao filijala Haskog
suda umesto da budu servis sopstvene drzave i da Hag
suocavaju sa dokumentacijom koja ce baciti drugacije
svetlo na odredene dogadaje, posebno kada je rec o
pocetku rata.
U nezvanicnom izvestaju Medunarodne krizne grupe tvrdi
se da ste i Vi znali za poslove sa Irakom. Sta je istina?
- Cim smo dosli do odredenih podataka, odmah su
preuzete mere da se sve ispita. Jer moglo je da se
posumnja da je trgovina koja je obavljana pod starim rezimom
u nekom obliku i nastavljena. Formirane su komisije koje to
treba sve da ispitaju, Skupstina ce se time baviti i sve ce
izaci na povrsinu, iako se ne radi o trgovini opasnim i
smrtonosnim oruzjem. Ali, postoje sankcije UN i one su
zakon. Izvestaj MKG cak ni ne postoji na njihovom sajtu.
Nije prvi put da mi MKG nesto podmece. Uostalom, ta
grupa je tipovala da ce Milosevic da pobedi 2000. godine i
tom ocenom su i agitovali da se to ostvari. Cini se da
njihov cilj nije suzbijanje nego podsticanje krize.
Kakav je vas stav povodom tuzbe SRJ protiv NATO?
- Ono sto je NATO uradio u Srbiji nije relikt proslog
rezima, vec pitanje njihove odgovornosti. To pitanje mora
da ostane otvoreno, posebno sto su tu tuzbe BiH i
Hrvatske podnete takode Medunarodnom sudu pravde u Hagu.
Bilo je zlocina sa svih strana i odgovornost za to se ne
moze izbeci. Tuzba mora da ostane bas zbog tuzbi koje su
podnete protiv nase zemlje, zbog materijalne i moralne
satisfakcije.
Dragutin Stevanovic
presto anche in italiano - che contiene, anche tra le righe, molte
informazioni interessanti, negate alla nostra opinione pubblica. Tra
queste:
* Il famoso gruppo di funzionari della Banca Mondiale e del FMI,
"G17", diventerà un partito.
* Si parla della "lustracija" in atto nelle istituzioni
serbe/jugoslave. "Lustracija" e' un termine eufemisticamente adoperato
e lanciato da Bozidar Djelic - uomo dei francesi che prima di andare
in missione "imperiale" post-Milosevic a Belgrado lavorava per
Disneyland... Abbiamo visto tutti come hanno "lustrato" dopo il 5
ottobre le aziende, gli enti ed i ministeri nella Serbia, cacciando i
socialisti ed i sindacalisti con le botte ed i licenziamenti di massa.
La chiamano "lustracija" ma sono *purghe* vere e proprie.
(a cura di Olga ed Andrea)
---
http://www.glas-javnosti.co.yu/danas/srpski/I02120101.shtml
Glas javnosti, 2.decembar, 2002.
Intervju:
Vojislav Kostunica, predsednicki kandidat
DSS, o izborima, ustavnoj povelji, srpskim
strankama
Demokratske promene koce jaki ljudi na vlasti
Izbore je raspisala Vlada Srbije: ako ne uspeju, Vlada je
odgovorna za to
- Ako se izbori raspisu u nevreme, u vreme kada to nije
moralo, onda je jasno da su prepreke namerno
postavljene. Za to vreme mogla je da se zavrsi ustavna
povelja da bi zemlja mogla da postane clan Saveta Evrope.
Da smo krajem avgusta sve snage tome posvetili, taj posao
bismo zavrsili. Izbori su toboze ranije raspisani da bi se
zavrsili do kraja godine. Medutim, nekima je sasvim
svejedno da li ce Srbija imati predsednika. Smatraju da
nam ne treba niz institucija, sem Vlade i premijera - kaze
Vojislav Kostunica, predsednik SRJ i predsednicki
kandidat DSS-a na izborima 8. decembra.
U intervjuu "Glasu javnosti", Kostunica ukazuje da je u
prethodnom periodu Skupstina tavorila, a da pre toga
dugo nije obrazovan Ustavni sud.
............................
Moguca saradnja
Kako komentarisete najavu da ce G17 Plus da se
transformise u politicku stranku.
- Za mene je pozitivno da oni nemaju potcenjivacki
odnos prema izborima i imaju drugaciji odnos prema
institucijama nego Demokratska stranka. Oni imaju
odgovoran
stav, i to je osnov i za neku saradnju. Mozemo da
razgovaramo, ali ne moramo da se slozimo o svemu. Ali,
u razgovor se ne moze uci unapred ocekujuci da ce druga
strana prihvatiti sve. To je bio nas problem u
komunikaciji sa DS-om.
..............................
Kome je u interesu da ovi izbori propadnu?
- Srbiji je potreban novi ustav, sto podrazumeva siroku
javnu debatu. Ta debata i novi ustav vode nas necemu
vrlo nepozeljnom za Vladu Srbije, a to su novi, odnosno
prevremeni parlamentarni izbori. I tu se nalazimo u
vrzinom kolu, posto Vlada to nece. Zato pokusavaju da
osujete predsednicke izbore, koje dodatno obesmisljavaju
pricom da predsednik ne treba da se bira na neposrednim
izborima. Jednostavno, tu se radi samo o nastojanju da se
vlast koncentrise na jednom mestu i da bude sto
veca. A upravo smo protiv toga bili kad smo pozvali
gradane da nas podrze 2000.
DOS nije zauzeo jedinstven stav oko izbora. Sta je
konkretno DS trazio od Vas u zamenu za podrsku?
- Nejedinstvo DOS-a je prirodno, jer je on stvoren da bi
obavio jedan zadatak. Nije ni ranije bilo jedinstvenog
gledanja na drzavu, ekonomske promene, stanje u zemlji i
to se vremenom samo pojacalo. To se pokazalo i na
poslednjoj sednici DOS-a, jer su se stranke prakticno
podelile na one koje imaju odgovoran odnos prema drzavi,
koje su za vlast omedenu institucijama, i na one koje
su za odsustvo zakona, slabije institucije, a mocne,
cak svemocne pojedince. To je suprotno demokratskom
preuredenju zemlje i vladavini prava. Moji stavovi su
poznati i nisu se menjali ni pre ni posle 2000. godine i
sve politicke stranke koje se zalazu za demokratski razvoj
imaju mogucnost da podrze te stavove.
Prica celnika DS - da vidimo program, vi podrzite Vladu
Srbije, pa cemo i mi vas - neodoljivo podseca na izgovore
koje su nama pre desetak godina postavljali socijalisti.
Kome nije jasna razlika izmedu mog i programa Vojislava
Seselja? Srbija bira izmedu jedne demokratske opcije i
druge koja ima mnogo elemenata demagogije,
neodgovornosti i nudi stanje kakvo je bilo pre 24.
septembra. Mi sad biramo hocemo li da se vratimo dve
godine unazad ili hocemo da idemo dalje uz jedan normalan
dijalog. Predsednik Vlade, medutim, dijalog shvata
iskljucivo kao pohvale Vladi.
Optimista ste kada je rec o uspehu izbora, ali ako se desi
suprotno, ne iskljucujete mogucnost pada Vlade. Kako
DSS to moze da ostvari?
- Izbori su raspisani pod uslovima koje je odredila
prakticno Vlada Srbije, odnosno vladajuca grupacija. Ako
ti izbori ne uspeju, uz sav trud koji ulaze javnost,
medunarodna zajednica i svi koji su se angazovali, pitanje
je ko bi snosio odgovornost osim onoga ko ih je raspisao.
Izbori su kod nas organizovani po kriterijumima koje
je uveo Slobodan Milosevic, a preuzela Vlada Srbije.
Nema cak ni sredenih birackih spiskova, upisani su i oni
koji ne mogu da glasaju jer vise nisu medu zivima, vlast ne
omogucava da glasaju oni koji imaju nase drzavljanstvo, a
zive u inostranstvu, imamo problem invalida.
..........................
Podrska iz sveta
Postoje razlicite pretpostavke o podrsci nasim strankama
iz inostranih centara moci.
- Svet razlicito kalkulise, u pojedinim zemljama oni bi da
podrze i nekog ko nema mnogo uticaja, i to pokusavaju
na mnoge nacine. Ja sam potpuno miran i spokojan
iako me neki drugi podrzavaju, ne samo Evropljani koji su
nam najblizi, svesni cinjenice da tu podrsku imam i u
narodu, a to je ipak najvaznije.
...............................
U septembru je krajnje licemerno napravljena kozmeticka
promena: "sirokogrudo" je ukinut cenzus u drugom
krugu, ali je ostavljen za prvi. Zato, ako predsednicki
izbori ne uspeju, onda su tu drugi - parlamentarni. U tom
slucaju morace da se promeni redosled i to ce nam
oduzeti jos vremena kada je rec o radu na novom ustavu. Vlada
Srbije sada ima klimavu vecinu, a to se videlo nedavno pri
utvrdivanju dnevnog reda u Skupstini Srbije.
Da li je moguc kompromis sa DS-om buduci da sve
ukazuje da ce i posle sledecih parlamentarnih izbora
koalicije biti neminovne?
- Bice neophodne koalicije, ali zdrave. To su one koje se
sklapaju posle, a ne pre izbora. Sada ima stranaka koje
politicki nista ne znace, a samim tim nemaju nikakvu
odgovornost. Jednim madionicarskim trikom predsednik
DS-a Zoran Dindic tu njihovu nemoc pretvara u moc.
Glasovi se sabiraju u virtuelnom telu koje se zove
Predsednistvo DOS-a.
Posto ne sme da se suoci s cinjenicom da nema podrsku
u birackom telu, Dindic vredno sabira glasove "velikih"
stranaka, kao sto su Koalicija "Za Sumadiju",
Perisiceva i stranka Veselinova. Sve kombinacije posle
izbora su moguce, kad se prode kroz sito i reseto i kad se
odmeri realna snaga. DS sad trazi podrsku u
strankama koje su jedva mikroskopski vidljive.
Vas je slogan "Za demokratsku Srbiju", koje nema bez
reformi. U cemu se razlikuje Vas i plan premijera Srbije?
- Razlika nije u brzini, to su pogresne pretpostavke: ja
sam cak za brze reforme. Za to sam da Srbija dobije novi
ustav, a to je moglo da se desi i pre ustavne povelje.
Jer, kad smo potpisali Beogradski sporazum, mi smo vec
imali konture drzavne zajednice. Kad se pogleda prica o
demokratskim, jakim institucijama i o podeli vlasti,
jasno se vidi da premijer i ja imamo potpuno razlicita
gledista. Teret promena moraju podjednako poneti svi. To
je moguce samo dijalogom izmedu sindikata, vlasti i
poslodavaca.
Medutim, svedoci smo da pojedina tela, kojima je Vlada
Srbije poverila borbu protiv korupcije, napustaju ljudi koji
su tu usli iz najboljih namera. I tu se nista ne menja. I
dalje postoji sprega ljudi kojima je dobro islo u starom
rezimu, a kojima dobro ide i sada. Oni su samo promenili
gospodara.
Nisam, medutim, za lustraciju jer je to za mene cistka, ne
zna se gde bi se pocelo, ni gde bi se stalo, a imali bismo i
velike potrese u drustvu. Neprihvatljivo je i to da
malo-malo neko iz Vlade Srbije kaze da neku sudsku
presudu nece postovati. Znaci, ili cemo imati sistem u
kome ce sudstvo biti vazno, ili ce biti samo privezak vlasti.
Kompromis je neophodan za usvajanje ustavne povelje -
ko sad treba da popusti?
- Ustavnu povelju treba da usvoje sve tri skupstine,
najpre republicke pa Savezna. Nadam se da ce SNP da
prihvati odgovornost i da ce kod njih prevladati stav da
ono sto je nedavno dobijeno nije Dukanoviceva vec njihova
pobeda. On je taj koji je po svaku cenu bio protiv
neposrednih izbora i imao je psiholoski problem da
izgovori te dve reci. U ustavnoj povelji bice zapisano da
su neposredni izbori pravilo, a da su posredni izuzetak.
Dvojica vasih protivkandidata stalno pominju zastitu
nasih nacionalnih interesa. Sta su sad nasi nacionalni
interesi?
- Srbiji je potrebno donosenje novog ustava, potrebno je
da se poveca bezbednost na Kosovu i Metohiji, da se vrate
raseljeni, da pocne da se realizuje Sporazum o
slobodnoj trgovini. Takode, treba da pocne da se resava i
jedno od najbolnijih pitanja, a to je mogucnost povratka,
integracije i imovinskog statusa izbeglica. Interes je da
se regulisu odnosi s nasim najprirodnijim okruzenjem, sa
Evropom, sa Amerikom, Rusijom, Kinom... Potrebno je
da se koriste mogucnosti ekonomske saradnje sa
zemljama Treceg sveta koje su bili nasi jaki poslovni
partneri. Na njihovom trzistu imamo daleko vece sanse
nego na zapadnoevropskom.
Sta nam predstoji u saradnji s Haskim tribunalom?
- Ta saradnja se ne moze izbeci, ali ona mora da bude
dvosmerna i malo vise u nasu korist nego sto je to bilo
dosad. Jer i Haski tribunal mora da preuzme odredene
obaveze kad je rec o ljudima koji su se dobrovoljno
predali. Garancije za odbranu sa slobode dali su Savezna i
Republicka vlada, ali do njihovog pustanja nije doslo.
Nisu ispostovali tu nepisanu obavezu. Hasko tuzilastvo je
veoma zahtevno i ono stvara jednu projekciju dogadaja.
Odgovornih ima na svim stranama, a neki uopste nisu
spomenuti. Deo vlasti se vise ponasao kao filijala Haskog
suda umesto da budu servis sopstvene drzave i da Hag
suocavaju sa dokumentacijom koja ce baciti drugacije
svetlo na odredene dogadaje, posebno kada je rec o
pocetku rata.
U nezvanicnom izvestaju Medunarodne krizne grupe tvrdi
se da ste i Vi znali za poslove sa Irakom. Sta je istina?
- Cim smo dosli do odredenih podataka, odmah su
preuzete mere da se sve ispita. Jer moglo je da se
posumnja da je trgovina koja je obavljana pod starim rezimom
u nekom obliku i nastavljena. Formirane su komisije koje to
treba sve da ispitaju, Skupstina ce se time baviti i sve ce
izaci na povrsinu, iako se ne radi o trgovini opasnim i
smrtonosnim oruzjem. Ali, postoje sankcije UN i one su
zakon. Izvestaj MKG cak ni ne postoji na njihovom sajtu.
Nije prvi put da mi MKG nesto podmece. Uostalom, ta
grupa je tipovala da ce Milosevic da pobedi 2000. godine i
tom ocenom su i agitovali da se to ostvari. Cini se da
njihov cilj nije suzbijanje nego podsticanje krize.
Kakav je vas stav povodom tuzbe SRJ protiv NATO?
- Ono sto je NATO uradio u Srbiji nije relikt proslog
rezima, vec pitanje njihove odgovornosti. To pitanje mora
da ostane otvoreno, posebno sto su tu tuzbe BiH i
Hrvatske podnete takode Medunarodnom sudu pravde u Hagu.
Bilo je zlocina sa svih strana i odgovornost za to se ne
moze izbeci. Tuzba mora da ostane bas zbog tuzbi koje su
podnete protiv nase zemlje, zbog materijalne i moralne
satisfakcije.
Dragutin Stevanovic
Felipe Turover:
"Carla Del Ponte ha rivelato ai killer come trovarmi"
Articolo apparso sulla rivista KONKRET, dicembre 2002
Vedi anche:
http://www.konkret-verlage.de
http://www.juergen-elsaesser.de
"La giustizia è donna" aveva detto il Segretario Generale dell'ONU,
Kofi Annan, riferendosi a Carla Del Ponte, Pubblico Ministero nel
processo presso il Tribunale dell'Aia contro Slobodan Milosevic. Sono
invece di tutt'altro segno le esperienze fatte da Felipe Turover con
il magistrato svizzero. L'uomo, un trentasettenne, proviene da una
famiglia spagnola repubblicana; i suoi genitori erano fuggiti da
Franco, assieme a lui, nell'Unione Sovietica. Dopo la morte del
dittatore, Turover tornò nella sua patria per ritornare di nuovo a
Mosca, verso la fine degli anni Ottanta, in veste di consulente
finanziario, pronto a partecipare agli sviluppi positivi promessi
dalla Perestrojka. Ha lavorato con il governo Jelzin dal 1992 fino al
1999, nella cogestione dei crediti con le banche creditrici
occidentali.
(Intervista)
Elsaesser: Lei è il testimone principale dell'accusa nell'affare
Mabetex, diventato famoso come "Russia-Gate". Di che cosa si tratta e
come c'entra Carla Del Ponte con questo affare?
Turover: La Mabetex è un'azienda che opera nel settore dell'edilizia,
con sede a Lugano, nella Svizzera italiana. Titolare dell'azienda è
l'albanese-kosovaro Beghijet Pacolli, che nel frattempo ha ottenuto un
passaporto svizzero. Pacolli ed il suo socio d'affari, Viktor
Stolpowskich, durante gli anni Novanta hanno ricevuto dal Cremlino
appalti nell'ordine di due miliardi di Euro, in divisa odierna,
apparentemente per lavori di costruzione e di risanamento nel
quartiere governativo e presidenziale.
E' ormai provato che nell'ambito di questi appalti sono scomparsi
miliardi di dollari verso l'estero e, in direzione opposta, sono
affluite a Mosca tangenti miliardarie. Pacolli ha firmato le
fidejussioni per carte di credito intestate a Jelzin ed alle due
figlie di Jelzin, secondo quanto viene confermato dalla Banca del
Gottardo che aveva emesso le carte di credito.
Carla del Ponte, all'epoca Pubblico Ministero della Confederazione, si
era messa in contatto con me durante l'anno 1997 invitandomi a
rendermi disponibile a deporre, in veste di testimone, su questa
faccenda. Più tardi, Carla Del Ponte ha invitato il Pubblico Ministero
russo Jurji Skuratow, che ricopriva l'incarico di giudice inquirente,
a recarsi in Svizzera dove me lo ha fatto conoscere. All'epoca, Carla
Del Ponte aveva già la reputazione di una paladina della giustizia e
perciò io avevo fiducia in lei. Questo è stato un errore che per un
pelo non mi è costato la vita.
Elsaesser: E perché?
Turover: Io mi basavo sull'onestà ed avevo fatto presente a Del Ponte,
sin dall'inizio, che la mia deposizione mi avrebbe esposto al pericolo
di morte. Occorre considerare che all'epoca lavoravo ancora come
consulente per i vertici del governo russo - cioè esattamente per le
persone contro le quali i miei documenti fornivano prove di gravi
reati a loro carico. Ma cosa fece la signora Del Ponte? Comunico' alla
stampa il mio nome completo, precisando anche la mia funzione. Era
come se io, dalla città di Medellin, avessi dato informazioni sul clan
degli Escobar direttamente alla polizia anti-droga degli USA, per
leggere poi sul New York Times, stando sempre a Medellin, il mio nome
come quello del testimone principale convocato contro Escobar. Nel mio
caso non si trattava di Medellin, ma di Mosca, ed il giornale in
questione era il Corriere della Sera, ma l'effetto era tale e quale:
ero "bruciato", e sono riuscito a salvarmi la vita solo grazie ad una
fuga precipitosa da Mosca.
Da allora, cioè, da ormai tre anni, vivo da clandestino. Per questa
mia situazione devo ringraziare Carla Del Ponte. E' stata lei ad
indicare ai killer la strada che porta a me.
Elsaesser: Ma non sta forse esagerando parecchio? Che responsabilità
può avere un Pubblico Ministero svizzero per un articolo uscito su di
un quotidiano italiano?
Turover: I due giornalisti del Corriere hanno avuto tutte le loro
informazioni dalla Del Ponte, anche il mio numero di cellulare. Loro
stessi me l'hanno confermato, perché sanno che la mia vita è in
pericolo.
Elsaesser: La Del Ponte ha smentito questo.
Turover: Allora sta dicendo il falso. Io viceversa ho confermato la
mia versione già molte volte, senza mai essere stato querelato dalla
Del Ponte per calunnia. Il motivo è semplice: lei non ha alcuna prova,
io invece, sì.
Elsaesser: Il capo della Mabetex, Pacolli, non è poi soltanto un pezzo
grosso nel settore dell'edilizia: si dice che avrebbe anche saldi
legami con i terroristi dell'UCK kosovaro-albanese.
Turover: E' proprio così. Secondo le sue proprie affermazioni, al suo
gruppo di imprese farebbe capo, almeno fino al 2000, anche il
quotidiano kosovaro-albanese Bota Sot che è stato incriminato perfino
dall'OSCE per gli articoli razzisti che pubblica. Questo giornale
conduce una campagna razzista, innanzitutto a danno dei serbi, ma è
anche antisemita in quanto mi aveva bollato come "il giudeo Turnover".
Elsaesser: Nel caso che tangenti kosovaro-albanesi siano state pagate
al clan di Jelzin, avremmo una spiegazione per il comportamento del
Presidente della Russia durante la primavera del 1999. Mentre la NATO
stava preparando la guerra contro la Jugoslavia, Jelzin non ha mosso
un dito per difendere il popolo serbo, ufficialmente popolo fratello.
Durante la Conferenza di Rambouillet, ad esempio, mentre gli
Stati-NATO prendevano una posizione estremamente unilaterale a favore
degli albanesi, Mosca non protestò, e ciò benche' i suoi diplomatici
partecipassero al tavolo delle trattative. Gli albanesi-kosovari
avevano forse comprato un atteggiamento passivo da parte di Jelzin?
Turover: Questo potrebbe spiegare come sono andare le cose. Queste
storie costituiscono una simbiosi di politica, saccheggio e lavaggio
di danaro in grande stile.
Elsaesser: E nel caso della Del Ponte?
Turover: Tutte le indagini condotte in Svizzera per il caso Mabetex
sono state archiviate per motivi politici su disposizione delle
altissime gerarchie. Di più: i documenti trasmessi, a suo tempo, dal
magistrato russo Skuratow alla sua collega svizzera Del Ponte sono
finiti, per vie misteriose, presso Pacolli. Pacolli ha informato i
suoi amici a Mosca, Jelzin e Borodin. In seguito, Skuratow, un
giurista onesto e competente, è stato destituito - e ciò benche' il
Senato russo si fosse espresso, quasi all'unisono, a suo favore. La
fine della carriera di Skuratow ha segnato anche la fine delle
indagini sulla Mabetex - la più recente indagine è stata archiviata
nel dicembre 2000.
Elsaesser: La Del Ponte si è mossa in veste di protettrice della mafia
albanese, oppure del clan Jelzin?
Turover: Ne' l'uno ne' l'altro. Lei si muove soltanto nell'interesse
proprio. E' totalmente indifferente agli obiettivi politici.
Consideri, ad esempio, che quando decise di rendere pubbliche le sue
conoscenze sulla faccenda Mabetex, compreso il mio nome, eravamo alla
fine dell'agosto 1999. Questo non fu soltanto un colpo contro di me,
ma anche contro Jelzin. E' vero che lei successivamente non contino'
le sue indagini, ma nel preciso momento in cui fece le sue
rivelazioni, queste avevano danneggiato Jelzin gravemente.
Poco prima di queste rivelazioni, nell'estate 1999, vi fu la
spettacolare azione dei soldati russi d'elite nel Kosovo: dopo
l'armistizio, avevano occupato l'aeroporto di Pristina, mentre le
forze della NATO arrivarono in ritardo. Per un pelo non è scoppiata la
terza guerra mondiale per questo incidente, come spiegò allora il capo
britannico delle forze KFOR, Michael Jackson. Mosca stava giocando una
carta molto importante, voleva prendere possesso di una propria zona
di occupazione nel Kosovo per poter proteggere i serbi. Per tenere
testa all'imbarazzante sfida russa, Jelzin doveva essere abbattuto.
Quindi, l'allora Ministro degli Esteri USA, Madeleine Albright, si
incontrò nel luglio 1999 nell'aeroporto londinese di Heathrow con la
Del Ponte, probabilmente per fare presente l'urgenza della situazione.
In agosto poi, tramite il Corriere della Sera, la Del Ponte fa le sue
rivelazioni al pubblico incalzando il governo di Mosca con
un'ulteriore dichiarazione fatta in settembre alla CNN, nella quale
denuncia la corruzione del governo russo. Jelzin è messo alle strette
e deve temere una procedura di destituzione, accompagnata perfino da
una processo penale. Verso la fine di settembre, due attentati
dinamitardi colpiscono Mosca e gli danno subito respiro.
Apparentemente gli attentati sono stati perpetrati da terroristi
ceceni e, di conseguenza, forze armate russe invadono la Cecenia
distraendo l'opinione pubblica dalla faccenda Russia-Gate.
Elsaesser: In queste circostanze la Del Ponte si era mossa su
disposizione di Washington?
Turover: Lei non è ne' pro-americana ne' filo-albanese. Si muove
all'inseguimento dell'interesse svizzero, cioè, nell'interesse della
politica favorevole alla mafia, condotta dalla Svizzera.
Elsaesser: Quest'affermazione chiede di essere spiegata meglio.
Turover: La Svizzera e le banche svizzere campano innanzitutto grazie
al riciclaggio di denaro. Tutti i dittatori e tutti i grandi criminali
di questo mondo depositano i loro soldi sporchi qui; innanzitutto il
Canton Ticino si presta in modo favoloso: basta attraversare il
confine tra l'Italia e la Svizzera con i milioni in una valigia o nel
cassetto del cruscotto. Lo sanno tutti i politici del Ticino e tutti
ne traggono vantaggio. E la del Ponte, come Procuratore del Cantone
Ticino, aveva protetto queste pratiche già prima dell'affare Mabetex,
sorto negli anni Novanta. Guardi, ad esempio, il caso di una società
per azioni di Chiasso, contro la quale fu aperta un'indagine per il
sospetto di coinvolgimento nel lavaggio di denaro per conto della
mafia italiana. La Del Ponte fece archiviare le indagini.
La del Ponte è, innanzitutto, pro-Del Ponte. Farebbe di tutto per
promuovere la propria carriera, metterebbe sotto accusa perfino George
W. Bush. Come giurista, del resto, vale zero. Lei riesce ad
immaginarsi che, per quanto ne sappia io, nel corso della sua intera
carriera, la Del Ponte non ha vinto una sola causa da Pubblico
Ministero? La sua unica capacità e quella della promozione di se
stessa, il marketing di se stessa.
Elsaesser: Il suo accordo con la Albright è, comunque, risultato
vantaggioso. Poco dopo, si e' vista promossa Pubblico Ministero
al Tribunale dell'Aia - su proposta di Washington. Il giornale di
Zurigo, Die Weltwoche, s'e' meravigliato: "Per quale motivo gli
americani l'abbiano voluta come successore della scomoda, precocemente
dimissionata Louise Arbour, rimane un mistero. In fin dei conti, non
hanno mai nascosto il fatto che ritengono il Tribunale una gran cosa
inutile."
Turover: La Del Ponte ed il governo della Svizzera hanno aiutato la
Albright e come compenso - gli americani sono gente onesta, pagano per
l'esecuzione delle loro commissioni - Del Ponte ha avuto l'incarico
all'Aia. Anche su quella poltrona riesce a vendersi molto bene.
E ciononostante, il processo e' una grande catastrofe. Non ha nulla in
mano contro Milosevic, il quale, per legge, sarebbe dovuto essere
rilasciato da tempo. In questo modo Milosevic, che è soltanto un
bandito ed un truffatore, riesce a presentarsi nel ruolo di un
perseguitato innocente, mentre il nazionalismo serbo viene
incoraggiato, come hanno dimostrato le ultime elezioni.
Ma è possibile che all'Aia non sappiano che il governo svizzero ha
dato incarico speciale ad un giudice per svolgere indagini a carico
della Del Ponte? Com'è possibile che una donna rimanga al suo posto
quale Pubblico Ministero di un Tribunale dell'ONU per crimini di
guerra, mentre essa stessa è sottoposta ad indagini per il sospetto di
essere coinvolta in crimini gravi?
Elsaesser: Nel marzo 2001 lei ha sporto una denuncia contro Carla Del
Ponte ed ignoti, tra l'altro per avere messo in pericolo la sua vita e
per tentato assassinio nell'ambito dell'affare Russia-Gate. Ma il
Pubblico Ministero della Svizzera, Valentin Roschacher, ha respinto
l'accusa mossa contro il suo predecessore. Come fa allora, a sostenere
che ci sarebbero indagini speciali in corso contro la Del Ponte?
Turover: Il Roschacher ha protetto la Del Ponte e perciò l'ho
denunciato per favoreggiamento nei confronti della Del Ponte. Questa
denuncia non solo è stata accolta, ma nel maggio 2002 è stato
incaricato persino un Inquirente speciale dal Consiglio Confederale
della Svizzera, Arthur Hublard, ex Pubblico Ministero del Cantone
Jura. E' lui chi conduce, adesso, le indagini in seguito alla mia
accusa contro Roschacher - ma con ciò, la faccenda Del Ponte riaffiora
finalmente.
Ho inoltre intentato una causa contro la Svizzera davanti al Tribunale
Europeo per i Diritti Umani a Strasburgo.
Elsaesser: Contro la Svizzera - non contro la Del Ponte?
Turover: A Strasburgo non si può querelare una persona privata. Ma
nella sostanza, la mia querela è diretta, innanzitutto, contro la Del
Ponte, perché operando come Pubblico Ministero della Svizzera, lei ha
esposto a pericolo la mia vita. E' insensato che lei possa continuare
a rappresentare l'accusa all'Aia, mentre a suo carico sono in corso
due cause specifiche.
Elsaesser: Lei vive sotto falso nome nella clandestinità, cambiando
continuamente domicilio. Per quanto tempo ancora pensa di reggere in
questa situazione?
Turover: A causa della del Ponte sono costretto a vivere così,
altrimenti sarei un uomo morto. Ovviamente ho preso le mie precauzioni
provvedendo a che, in caso di una mia morte, informazioni ancora più
scottanti affiorino.
Ma certamente, non ne ricavo una tranquillità per la mia vita. Ad ogni
modo, finora sono stati già eliminati almeno cinque testimoni
dell'accusa nell'affare Mabetex. La vittima più recente era la
segretaria personale di Pacolli, una signora 32enne, trovata morta nel
suo bagno, apparentemente in seguito ad un coagulo del sangue. Sul
cadavere non e' stata condotta alcuna autopsia, ed il giorno dopo il
decesso esso e' stato cremato.
L'intervista è stato condotta da Juergen Elsaesser.
[Ringraziamo Susanne per la traduzione. Revisione di A.M.]
"Carla Del Ponte ha rivelato ai killer come trovarmi"
Articolo apparso sulla rivista KONKRET, dicembre 2002
Vedi anche:
http://www.konkret-verlage.de
http://www.juergen-elsaesser.de
"La giustizia è donna" aveva detto il Segretario Generale dell'ONU,
Kofi Annan, riferendosi a Carla Del Ponte, Pubblico Ministero nel
processo presso il Tribunale dell'Aia contro Slobodan Milosevic. Sono
invece di tutt'altro segno le esperienze fatte da Felipe Turover con
il magistrato svizzero. L'uomo, un trentasettenne, proviene da una
famiglia spagnola repubblicana; i suoi genitori erano fuggiti da
Franco, assieme a lui, nell'Unione Sovietica. Dopo la morte del
dittatore, Turover tornò nella sua patria per ritornare di nuovo a
Mosca, verso la fine degli anni Ottanta, in veste di consulente
finanziario, pronto a partecipare agli sviluppi positivi promessi
dalla Perestrojka. Ha lavorato con il governo Jelzin dal 1992 fino al
1999, nella cogestione dei crediti con le banche creditrici
occidentali.
(Intervista)
Elsaesser: Lei è il testimone principale dell'accusa nell'affare
Mabetex, diventato famoso come "Russia-Gate". Di che cosa si tratta e
come c'entra Carla Del Ponte con questo affare?
Turover: La Mabetex è un'azienda che opera nel settore dell'edilizia,
con sede a Lugano, nella Svizzera italiana. Titolare dell'azienda è
l'albanese-kosovaro Beghijet Pacolli, che nel frattempo ha ottenuto un
passaporto svizzero. Pacolli ed il suo socio d'affari, Viktor
Stolpowskich, durante gli anni Novanta hanno ricevuto dal Cremlino
appalti nell'ordine di due miliardi di Euro, in divisa odierna,
apparentemente per lavori di costruzione e di risanamento nel
quartiere governativo e presidenziale.
E' ormai provato che nell'ambito di questi appalti sono scomparsi
miliardi di dollari verso l'estero e, in direzione opposta, sono
affluite a Mosca tangenti miliardarie. Pacolli ha firmato le
fidejussioni per carte di credito intestate a Jelzin ed alle due
figlie di Jelzin, secondo quanto viene confermato dalla Banca del
Gottardo che aveva emesso le carte di credito.
Carla del Ponte, all'epoca Pubblico Ministero della Confederazione, si
era messa in contatto con me durante l'anno 1997 invitandomi a
rendermi disponibile a deporre, in veste di testimone, su questa
faccenda. Più tardi, Carla Del Ponte ha invitato il Pubblico Ministero
russo Jurji Skuratow, che ricopriva l'incarico di giudice inquirente,
a recarsi in Svizzera dove me lo ha fatto conoscere. All'epoca, Carla
Del Ponte aveva già la reputazione di una paladina della giustizia e
perciò io avevo fiducia in lei. Questo è stato un errore che per un
pelo non mi è costato la vita.
Elsaesser: E perché?
Turover: Io mi basavo sull'onestà ed avevo fatto presente a Del Ponte,
sin dall'inizio, che la mia deposizione mi avrebbe esposto al pericolo
di morte. Occorre considerare che all'epoca lavoravo ancora come
consulente per i vertici del governo russo - cioè esattamente per le
persone contro le quali i miei documenti fornivano prove di gravi
reati a loro carico. Ma cosa fece la signora Del Ponte? Comunico' alla
stampa il mio nome completo, precisando anche la mia funzione. Era
come se io, dalla città di Medellin, avessi dato informazioni sul clan
degli Escobar direttamente alla polizia anti-droga degli USA, per
leggere poi sul New York Times, stando sempre a Medellin, il mio nome
come quello del testimone principale convocato contro Escobar. Nel mio
caso non si trattava di Medellin, ma di Mosca, ed il giornale in
questione era il Corriere della Sera, ma l'effetto era tale e quale:
ero "bruciato", e sono riuscito a salvarmi la vita solo grazie ad una
fuga precipitosa da Mosca.
Da allora, cioè, da ormai tre anni, vivo da clandestino. Per questa
mia situazione devo ringraziare Carla Del Ponte. E' stata lei ad
indicare ai killer la strada che porta a me.
Elsaesser: Ma non sta forse esagerando parecchio? Che responsabilità
può avere un Pubblico Ministero svizzero per un articolo uscito su di
un quotidiano italiano?
Turover: I due giornalisti del Corriere hanno avuto tutte le loro
informazioni dalla Del Ponte, anche il mio numero di cellulare. Loro
stessi me l'hanno confermato, perché sanno che la mia vita è in
pericolo.
Elsaesser: La Del Ponte ha smentito questo.
Turover: Allora sta dicendo il falso. Io viceversa ho confermato la
mia versione già molte volte, senza mai essere stato querelato dalla
Del Ponte per calunnia. Il motivo è semplice: lei non ha alcuna prova,
io invece, sì.
Elsaesser: Il capo della Mabetex, Pacolli, non è poi soltanto un pezzo
grosso nel settore dell'edilizia: si dice che avrebbe anche saldi
legami con i terroristi dell'UCK kosovaro-albanese.
Turover: E' proprio così. Secondo le sue proprie affermazioni, al suo
gruppo di imprese farebbe capo, almeno fino al 2000, anche il
quotidiano kosovaro-albanese Bota Sot che è stato incriminato perfino
dall'OSCE per gli articoli razzisti che pubblica. Questo giornale
conduce una campagna razzista, innanzitutto a danno dei serbi, ma è
anche antisemita in quanto mi aveva bollato come "il giudeo Turnover".
Elsaesser: Nel caso che tangenti kosovaro-albanesi siano state pagate
al clan di Jelzin, avremmo una spiegazione per il comportamento del
Presidente della Russia durante la primavera del 1999. Mentre la NATO
stava preparando la guerra contro la Jugoslavia, Jelzin non ha mosso
un dito per difendere il popolo serbo, ufficialmente popolo fratello.
Durante la Conferenza di Rambouillet, ad esempio, mentre gli
Stati-NATO prendevano una posizione estremamente unilaterale a favore
degli albanesi, Mosca non protestò, e ciò benche' i suoi diplomatici
partecipassero al tavolo delle trattative. Gli albanesi-kosovari
avevano forse comprato un atteggiamento passivo da parte di Jelzin?
Turover: Questo potrebbe spiegare come sono andare le cose. Queste
storie costituiscono una simbiosi di politica, saccheggio e lavaggio
di danaro in grande stile.
Elsaesser: E nel caso della Del Ponte?
Turover: Tutte le indagini condotte in Svizzera per il caso Mabetex
sono state archiviate per motivi politici su disposizione delle
altissime gerarchie. Di più: i documenti trasmessi, a suo tempo, dal
magistrato russo Skuratow alla sua collega svizzera Del Ponte sono
finiti, per vie misteriose, presso Pacolli. Pacolli ha informato i
suoi amici a Mosca, Jelzin e Borodin. In seguito, Skuratow, un
giurista onesto e competente, è stato destituito - e ciò benche' il
Senato russo si fosse espresso, quasi all'unisono, a suo favore. La
fine della carriera di Skuratow ha segnato anche la fine delle
indagini sulla Mabetex - la più recente indagine è stata archiviata
nel dicembre 2000.
Elsaesser: La Del Ponte si è mossa in veste di protettrice della mafia
albanese, oppure del clan Jelzin?
Turover: Ne' l'uno ne' l'altro. Lei si muove soltanto nell'interesse
proprio. E' totalmente indifferente agli obiettivi politici.
Consideri, ad esempio, che quando decise di rendere pubbliche le sue
conoscenze sulla faccenda Mabetex, compreso il mio nome, eravamo alla
fine dell'agosto 1999. Questo non fu soltanto un colpo contro di me,
ma anche contro Jelzin. E' vero che lei successivamente non contino'
le sue indagini, ma nel preciso momento in cui fece le sue
rivelazioni, queste avevano danneggiato Jelzin gravemente.
Poco prima di queste rivelazioni, nell'estate 1999, vi fu la
spettacolare azione dei soldati russi d'elite nel Kosovo: dopo
l'armistizio, avevano occupato l'aeroporto di Pristina, mentre le
forze della NATO arrivarono in ritardo. Per un pelo non è scoppiata la
terza guerra mondiale per questo incidente, come spiegò allora il capo
britannico delle forze KFOR, Michael Jackson. Mosca stava giocando una
carta molto importante, voleva prendere possesso di una propria zona
di occupazione nel Kosovo per poter proteggere i serbi. Per tenere
testa all'imbarazzante sfida russa, Jelzin doveva essere abbattuto.
Quindi, l'allora Ministro degli Esteri USA, Madeleine Albright, si
incontrò nel luglio 1999 nell'aeroporto londinese di Heathrow con la
Del Ponte, probabilmente per fare presente l'urgenza della situazione.
In agosto poi, tramite il Corriere della Sera, la Del Ponte fa le sue
rivelazioni al pubblico incalzando il governo di Mosca con
un'ulteriore dichiarazione fatta in settembre alla CNN, nella quale
denuncia la corruzione del governo russo. Jelzin è messo alle strette
e deve temere una procedura di destituzione, accompagnata perfino da
una processo penale. Verso la fine di settembre, due attentati
dinamitardi colpiscono Mosca e gli danno subito respiro.
Apparentemente gli attentati sono stati perpetrati da terroristi
ceceni e, di conseguenza, forze armate russe invadono la Cecenia
distraendo l'opinione pubblica dalla faccenda Russia-Gate.
Elsaesser: In queste circostanze la Del Ponte si era mossa su
disposizione di Washington?
Turover: Lei non è ne' pro-americana ne' filo-albanese. Si muove
all'inseguimento dell'interesse svizzero, cioè, nell'interesse della
politica favorevole alla mafia, condotta dalla Svizzera.
Elsaesser: Quest'affermazione chiede di essere spiegata meglio.
Turover: La Svizzera e le banche svizzere campano innanzitutto grazie
al riciclaggio di denaro. Tutti i dittatori e tutti i grandi criminali
di questo mondo depositano i loro soldi sporchi qui; innanzitutto il
Canton Ticino si presta in modo favoloso: basta attraversare il
confine tra l'Italia e la Svizzera con i milioni in una valigia o nel
cassetto del cruscotto. Lo sanno tutti i politici del Ticino e tutti
ne traggono vantaggio. E la del Ponte, come Procuratore del Cantone
Ticino, aveva protetto queste pratiche già prima dell'affare Mabetex,
sorto negli anni Novanta. Guardi, ad esempio, il caso di una società
per azioni di Chiasso, contro la quale fu aperta un'indagine per il
sospetto di coinvolgimento nel lavaggio di denaro per conto della
mafia italiana. La Del Ponte fece archiviare le indagini.
La del Ponte è, innanzitutto, pro-Del Ponte. Farebbe di tutto per
promuovere la propria carriera, metterebbe sotto accusa perfino George
W. Bush. Come giurista, del resto, vale zero. Lei riesce ad
immaginarsi che, per quanto ne sappia io, nel corso della sua intera
carriera, la Del Ponte non ha vinto una sola causa da Pubblico
Ministero? La sua unica capacità e quella della promozione di se
stessa, il marketing di se stessa.
Elsaesser: Il suo accordo con la Albright è, comunque, risultato
vantaggioso. Poco dopo, si e' vista promossa Pubblico Ministero
al Tribunale dell'Aia - su proposta di Washington. Il giornale di
Zurigo, Die Weltwoche, s'e' meravigliato: "Per quale motivo gli
americani l'abbiano voluta come successore della scomoda, precocemente
dimissionata Louise Arbour, rimane un mistero. In fin dei conti, non
hanno mai nascosto il fatto che ritengono il Tribunale una gran cosa
inutile."
Turover: La Del Ponte ed il governo della Svizzera hanno aiutato la
Albright e come compenso - gli americani sono gente onesta, pagano per
l'esecuzione delle loro commissioni - Del Ponte ha avuto l'incarico
all'Aia. Anche su quella poltrona riesce a vendersi molto bene.
E ciononostante, il processo e' una grande catastrofe. Non ha nulla in
mano contro Milosevic, il quale, per legge, sarebbe dovuto essere
rilasciato da tempo. In questo modo Milosevic, che è soltanto un
bandito ed un truffatore, riesce a presentarsi nel ruolo di un
perseguitato innocente, mentre il nazionalismo serbo viene
incoraggiato, come hanno dimostrato le ultime elezioni.
Ma è possibile che all'Aia non sappiano che il governo svizzero ha
dato incarico speciale ad un giudice per svolgere indagini a carico
della Del Ponte? Com'è possibile che una donna rimanga al suo posto
quale Pubblico Ministero di un Tribunale dell'ONU per crimini di
guerra, mentre essa stessa è sottoposta ad indagini per il sospetto di
essere coinvolta in crimini gravi?
Elsaesser: Nel marzo 2001 lei ha sporto una denuncia contro Carla Del
Ponte ed ignoti, tra l'altro per avere messo in pericolo la sua vita e
per tentato assassinio nell'ambito dell'affare Russia-Gate. Ma il
Pubblico Ministero della Svizzera, Valentin Roschacher, ha respinto
l'accusa mossa contro il suo predecessore. Come fa allora, a sostenere
che ci sarebbero indagini speciali in corso contro la Del Ponte?
Turover: Il Roschacher ha protetto la Del Ponte e perciò l'ho
denunciato per favoreggiamento nei confronti della Del Ponte. Questa
denuncia non solo è stata accolta, ma nel maggio 2002 è stato
incaricato persino un Inquirente speciale dal Consiglio Confederale
della Svizzera, Arthur Hublard, ex Pubblico Ministero del Cantone
Jura. E' lui chi conduce, adesso, le indagini in seguito alla mia
accusa contro Roschacher - ma con ciò, la faccenda Del Ponte riaffiora
finalmente.
Ho inoltre intentato una causa contro la Svizzera davanti al Tribunale
Europeo per i Diritti Umani a Strasburgo.
Elsaesser: Contro la Svizzera - non contro la Del Ponte?
Turover: A Strasburgo non si può querelare una persona privata. Ma
nella sostanza, la mia querela è diretta, innanzitutto, contro la Del
Ponte, perché operando come Pubblico Ministero della Svizzera, lei ha
esposto a pericolo la mia vita. E' insensato che lei possa continuare
a rappresentare l'accusa all'Aia, mentre a suo carico sono in corso
due cause specifiche.
Elsaesser: Lei vive sotto falso nome nella clandestinità, cambiando
continuamente domicilio. Per quanto tempo ancora pensa di reggere in
questa situazione?
Turover: A causa della del Ponte sono costretto a vivere così,
altrimenti sarei un uomo morto. Ovviamente ho preso le mie precauzioni
provvedendo a che, in caso di una mia morte, informazioni ancora più
scottanti affiorino.
Ma certamente, non ne ricavo una tranquillità per la mia vita. Ad ogni
modo, finora sono stati già eliminati almeno cinque testimoni
dell'accusa nell'affare Mabetex. La vittima più recente era la
segretaria personale di Pacolli, una signora 32enne, trovata morta nel
suo bagno, apparentemente in seguito ad un coagulo del sangue. Sul
cadavere non e' stata condotta alcuna autopsia, ed il giorno dopo il
decesso esso e' stato cremato.
L'intervista è stato condotta da Juergen Elsaesser.
[Ringraziamo Susanne per la traduzione. Revisione di A.M.]
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