Subject: THE SUICIDE OF VLAJKO STOJILJKOVIC
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 14:02:31 -0400
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=======================================
THE SUICIDE OF VLAJKO STOJILJKOVIC
HIS STATEMENT & A COMMENTARY
By D. Baatar and Jared Israel
[Posted 13 April 2002]
=======================================
This past Thursday, in defiance of the Yugoslav Constitution and
the explcit rulings of the Yugoslav Constitutional Court, the
Yugoslav Parliament passed a law authorizing the extradition of
Serbian leaders to The Hague so-called tribunal. (1)

Tragically, following passage of this law, Vlajko Stojiljkovic, an
MP from the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), shot himself on the
steps of Parliament. As we post this article he is in a coma.

Mr. Stojiljkovic was the Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs until
the pro-Western coup d'état October 2000. During the bombing
of Yugoslavia, The Hague 'tribunal' accused Mr. Stojiljkovic of
committing war crimes in Kosovo. These were supposedly
carried out at the behest of President Slobodan Milosevic.
Milosevic was kidnapped and taken to The Hague last June and
is now answering those so-called charges.

Mr. Stojiljkovic's Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) placed Mr.
Stojiljkovic's act in a Serbian tradition of heroic suicide:

"With this act, our comrade Vlajko Stojiljkovic joined those 300
policemen whom he commanded, who gave their lives for the
defence of our motherland in the fight against the Nato
aggressors and Albanian terrorists" in Kosovo, the SPS wrote.

The Western media put forward a different interpretation,
portraying the suicide as an admission of guilt.

MR. STEELE LIES

For example, consider Jonathan Steele in the London Guardian.

"Unlike Mr. Milosevic, with whom he was indicted, Mr.
Stojiljkovic was frequently in Kosovo supervising his men. He
cannot claim to have been unaware of their tactics." (2)

Note that by writing "unlike Mr. Milosevic ...[ Stojiljkovic] cannot
claim to have been unaware of [his men's] tactics," Mr. Steele
creates the impression that a) President Milosevic has conceded
the truth of the so-called tribunal's accusations that his men
committed war crimes in Kosovo but that b) he has defended
himself by denying direct knowledge of said crimes whereas c)
Mr. Stojiljkovic could not have made such a defense because he
was present when crimes were supposedly committed.

There's a problem with Mr. Steele's line of argument.

Anybody watching Slobodan Milosevic's confrontation with The
Hague kangaroo court on video (the 'tribunal' isn't publishing the
transcripts anymore for reasons that will be obvious as you read
on) knows it is nonsense.

>From Day One President Milosevic accused the "tribunal" and
its Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) "witnesses" of lying through
their teeth.

Never once did he say "you gentlemen from the KLA are telling
the truth but I was unaware of my men's tactics!"

Whether or not you agree with us that Slobodan Milosevic is
telling the truth, you must agree that we are telling the truth about
what he said.

Which raises a career question we should like to put to Mr.
Steele: are you paid a fixed sum per lie or is there a bonus for
quality?

If you would like to read the actual rules of engagement which
the Yugoslav Army employed in fighting the KLA in Kosovo, see
'The Other Side of the Story,' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/book/book1.htm

MR. STOJILJKOVIC TELLS THE TRUTH

Even while smearing Vlajko Stojiljkovic, reports in the Western
media provide ample evidence that his J'Accuse!, his farewell
statement, is right on target. (See below for the short version)

Here is Agence France Presse:

"The US Congress decided to freeze 40 million dollars (46 million
euros) in aid after Belgrade failed to meet its March 31 deadline
for showing that it was cooperating with the tribunal. But US
Secretary of State Colin Powell delayed a decision to cut off the
aid completely and withdraw US support for international loans to
give Belgrade a final chance to meet demands for the transfer of
war crimes suspects.

"On Friday, Washington's ambassador at large for war crimes
issues Pierre-Richard Prosper traveled to Belgrade to deliver a
final warning.

"Everyone recognizes that time is running out, action must be
taken... and we need to see cooperation," said Prosper.
(Agence France Presse, (3))

Doesn't this sound like the US cat is toying with the Yugoslav
mouse?

Zoran Djindjic, the so-called Prime Minister of Serbia, has
declared the law will resolve "all the problems we had with the
Hague court and the American administration". (London
Guardian, (2))

Why do these "problems with the American Administration" arise
whenever the US wants Yugoslavia to expand its cooperation
with The Hague?

It is always the same. The US threatens to cut off financial aid.
(This aid is described as necessary but nobody seems clear
where it goes...) Thereupon Mr. Djindjic, Yugoslav President
Kostunica and others publicly wring their hands declaring that
"we have no choice" but to do what the US demands because
"without this aid we are dead," etc.

The SPS ridicules this recurring melodrama.

The SPS points out that:

* US financial aid never reaches the pockets of ordinary
Yugoslavs; indeed, the Yugoslav people are far worse off than
they were before the October 2000 pro-Western coup d'état
which was supposed to usher in an age of prosperity. (4)

* The only people whom it appears are actually helped by this
game of promising and threatening to withhold financial aid are
Yugoslav President Kostunica and Serbian Prime Minister
Djindjic. By passing Congressional resolutions and dispatching
"special envoys" with "one last final warning" the US and other
Western governments enable Djindjic, Kostunica and their allies
to claim that they "submit only under the most extreme pressure"
- thus hiding from naïve souls the reality: that these two friendly
enemies, Djindjic and Kostunica, are under orders from
Washington. (5)

(In Thursday's vote, these two were joined by the leaders of the
Montenegrin Socialist Peoples' Party. One wonders: how much
"aid" did the leaders of this once-principled Montenegrin party
receive for their votes?)

TRAGIC HEROISM

By shooting himself on the steps of the Federal Parliament,
Stojiljkovic broadcast a protest signal the strongest way he
could.

His short farewell note, which is posted below, and his full
statement, to be posted shortly, says what needs to be said. If he
had, by way of contrast, merely called a press conference to
make these statements, his denunciation of the current
authorities and his call on the people of Serbia to act might well
have been ignored by the Western media and the
Western-dominated Yugoslav media as well.

(Just for the record, on Friday leaders of the SPS held a press
conference to explain the reasons for Vlajko Stojiljkovic's
actions. Though about 70 reporters. including all the major
Yugoslav TV stations. attended, very little was reported in the
media.)

For Vlajko Stojiljkovic to pay with his life in order to send his
very important and much needed message is evidence of his
heroism and true patriotism - his great loyalty to the peoples of
Yugoslavia.

At the same time, it is unfortunate that he failed to foresee that
in the West this act could be presented as evidence of his, and
therefore of Serbian guilt. Moreover, it is, in our opinion, a
mistake to view suicide as a solution to the problems created by
the immensely destructive US Empire, even though these
problems may seem insurmountable. In our opinion, the best
course of action is that which Mr. Milosevic has taken: exposure
of lies and political mobilization. Here is a quote from President
Milosevic:

"I wish to declare here in front of this 'court' that I would never
commit suicide because first of all I do not want to do that to my
children and my family, to make them children of one who
committed suicide.

"Secondly. I would never commit suicide because I have to fight
here, to destroy this 'court' and this mockery of a trial and it's
employers who are using this 'court' against people fighting for
freedom in the world. " (6)

Below is "MY PROTEST AGAINST TREASON," which Vlajko
Stojiljkovic handed over to Parliamentary colleagues just before
the tragedy. He left a longer explanation as well. It will be
posted soon.

To view a facsimile of the Serbo-Croatian text of MY
PROTEST as a pdf file go to
http://emperors-clothes.com/serbo-croatian/articles/stojiljkovic.pdf

or for a jpeg file go to
http://emperors-clothes.com/serbo-croatian/articles/stojiljkovic.htm

***

MY PROTEST AGAINST TREASON
Statement by Vlajko Stojiljkovic - short version

By this act, as a Member of the House of Republics of the
Federal Parliament, I declare my protest against the members of
the current puppet regime of DOS and the Montenegrin "Coalition
for Yugoslavia" which have:

- broken-up of Yugoslavia with the participation of the greatest
enemy of our people, Javier Solana;

- ruthlessly violated the Constitution and the laws of this country;

- conducted a policy of treason and capitulation;

- betrayed national dignity;

- destroyed the economy, thus forcing millions of citizens into
poverty.

I hold directly responsible for my death the following people:

[Serbian Prime Minister] Zoran Djindjic; [Federal President]
Vojislav Kostunica: [Serbian Prime Minister] Zoran Djindjic:
[Federal President] Vojislav Kostunica: [Serbian Interior
Minister] Dusan Mihajlovic: [Serbian Justice Minister] Vladan
Batic: [Federal vice Prime Minister] Miroljub Labus: [Speaker of
the House of Citizens of Federal Parliament] Dragoljub
Micunovic: and leaders of their federal coalition partners from
Montenegro: [Leader of the Socialist Peoples' Party and Head
of Foreign Policy Committee of the Federal Parliament] Predrag
Bulatovic: [Speaker of the House of Republics of the Federal
Parliament] Srdja Bozovic and [Federal Prime Minister] Dragisa
Pesic.

Citizens, patriots of this country will know how to avenge me. A
more detailed message follows.

(more extensive message will follow)

signed:

Vlajko Stojiljkovic

Member of Parliament

***

**********************************
FURTHER READING:
**********************************

Regarding lat year's failed attempt to pass a Yugoslav
extradition law, followed by the outright kidnapping of Slobodan
Milseovic, see "The Treason of Vojislav Kostunica" at
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/treas.htm

1) UN Consultant Dr. Hans Koechler writes about the 'tribunal'
in "Illegal Tribunal, Illegal Indictment" which can be read at
http://emperors-clothes.com/docs/prog2.htm

2) The Guardian (London) April 12, 2002 * Foreign Pages, Pg. 15
"Serbian war crimes suspect shoots himself " By Jonathan Steele

3) Agence France Presse April 10, 2002 Wednesday
International News "Facing sanctions threat, Yugoslav
government adopts war crimes bill " By JEAN-EUDES
BARBIER

4) The Yugoslav standard of living began to fall sharply soon
after the October 2000 coup. See for example "Is Kostunica
setting the stage for a phony fuel-shortage melodrama?" by
Jared Israel Written two weeks after the October pro-Western
coup, the article includes a chart comparing pre and post-coup
prices of basic items. It can be read at
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/price.htm

Also see " Kostunica Coalition Drives Up Prices &
Blames...Milosevic," by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky. Can be
read at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/triples.htm

5) "We Accuse: Washington's Aid Promises Are A Traitorous
Lie!" A devestating critique of the claim that economic necessity
forces Yugoslavia to succumb to Western demands to ship
Yugoslav resistance leaders to NATO's Hague 'tribunal.' It can
be read in English at
http://www.icdsm.org/more/accuse-i.htm

In French at
http://emperors-clothes.com/french/articles/promesses-f.htm

In Serbo-Croatian at
http://emperors-clothes.com/serbo-croatian/articles/s-izdaja.htm

In Spanish at
http://emperors-clothes.com/spanish/articles/cazabobos.htm

6) "The Second Act of the Crime Against the Serbian People"
President Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague 'Tribunal' 30
October 2001 http://www.icdsm.org/more/second.htm

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