http://www.antiwar.com/malic/m032703.html
[NOTA: A causa del suo carattere volontario, anzi volontaristico - e
probabilmente anche velleitario, visto il silenzio d'intorno nel quale
regolarmente cade e si perde - il nostro sforzo di controinformazione
non riesce spesso ad essere sufficiente e non ci consente di
riprodurre questi testi in lingua italiana. Chi fosse in grado di
farci avere rapidamente la traduzione di questo come anche degli altri
articoli non ancora tradotti sara' il benvenuto. (Per il CNJ: Andrea)]
---
Serbia Under Martial Law
by Nebojsa Malic
March 27, 2003
Two weeks ago, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was shot and
killed by a sniper bullet. His successors immediately declared a
"state of emergency" - in effect, martial law - of undetermined
duration, and launched a massive police operation to crack down on
alleged crime syndicates suspected of Djindjic's murder. Djindjic was
given a full state funeral and numerous eulogies in the Western press,
before news of His Most Democratic Majesty's invasion of Iraq pushed
Serbia out of the limelight.
As Imperial forces, confident after terror-bombing Serbia into
submission in 1999, fought against unexpectedly stiff Iraqi
resistance, Djindjic's successors reaffirmed Serbia's vassal status by
expelling Iraqi diplomats. Meanwhile, at home, they reveled in power
over their citizens even the Emperor would envy.
A different war
Under the leadership of Djindjic's party comrade Zoran Zivkovic, who
was appointed Prime Minister on March 17, the new government launched
a "war on organized crime."
With uncanny speed, they blamed Djindjic's death on the "Zemun clan,"
allegedly a crime syndicate based near Belgrade. Suddenly, the police
that could not solve any capital murder cases in the past two years
knew everything, and everyone responsible. On March 18, the government
said it had arrested 750 people. Two days later, the number rose to
over 1000, and by the 23rd, stood at 2700! By March 17, Belgrade
prisons were full, and the arrested had to be sent elsewhere.
While Serbia is certainly ridden with organized crime, as are all
post-Communist countries, there are valid concerns that the government
crackdown is not really aimed at destroying the mafia altogether. For
example, though the little-known 'Zemun clan' is a target, the much
better-known 'Surcin clan,' whose boss let Djindjic travel in his
private jets, has not been mentioned at all.
One of the alleged 'Zemun clan' kingpins, known as "Legija," used to
command a Special Operations Unit of the Interior Ministry. Djindjic
enlisted Legija's help in 2000 to seize power, and in 2001 to seize
Milosevic. There are indications he was about to deliver Legija's head
to the Hague Inquisition, just before he was killed.
The following facts need mention as well. Zivkovic was minister of
police in the Yugoslav government until it was dissolved last month.
Djindjic was killed on his watch - yet he got promoted! Dusan
Mihajlovic, Serbia's minister of police (and thus even more
responsible than Zivkovic) remained in his post. Legija's former unit,
the "Red Berets," has been directly subordinated to Mihajlovic since
early 2002. (It was disbanded two days ago, just as some pro-Imperial
elements advised.)
There are numerous indications that the state of emergency and the
'war on crime' are actually aimed at the government's political
opponents and dissenters in general. "War is the health of the state,"
Randolph Bourne famously said. State-launched 'wars' on social
problems serve that purpose just as well.
Let the purges begin
Thanks to the emergency, the police do not need search or arrest
warrants, but simply to barge into houses and offices of suspects.
Property of the suspects can be confiscated or destroyed, as was the
case with an office building owned by the alleged leader of the "Zemun
clan." Under emergency powers, suspects can be held for 30 days
without charges.
And since Serbia kept the Communist system of criminal justice, all
suspects are pretty much presumed guilty until proven innocent.
Djindjic's murder has been blamed on "remnants of the Milosevic
regime", both by the Serbian government and the Imperial press. It is
hard to say exactly who claimed it first, though the accusations
seemed to appear in American papers sooner than in official Serbian
statements. It wouldn't be the first time that Serbia takes its cue
from the Empire. As early as March 16, a friend of Djindjic's wrote a
commentary for the Washington Post, openly blaming Slobodan Milosevic
for the hit.
Prime Minister Zivkovic also blamed "politically affiliate groups,"
and pledged he would "clean Serbia with an iron broom." A prominent
member of the Djindjic regime opined that the PM's tragic death could
be used as an "inspiration" to make Serbia into a democracy.
If so, Serbia's leaders have a mighty odd definition of "democracy."
Does it mean censorship? Yes. Emergency powers provided for a full
media crackdown, limiting the news to official statements only. This
supposedly extends only to the causes of the emergency, but since the
government interprets what does and what does not apply, in practice
this means censorship of everything. Several publications and TV
stations have already been banned. A Serbian government consultant,
posing as an independent journalist, tried to excuse the censorship by
claiming that 'those targeted are mainly low-quality tabloids,
notorious for their unverified reports, invasions of privacy and
reliance on rumour and even lies.' But that describes most of the
media in the Balkans! Besides, any persecution first targets the
unpopular, so by the time it gets around to others, they have no way
to resist.
Last week, the government purged the judiciary, creating the
opportunity to 'pack' the courts with its supporters. Nenad Canak, a
lunatic fringe politician who figures prominently in the DOS
coalition, advocated a ban on certain political parties. There was
even a hint of 'culture wars' as the authorities arrested Ceca
Raznatovic, neo-folk singer and widow of militia leader Arkan.
Allegedly connected to the 'Zemun clan,' Raznatovic and her music are
considered a "vulgar celebration of Serbia's criminal class," as Time
magazine famously put it last summer. Also, head of the military
counter-intelligence was recently sacked by the pro-Djindjic
government of the Serbia-Montenegro union, suggesting that a purge in
the military is going on as well.
The alleged hitman himself was arrested on Monday, but the police
haven't said how they "know" he was the shooter. In today's Serbia,
their word cannot be questioned.
Faking a martyr
Though the people in Serbia in general have been conditioned to, if
not trust, then at least obey the government unconditionally, many see
the state of emergency for what it is: a naked power grab, using
Djindjic's body as the proverbial 'bloody shirt'.
The Empire is certainly treating Djindjic like "a martyr to the cause
of a liberal, democratic Serbia" (Tod Lindberg, The Washington Times).
In the weeks following his demise, The Toronto Star called him 'a true
patriot,' London's noxious IWPR lamented Serbia's interrupted road to
"full Euro-Atlantic integration," and the New York Times editorialized
that though the Empire was absolutely right in all its demands, and
Djindjic did right by obeying them, he should have received more
support to deal with the opposition.
A rare voice of dissent came from Neil Clark in the London Guardian,
who called Djindjic "The quisling of Belgrade." Said Clark, "When a
man has sold his country's assets, its ex-president and his main
political rivals, what else is there to sell? Only the country
itself."
And Steven Erlanger of the New York Times noted, in a March 16 piece,
that Djindjic had links with the criminal syndicates that supposedly
killed him, even as he again claimed Djindjic was hated for obeying
the fully justified Western demands.
IWPR, a loathsome purveyor of transnational statism, deemed the
martial law as an "opportunity" to rid Serbia of organized crime, with
a perfunctory caution that it could lead to a dictatorship. The
government crackdown was also supported unequivocally by the
enthusiastically Imperial ICG. The Christian Science Monitor quoted
ICG's Belgrade bureau chief, James Lyon, as saying, "If they can keep
this up for another two weeks, I am optimistic that Djindjic's death
will be seen as the spark that gave Serbia a democratic future."
Meanwhile, ICG panicked over the possibility that the future Serbia
won't be as obedient and pliant as Djindjic made it, and demanded of
the Empire not to relax any of its pressure on Belgrade. The people of
Serbia, of course, knew nothing of it.
Under the emergency powers, mention of this report would result in a
ban...
Nebojsa Malic
[NOTA: A causa del suo carattere volontario, anzi volontaristico - e
probabilmente anche velleitario, visto il silenzio d'intorno nel quale
regolarmente cade e si perde - il nostro sforzo di controinformazione
non riesce spesso ad essere sufficiente e non ci consente di
riprodurre questi testi in lingua italiana. Chi fosse in grado di
farci avere rapidamente la traduzione di questo come anche degli altri
articoli non ancora tradotti sara' il benvenuto. (Per il CNJ: Andrea)]
---
Serbia Under Martial Law
by Nebojsa Malic
March 27, 2003
Two weeks ago, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was shot and
killed by a sniper bullet. His successors immediately declared a
"state of emergency" - in effect, martial law - of undetermined
duration, and launched a massive police operation to crack down on
alleged crime syndicates suspected of Djindjic's murder. Djindjic was
given a full state funeral and numerous eulogies in the Western press,
before news of His Most Democratic Majesty's invasion of Iraq pushed
Serbia out of the limelight.
As Imperial forces, confident after terror-bombing Serbia into
submission in 1999, fought against unexpectedly stiff Iraqi
resistance, Djindjic's successors reaffirmed Serbia's vassal status by
expelling Iraqi diplomats. Meanwhile, at home, they reveled in power
over their citizens even the Emperor would envy.
A different war
Under the leadership of Djindjic's party comrade Zoran Zivkovic, who
was appointed Prime Minister on March 17, the new government launched
a "war on organized crime."
With uncanny speed, they blamed Djindjic's death on the "Zemun clan,"
allegedly a crime syndicate based near Belgrade. Suddenly, the police
that could not solve any capital murder cases in the past two years
knew everything, and everyone responsible. On March 18, the government
said it had arrested 750 people. Two days later, the number rose to
over 1000, and by the 23rd, stood at 2700! By March 17, Belgrade
prisons were full, and the arrested had to be sent elsewhere.
While Serbia is certainly ridden with organized crime, as are all
post-Communist countries, there are valid concerns that the government
crackdown is not really aimed at destroying the mafia altogether. For
example, though the little-known 'Zemun clan' is a target, the much
better-known 'Surcin clan,' whose boss let Djindjic travel in his
private jets, has not been mentioned at all.
One of the alleged 'Zemun clan' kingpins, known as "Legija," used to
command a Special Operations Unit of the Interior Ministry. Djindjic
enlisted Legija's help in 2000 to seize power, and in 2001 to seize
Milosevic. There are indications he was about to deliver Legija's head
to the Hague Inquisition, just before he was killed.
The following facts need mention as well. Zivkovic was minister of
police in the Yugoslav government until it was dissolved last month.
Djindjic was killed on his watch - yet he got promoted! Dusan
Mihajlovic, Serbia's minister of police (and thus even more
responsible than Zivkovic) remained in his post. Legija's former unit,
the "Red Berets," has been directly subordinated to Mihajlovic since
early 2002. (It was disbanded two days ago, just as some pro-Imperial
elements advised.)
There are numerous indications that the state of emergency and the
'war on crime' are actually aimed at the government's political
opponents and dissenters in general. "War is the health of the state,"
Randolph Bourne famously said. State-launched 'wars' on social
problems serve that purpose just as well.
Let the purges begin
Thanks to the emergency, the police do not need search or arrest
warrants, but simply to barge into houses and offices of suspects.
Property of the suspects can be confiscated or destroyed, as was the
case with an office building owned by the alleged leader of the "Zemun
clan." Under emergency powers, suspects can be held for 30 days
without charges.
And since Serbia kept the Communist system of criminal justice, all
suspects are pretty much presumed guilty until proven innocent.
Djindjic's murder has been blamed on "remnants of the Milosevic
regime", both by the Serbian government and the Imperial press. It is
hard to say exactly who claimed it first, though the accusations
seemed to appear in American papers sooner than in official Serbian
statements. It wouldn't be the first time that Serbia takes its cue
from the Empire. As early as March 16, a friend of Djindjic's wrote a
commentary for the Washington Post, openly blaming Slobodan Milosevic
for the hit.
Prime Minister Zivkovic also blamed "politically affiliate groups,"
and pledged he would "clean Serbia with an iron broom." A prominent
member of the Djindjic regime opined that the PM's tragic death could
be used as an "inspiration" to make Serbia into a democracy.
If so, Serbia's leaders have a mighty odd definition of "democracy."
Does it mean censorship? Yes. Emergency powers provided for a full
media crackdown, limiting the news to official statements only. This
supposedly extends only to the causes of the emergency, but since the
government interprets what does and what does not apply, in practice
this means censorship of everything. Several publications and TV
stations have already been banned. A Serbian government consultant,
posing as an independent journalist, tried to excuse the censorship by
claiming that 'those targeted are mainly low-quality tabloids,
notorious for their unverified reports, invasions of privacy and
reliance on rumour and even lies.' But that describes most of the
media in the Balkans! Besides, any persecution first targets the
unpopular, so by the time it gets around to others, they have no way
to resist.
Last week, the government purged the judiciary, creating the
opportunity to 'pack' the courts with its supporters. Nenad Canak, a
lunatic fringe politician who figures prominently in the DOS
coalition, advocated a ban on certain political parties. There was
even a hint of 'culture wars' as the authorities arrested Ceca
Raznatovic, neo-folk singer and widow of militia leader Arkan.
Allegedly connected to the 'Zemun clan,' Raznatovic and her music are
considered a "vulgar celebration of Serbia's criminal class," as Time
magazine famously put it last summer. Also, head of the military
counter-intelligence was recently sacked by the pro-Djindjic
government of the Serbia-Montenegro union, suggesting that a purge in
the military is going on as well.
The alleged hitman himself was arrested on Monday, but the police
haven't said how they "know" he was the shooter. In today's Serbia,
their word cannot be questioned.
Faking a martyr
Though the people in Serbia in general have been conditioned to, if
not trust, then at least obey the government unconditionally, many see
the state of emergency for what it is: a naked power grab, using
Djindjic's body as the proverbial 'bloody shirt'.
The Empire is certainly treating Djindjic like "a martyr to the cause
of a liberal, democratic Serbia" (Tod Lindberg, The Washington Times).
In the weeks following his demise, The Toronto Star called him 'a true
patriot,' London's noxious IWPR lamented Serbia's interrupted road to
"full Euro-Atlantic integration," and the New York Times editorialized
that though the Empire was absolutely right in all its demands, and
Djindjic did right by obeying them, he should have received more
support to deal with the opposition.
A rare voice of dissent came from Neil Clark in the London Guardian,
who called Djindjic "The quisling of Belgrade." Said Clark, "When a
man has sold his country's assets, its ex-president and his main
political rivals, what else is there to sell? Only the country
itself."
And Steven Erlanger of the New York Times noted, in a March 16 piece,
that Djindjic had links with the criminal syndicates that supposedly
killed him, even as he again claimed Djindjic was hated for obeying
the fully justified Western demands.
IWPR, a loathsome purveyor of transnational statism, deemed the
martial law as an "opportunity" to rid Serbia of organized crime, with
a perfunctory caution that it could lead to a dictatorship. The
government crackdown was also supported unequivocally by the
enthusiastically Imperial ICG. The Christian Science Monitor quoted
ICG's Belgrade bureau chief, James Lyon, as saying, "If they can keep
this up for another two weeks, I am optimistic that Djindjic's death
will be seen as the spark that gave Serbia a democratic future."
Meanwhile, ICG panicked over the possibility that the future Serbia
won't be as obedient and pliant as Djindjic made it, and demanded of
the Empire not to relax any of its pressure on Belgrade. The people of
Serbia, of course, knew nothing of it.
Under the emergency powers, mention of this report would result in a
ban...
Nebojsa Malic