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From "nath" <nath@samizdat.net>
Date Fri, 19 May 2000 20:39:29 +0200
Subject globe_l: CIVIL WAR GETS OFF TO A FLYING START 

CIVIL WAR GETS OFF TO A FLYING START

With the closure of its independent media, Serbia has moved a step closer to
what even the most optimistic now see as unavoidable - civil war.

By Petar Lukovic in Belgrade

Serbia's pro-government media prepared the ground for the latest media
crackdown. For days horror headlines screamed hysterically, "Punish the
terrorists", "Terrorist leaders call for the destruction of our country",
"NATO mercenaries", "Terrorist plan for bloody confrontation", and so on and
so on....

And so the country owned by Slobodan Milosevic entered a new phase, real
confrontation with the political opposition. Within 24 hours the president's
loyal and numerous allies in the police had shut down all major independent
electronic media.

Across Serbia activists from the student movement, Otpor, and members of
opposition political parties were arrested. Trial after trial was announced
as the country plunged into a de facto state of emergency. Amidst a total
media blackout Serbia moved a step closer to what even the most optimistic
now see as unavoidable - civil war.

But this was all to be expected. The regime is extremely nervous. The
government is increasingly isolated in the world. War crimes accusations
hang over the heads of cabinet members and especially over Slobodan
Milosevic. The country is trapped in a spiraling cycle of poverty. A wage of
30 German marks a month is considered good money. Finally the Serbian
opposition's latest offensive has pushed Milosevic to resort to violence,
his only means of survival.

The government has fallen back on its favourite tactics - physical
intimidation, bans, mass arrests and terror.

The catalyst for this showdown was rather bizarre. Last Saturday, May 13,
one of Milosevic's key men in Vojvodina, Bosko Perosevic, was shot dead at
the opening of the Novi Sad agricultural fair.

His killer, Milivoje Gutovic, was arrested at the scene. Gutovic and
Perosevic, it transpires, were born in the same village, Ratkovo, and were
next-door neighbours. It seems almost certain that the motive for the attack
was personal. It is obvious that Perosevic was not killed for the same
reasons as, for example, the Federal Minister of Defence Pavle Bulatovic
(gunned down in a restaurant) or the Director of the Yugoslav Airlines Zika
Petrovic (killed outside his home).

On the same day, however, the Serbian Renewal Movement, SPO, held a
traditional rally at Ravna Gora, famous as a Chetnik base during World War
Two. Shouts of "Rebellion! Rebellion!" were heard among the 50,000 strong
crowd. Some rally-goers fired shots in the air. SPO leader Vuk Draskovic
called on the demonstrators to "Save your ammunition."

The regime has opted to use the Perosevic killing as a pretext for a final
confrontation with the "traitors, NATO-mercenaries, terrorists, Otpor, the
opposition and independent media."

On May 15 the Federal Minster for Information Goran Matic announced the
latest shocking news. An astonished public heard that the killer Gutovic was
a supporter of the SPO and an Otpor activist! Late at night Gutovic is said
to have plastered their fascist posters around Odzaci. Police claimed they
found Otpor leaflets and a map of the Novi Sad fair ground in his flat.

In his personal phonebook the police allegedly found the number of Richard
Butler, Secretary at the US Embassy, a man connected to the Pauk (Spider)
terrorist group. They claimed the most conclusive evidence of all was the
discovery that Gutovic was the owner of a brochure outlining the structure
of the Red Brigade terrorist group.

As the authorities' campaign gathered momentum, opposition supporters held a
rally in Belgrade. The hit song, "Slobodan, Save Serbia - Kill Yourself"
rang out from the crowd. The whole event was broadcast over and over on
Studio B.

The rally heightened tensions yet further. Ivan Markovic, federal
telecommunications minister and spokesman for the Yugoslav Left, revealed
that Vuk Draskovic was the Serbian equivalent of Hashim Thaci, former leader
of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Markovic ranted on that Draskovic had called
on his terrorist hordes to attack the Serbian people and state. This traitor
and coward had called for a rebellion against his own people, exposing the
fear and pathology among his paymasters - NATO.

Markovic demanded, therefore, that all competent bodies undertake all
necessary measures to protect the state and its citizens. "Our country has
to defeat terrorism and uproot it using all means stipulated by the
Constitution and the law," Markovic said. The police at last received the
green light to act once and for all against the opponents of the beloved and
adored Slobodan Milosevic.

So while Belgrade's citizens slept contentedly, diligent members of the
Ministry of Interior anti-terrorist squad prepared for their mission against
the ever-present terrorist threat.

Undercover of darkness, at 2 am on Wednesday morning, several hundred
officers in camouflaged uniforms and civilian clothes besieged the
Beogradjanka building, home to the editorial offices of several independent
media outlets. They entered Studio B, Radio B2-92, Radio Index and the daily
newspaper Blic.

They checked the identification of everyone present, of course, and stopped
all telephone calls. One by one these suspicious people were interrogated,
their shelves and offices searched. For seven or eight hours the employees
were kept captive. Even a visit to the toilet involved an escort, to prevent
anyone getting 'lost'. A police cordon sealed off the Beogradjanka reception
area. When the editor of Blic tried to enter the building a plain clothes
police officer said simply: "Sir. Get out."

On Wednesday evening, May 17, 30,000 demonstrators gathered at the city
parliament to protest against the independent media blackout. At around 10
pm that evening the police, fresh from clashes with fans of football league
champions Red Star Belgrade, set about randomly beating protestors. Dozens
of demonstrators were injured, one seriously.

When news of the Studio B takeover percolated out, rallies began across the
country. Police clashed with demonstrators again in Belgrade on May 18,
using tear gas and batons to disperse the crowds. Latest reports suggest the
demonstrations are set to continue, and with them the arrests and the
maltreatment.

Civil war in Serbia is off to a flying start.

The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR)




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