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> > ===*=== > > ILUSTROVANA POLITIKA (Belgrade, Yugoslavia), > Issue 2197, February 24, 2001 > > Who is Florence Hartmann-Domankusic? > > Her favorite word is sanctions! > > Few people know that this Frenchwoman, now the > spokeswoman of Carla del Ponte, lived and worked for > a long time in Belgrade as the correspondent of the > Paris "Le Monde". Her "favorable reporting" on > Yugoslavia in the past earned her the withdrawal of > her reporter's accreditation > > by Ozren MILANOVIC > > In the past we have been threatened with sanctions by > countries, international organizations and military > alliances... Now we are being threatened by a woman > who is the press representative to a prosecutor: > Florence Hartmann-Domankusic, a Frenchwoman, the > spokeswoman to Carla del Ponte, an Italian, in a > court located in Holland. Like an angry Smurf, at > press conferences held every day she lifts her finger > and points at the southeast of Europe: > > "The Yugoslav government must not delay extradition > of persons accused of war crimes. This preparation of > a law on cooperation with the international tribunal > seems like a bid to buy time. If cooperation doesn't > begin within the foreseeable future, we will request > the reinstatement of sanctions against Yugoslavia. > Some of those sanctions were only temporarily > suspended anyway until we see what the new government > is going to do." > > Deafened by threats, frequently we don't put much > effort into figuring out who is threatening us and > why. > > Warning from Paris > > Dr. Marisa Marie Matei of the Paris "Teleobjektif" > recently wrote an open letter of warning to the > Serbian media: > > "How is it possible that no one has bothered to > investigate Florence Hartmann-Domankusic's methods of > work during the time that she was "Le Monde's" > correspondent in Belgrade? To what extent she is > objective and neutral, and consequently, the Hague > tribunal as well, can best be seen by her articles on > Gospic and Vukovar (a city whose residents were 67 > percent Serb before it was taken over by Croat > Tomislav Mercep) before the bombing, as well as on > Marin Selo and Pakracka Poljana, Paulin Dvor... while > at the same time she searched Vojvodina with a > magnifying glass looking to find a Croatian victim > somewhere; and when she would find one, she would > show all her foreign reporter colleagues whom she > personally met and "joined" regularly at Belgrade > Airport after learning of their arrival from her > husband, one of the airport's directors. Isn't it > strange that the file on the murder of Serbs in > Gospic in 1991 disappeared from the tribunal archives > at the same time that Mrs. Hartmann-Domankusic became > Carla del Ponte's press assistant?" > > Mrs. Matei has a point; in the West, one's previous > work is a very important determinant to one's further > career. The fact that it is possible among the Serbs > for someone to say and do one thing today and then to > change it all tomorrow, the fact that our memories > are short and we forget things quickly says more > about us than about others. > > But let's take a look whether it is indeed Florence > Hartmann-Domankusic who is threatening us with > sanctions for lack of something better to do or > whether there's more going on than meets the eye. > > This 37 year-old lady, who carries a French passport, > received her first identity card for foreigners in > Belgrade on June 2, 1989 as the wife of Engineer Emil > Domankusic, employed at Belgrade Airport in Surcin. > Emil is the son of General Stjepan Domankusic, a > native of Slobodnica near Slavonski Brod /Croatia/, > who served as deputy chief of the Security Department > of the State Defense Council, who as a > counter-intelligence officer was known in certain > circles by the codename of Omega. > > Half a year later, on January 1, 1990, Florance > Hartmann-Domankusic became employed by the Paris > paper "Le Monde" and immediately became its > correspondent in Belgrade. Then 26 years old, she was > nevertheless a beginner in the difficult and > responsible role of correspondent from a volatile > region such as our own. She submitted a request for > permanent accreditation to the Federal Ministry of > Information and very quickly received a positive > response thus becoming on April 20 of the same year > an accredited correspondent of this influential > French newspaper. > > On her application for accreditation she stated that > she had been living in Belgrade since 1985 and that > she spoke Serbian, Croatian, Italian, Spanish and > English which in addition to her native French was a > very decent number and a good recommendation for the > whole world. At that time she stated that she was > born in the small town of Neville on the Seine while > later she would say she was born in Paris. Since > accreditation must be renewed every two years, on the > next application she filled out she stated that she > had been living in Belgrade since 1987. > > Her "position" > > Her first articles in "Le Monde" hardly require > reading between the lines and are clearly the work of > an author with a predetermined "position". > > Thus, according to Florance Hartmann-Domankusic's > writing, the Serbs occupied a third of Croatian > territory, were illegally armed and (the still > unrecognized republic of Croatia) needed to crush the > ultranationalists relentlessly if it wanted to join > Europe. Of course, readers of "Le Monde" could not > learn from her articles that these Serbs were native > to the region, that they had lived here for > centuries, that they owned houses and property there, > and that they did not come here from Serbia to occupy > someone else's land. > > In her articles at that time, the Yugoslav People's > Army, in which her father-in-law Stjepan held a truly > enviable position, was written in quotation marks > because it was not considered to be really Yugoslav. > And when generals were replaced, Serbs and non-Serbs > alike, she immediately interpreted this as a form of > ethnic cleansing without bothering to mention who had > worked for whom, who had spied, revealed state > secrets or simply failed to follow orders. > > She was among the first to rush to Hrtkovce, a > village in Srem, and to call what occurred there (a > clash between Serb refugees from Croatia and Hrtkovce > Croats) "the shame of Serbia". > > "The Croats of Hrtkovac fear for their lives. They > are being threatened. Especially at night. Franjo > Bericevic and his family are preparing to leave and > go anywhere while the Maglic sisters have already > left the house they have taken years to build... > Mobilization is purposely being conducted here. They > want to force the Croats into the Serbian Army and > send them to the Croatian front line," wrote Florance > Hartmann-Domankusic at the time, calling the Hrtkovce > case "an attempt to frighten and expel all Croats > from Serbia". > > She did not mention the fact, discovered at just > about the same time, that prior to this, 32 young > Croatian men from this village had gone and signed up > for the Croatian National Guard. > > When clashes began in Bosnia, Zvornik was "liberated" > from the Serbian paramilitaries, according to > Hartmann. The cry to the world that Serbia must end > its aggression against "Bosnia" had the same effect > as the previous "occupation" by local Serbs of their > own villages in Croatia. > > "The Muslims want a multiethnic, democratic Bosnia; > the Serbs want to make it a part of a Greater > Serbia"; this sentence in the influential "Le Monde" > was a special message for the world. > > "Civilization of lies" > > Florence Hartmann-Domankusic then quoted a survey > which she conducted herself and proved that "if the > Serbs in Bosnia continue in the same fashion, they > won't last for more than a few months. Their > imaginary fairy tale will collapse like a house of > cards". > > She predicted the same thing for the Serbs in Serbia. > The name of Slobodan Milosevic was always linked with > the attributes of strongman and butcher... She wrote > that the opposition was weak and powerless and upheld > the Greater Serbian aspirations of the strongman. She > wrote in her newspaper about the young people and > students who rebelled on March 9, 1991 that "even > though they rebelled, the majority of them represent > captives of a civilization of lies". > > And here is how she proved it: > > "Surveys show," she wrote, "that 40 percent of those > surveyed blindly believe everything they see on state > television news broadcasts. And a far greater number > believe that the isolation of Serbia is the result of > a world conspiracy against this nation, not the > result of Serbian nationalist policies which resulted > in bloody clashes in the region of the former > Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." > > She said the following about the "other side": > > "The Bosnian Territorial Defense only ordered a > blockade of JNA barracks and their disarmament...And > then the Yugoslav media jumped to the following > conclusion: Bosnia and Herzegovina has declared war > on the JNA." > > When the United Nations debated whether to allow > imports into Serbia for humanitarian reasons, she > opposed it with her commentary: "By doing so the UN > would agree to feed the propaganda apparatus of > Slobodan Milosevic which, according to the commission > of the world organization for human rights, played a > primary role in spreading nationalist hate." > > In her 1993 interview with the commander of the > Yugoslav Air Force at the time, General Bozidar > Stevanovic, Florence Hartmann-Domankusic said that > "the bombing of Serbia" was not excluded and asked > whether his air force were ready to defend the > country. Caught off guard, the general thought a bit > and replied: "We are ready to defend ourselves but I > don't believe that this could ever happen. Should it > happen, there would be heavy casualties on both > sides." > > Among the first world reporters to start calling > Croatia a country before its recognition, she also > rushed to be the first to call Bosnia a country > before its formal recognition in the United Nations. > > In an interview with Ibrahim Rugova she was full of > praise for him and called him a cosmopolitan, > tolerant and a democrat at heart. > > Our protest > > "Le Monde" is read by few people in Serbia and > consequently her articles drew more attention in > France and the rest of the world than at home. Thus > among the first to react was Nedeljka Gluscevic of > the Yugoslav Cultural Center in Paris, who had the > opportunity to see and to read every issue of "Le > Monde", and who addressed our officials and > influential institutions both officially and > unofficially, pointing out the malice in the writing > of the correspondent from Belgrade. > > Mrs. Gluscevic's comments were also echoed by many > Serbs living abroad, Serbian cultural clubs and > various organizations. Many letters of protest were > sent directly to "Le Monde" but very few of them > passed, in shortened form, through the editorial > sieve. In several direct responses to the writers of > those letters, "Le Monde" defended itself citing > freedom of the press, everyone's right to their own > opinion and so on. > > It was as a result of these complaints by Serbs > living abroad that the federal information minister > at the time, Slobodan Ignjatovic, refused to renew > Florence Hartmann's accreditation in April of 1994. > > According to one version, when she filed for another > two-year renewal of her accreditation her application > was simply rejected; this corresponds with the date > her accreditation was originally issued - April 1990 > - and renewed for the first time - April 1992. Thus > in April 1994, however it happened, Florence > Hartmann-Domankusic was denied the right to continue > reporting from Belgrade. > > Three years later, in May 1997, she told the Belgrade > magazine "Intervju" that she had been denied the > right to stay in the country which is not true. > > "The withdrawal of accreditation, in fact, meant > automatic expulsion from the country because most > foreign correspondents are non-citizens and their > right to stay in the country depends on their > reporter's accreditation. My life in Belgrade was not > based only on journalism. I also had the legal right > to stay in the country on the basis of marriage with > a Yugoslav citizen. Nevertheless, the Belgrade > authorities refused to allow me to return to the > country where I had lived for eight years and where > two of my children who also had Yugoslav citizenship > were going to school. Four months after I was > expelled I was allowed to return for 15 days under > the condition that I report to the Federal Ministry > of Information and sign a decision according to which > I couldn't work according to Article 130-something of > the Criminal Code which was generally used against > Albanians and similar 'terrorists' because I > allegedly conducted activities detrimental to > Yugoslavia's imagine in the world. I didn't sign > because I didn't feel it applied to me." > > We found no trace regarding her expulsion in the > above-cited ministry but in the meanwhile, the > "terrorists" have come to be called that by the > entire world - with the exception of Florence > Hartmann-Domankusic. > > A year after her "expulsion", that is, in 1995, > Engineer Emil Domankusic resigned from his job at > Belgrade Airport and moved out of the country. His > apartment in Svetozara Corovica Street, which served > as "Le Monde's" office, was sold, as was the other > apartment he received a while ago in Karnegijeva > Street. > > Through the Internet we discovered that he is now > employed as one of directors of an airport in East > Timor. > > Let's work together > > That Florence Hartmann-Domankusic liked to help her > colleagues from abroad is proven by numerous > collaborative reports from our region. Thus she > visited Prevlaka with the female correspondent of > "The Financial Times" and visited Vukovar and many > other places with another female correspondent. In an > interview with the magazine "Intervju" in May 1997, > she said: > > "I never went after the scoop. I always shared > information. If you work together, you collect more > data. Besides, you cross-reference and compare > information, you weigh different positions, you have > access to more sources; all of this is necessary, > especially in conditions under which it is difficult > for reporters to work. I was frequently in dangerous > situations and it is always better to be with someone > then. For example, another female correspondent and I > discovered Ovcara in November 1992. Before that the > only information that was available was that there > was a mass grave near Vukovar. And nothing more. No > one wanted to say who the victims were." > > So it is thanks to Florence Hartmann-Domankusic that > the story of Ovcara was heard around the world, that > is, the Serbs were accused of conducting mass > executions of Croats. Much later ,by the time the > truth was finally revealed and it was discovered that > the victims were, in fact, Serbs, Croats, Russians > and Slovaks killed during the maelstrom of war, that > they had been buried there due to fear of disease, > and that their number was hundreds of times less than > initially speculated, Florence Hartmann-Domankusic > was no longer working for "Le Monde". > > Two years ago in Paris she published a book, > "Milosevic: The Diagonal Moves of a Pawn", but did > not get the publicity and earnings she expected. In > the book her treatment of this politician is to > accuse him of everything ugly that has happened in > the Balkans in the last decade. > > However, this turned out to be just the ticket to get > into the Hague tribunal. As an expert of Milosevic, > she became the spokeswoman of Carla del Ponte last > autumn - suddenly and to the surprise of many because > the position did not previously exist. Louise Arbour, > Carla del Ponte's predecessor, did not have a > spokesperson. > > Many liked the charming and pleasant way in which the > new official, Florence Hartmann, who quietly ignored > the second surname of Domankusic still in her > passport, rolled her "r's" when speaking either > Serbian and Croatian, according to need. When she > began to lecture President Kostunica and to threaten > the entire nation with sanctions, Dr. Marisa Marie > Matei of "Teleobjektif" spoke up to reveal who she > was and to express doubts concerning the expedient > disappearance of the Hague file on the Serbs > massacred in Gospic ten years ago. > > At the same time in Croatia, 33 year-old retired > general Mirko Norac, a former waiter from Sinj, is > facing The Hague for crimes committed in Gospic ten > years ago when he swore he was only accountable to > Maks Luburic and no one else. Norac is now in hiding > somewhere in Herzegovina, demonstrators in Croatia > are preventing his departure to The Hague, declaring > him to be a national hero, and the Croatian press is > speculating that the secret file against him was > "discovered" in time and that he was advised to > "disappear". > > It would be interesting to hear Florence > Hartmann-Domankusic comment on "the Norac case". She > might start by explaining why she is not demanding > that Croatia extradite him and why she is not > threatening the country with sanctions if it fails to > do so. > > This would be an objective and unbiased gesture on > the part of the spokesman of an unbiased court. > Anything else might be differently interpreted. > > Translated by S. Lazovic (May 31, 2001) > > /NOTE: After disappearing for two weeks, Mirko Norac > turned himself in to Croatian authorities on Feb. 21, > 2001 "after the International War Crimes Tribunal in > The Hague said it would not attempt to try him" (BBC, > Feb. 22). He and four Croats have been indicted for > war crimes against Serb civilians by a Croatian > court./ > > ****** > > HARTMANN: BELGRADE SHOULD FULFILL ITS OBLIGATIONS > > HAGUE, April 10 (Beta) - The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal > > for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) spokesperson Florence Hartmann told > BETA on April 9, that the Belgrade authorities should recognize and > fulfill their obligations in respect to full and permanent cooperation > with the ICTY. > "Things are very simple. Obligations, which Yugoslavia must respect as a > > member of the UN, derive from the statute of the ICTY," Hartmann said > regarding announcements from Belgrade that a law on cooperation with the > > ICTY could be adopted soon. > "The cooperation should be full and constant. We expect that Belgrade > will recognize and fulfill its obligations and that it will not create > new obstacles to full cooperation and fulfilling all ICTY's orders, > either now or in the future," said Hartmann. > > DRAFT YUGOSLAV LAW ON COOPERATION WITH THE HAGUE UNACCEPTABLE, HARTMANN > > WASHINGTON, April 9 (Tanjug) - Spokesperson for the chief prosecutor of > > The Hague tribunal Florence Hartmann said that the draft Yugoslav law > on cooperation with that tribunal was unacceptable. Hartmann told the > Voice of America that for now as it has been represented, with the > details that are know, the law is unacceptable. > Pointing out that Yugoslavia has its obligations and must comply with > them, Hartmann said that there can be no conditioning with the law, > there cannot be a difference in treatment under such a law, because > then some would be extradited to The Hague, and some others would not > be out of arbitrary and unknown reasons, so that conditioning is > absolutely unacceptable and as whole does not observe obligations, or > the primacy of obligations that exist in the Statute of The Hague > tribunal. > Hartmann recalled that the tribunal prosecution has on a number of > occasions established that such a law is not necessary and that they > work under the Statute of the tribunal and will continue to demand from > > Yugoslavia to fulfill its obligations under the Statute of the > tribunal. > |
