*** From [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tomasz Iwanowski) International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic www.icdsm.org
The URL for this article is: http://www.icdsm.org/more/vlajko-i.htm Subscribe to the ICDSM email list at http://www.icdsm.org/maillist.htm Receive articles posted at www.icdsm.org ======================================= 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'.tat 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'.tat 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 na.ve 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 Subscribe to the ICDSM email list at http://www.icdsm.org/maillist.htm Receive texts posted at www.icdsm.org ******************** THE DEFENSE OF MILOSEVIC - AND THE TRUTH - NEEDS YOUR HELP! ******************** NATO has billions of dollars and the media to spread lies. We have the truth, supported by hundreds of millions of people. To develop legal, educational, parliamentary and other work, our Committee needs donations, large or small, from those who want to get the truth to the people. 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