(On the demonstrations in Belgrade and The Hague, on the activities of
Sloboda and ICDSM)
Unity
for freedom!
By Vladimir Krsljanin, 28 May 2003
The puppet colonial regime in Belgrade is loosing more and more influence
every day. The people is outraged by they’re ruthless dictatorship
and obvious links to the criminal circles.
By the first political demonstration after the “State of Emergency” five days ago Sloboda have opened a season of protests against the regime in agony.
Before the demonstration, almost 200 people have submitted, one by one, individually, to the Belgrade District Prosecution the criminal charges against the “acting president” Natasa Micic, Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic, all ministers in the Serbian Government and unknown investigative judge in the “Stambolic case”. They are charged for serious violations of the Constitution and Low, abuse of power, spread of the false news aiming to discredit President Milosevic, his family and political opposition.
The demonstration of several hundred in front of the Foreign Ministry and Government of Serbia buildings, on the day of the last visit of Carla del Ponte to Belgrade demanded “end of the Hague-DOS dictatorship”, restoration of democracy and sovereignty in Serbia.
The speakers pointed the existence of the coalition between the illegal Hague tribunal and the present rulers in Serbia. It is a coalition of common despair both anti Serbian groupings face total failure in their attempt to suppress the truth and freedom-loving spirit of the Serbian people.
The patterns of this coalition are seen in the present mass violation of human rights in Serbia, following the example of the Hague tribunal. [1]
The atmosphere of fear is still present in Serbia. But President Milosevic teaches: “Time of the dictatorship is a right time for the activity of all honest people and of all people devoted to democracy.”
Our duty is to work on the creation of the broadest possible political front to return freedom, hope, dignity and sovereignty to the Serbian people, to stop turning the country into a colony.
Serbs in Diaspora demanded to mark this year’s Vidovdan by a demonstration at The Hague. Sloboda supported this demand immediately [2].
The work of Serbian-International Organizational Committee of the Hague demonstration is supported up to now by Serb organizations and groups from Germany, France, Britain, Austria, Sweden, by progressive and leftist parties, groups and organizations from several European countries, by many distinguished personalities, including many ICDSM members.
The situation in Serbia now, for the sake of the future of the Serbian people require unity, lack of sectarian approaches and total solidarity with the struggle of an old European people for its freedom, democracy, sovereignty and equality.
This important and decisive struggle also requires new effective and more developed forms of organization and mutual support at home and abroad.
Everyone ready to support or to take part in this struggle should be aware of its importance for the world peace and destiny of the mankind.
In that struggle everyone will take a position he is willing or able to take [3]. The progressive forces today don’t need disputes. The struggle for the freedom of Slobodan Milosevic, Serbia and Yugoslavia is a cause absolutely clean and undisputable. We don’t have time nor wish to measure our contributions to that struggle. After we reach the victory, which is close, the reward for the fighters will be the benefit of the people.
[1] http://www.icdsm.org/more/shock.htm
[2] see the inviting
leaflet at
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/sloboda051203.htm /English version/
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/POZIVZAHAG.htm /Serbian version/
or at
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/files/AIA/ /Both versions
+ PDF/
[3] Honoring all who associated their names with the ICDSM and our struggle in general, the author of these lines does not subscribe to making analyses of individual contributions to this struggle. What I have witnessed is the visit Mr. Ramsey Clark to Belgrade in 2001, aiming to intervene against the extradition, but delayed due to manipulation of that time Yugoslav Ambassador to Washington. Mr. Clark made a speech in the people’s rally in front of the Federal Parliament and two press conferences in Belgrade. Then, there were two visits (all on his own expense) to President Milosevic at the Hague, with one press conference there [4], all the time readiness to give advice, several written interventions to the Tribunal etc. Ramsey Clark signed the ICDSM letter to all heads of states:
http://www.icdsm.org/appeal.htm
In his recent interview to Egyptian “Al Ahram” (Weekly On-Line
No.624, February 6-12), Ramsey Clark stated:
"I met Milosevic a few days ago. His health has deteriorated," he tells me in Cairo. "He had the strength to hold the people of his country together in a very difficult situation."
"Only absolute power, unrestrained by any rule of law or standards of human decency, openly taunts an intended victim as President George W Bush has taunted Iraq."
Yesterday it was Yugoslavia. Milosevic was struggling to preserve Yugoslavia, Clark says. "If there was any independent state in central and eastern Europe it was Yugoslavia. They were playing off the Soviet Union and the US to maintain their independence and relative prosperity." That was during the socialist and non- aligned regime of the country's founder, Joseph Broz Tito. In Tito's day, Yugoslavs were happily united -- a rare occurrence in the Balkans.
"In 1991 there were six [constituent] republics with lots of different peoples in Yugoslavia. And Belgrade had held all these formerly warring groups together in peace. In 1991 Time reported that by far the most progressive, and truly the most successful country in Eastern Europe, was Yugoslavia. And almost immediately you see foreign powers trying to dismantle it. First they dismantled Slovenia, then Croatia. Germany comes in after its deplorable historical record in the Balkans and encourages Croatian independence. Then Bosnia and Macedonia."
"We deliberately broke it up. It was US policy to break it up for economic exploitation and to show other Eastern European nations not to dare dream of being independent. If you want to have any economic or political independence you'll be crushed. That was the brutal message signalled to Yugoslavia's neighbours."
A public example had to be made of Milosevic's Yugoslavia: "Within two years of the break up of the Soviet Union Ukraine became the third largest recipient of US aid. First Israel and second Egypt and third Ukraine. Can you imagine the old enemy? And what was the aid for? It was to identify public facilities for privatisation. And most went to American companies, and we identified 6,000 properties. We destroyed their economies and they were obliged to buy our goods. And you pay our price. And we'll advertise and make you want to buy our goods just like we make you want McDonald's and blue jeans. And now what have the people got? They lost their education system, they've lost their health care system and they've lost their jobs. [Western investors] came in with big plans for privatisation and nationalisation. What they did is unbelievable -- a despicable act of greed," Clark says. And the same fate awaits a defeated Iraq, he warns.