From the Horse's Mouth

Milivoje Pavlovic, the Minister of Information of the Republic of Serbia, said some strange things about Dusan Reljic. Of course, nobody here thinks that Pavlovic's job is to protect journalismit has always been the opposite. Still, at least in cases such as this one, the minister could have at least spared the public of unsavory remarks.

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the news conference, Minister Pavlovic said the following: ``This in many ways mysterious disappearance of journalist Reljic should be fundamentally investigated, whether it was real or, as some people say, invented... Until the end of the investigation, there is no need to fabricate a scandal... According to our best knowledge, this was not a case of punishing a journalist. If Mr. Reljic is possibly responsible for certain actions out of his journalistic line, you should seek for the answers elsewhere.'' And so, according to the minister's ``best knowledge'' Dusan Reljic was not ``punished'' as a journalist, but was unlawfully confined as a common citizen. Journalists don't get abducted, ergo the disappearance may possibly be ``invented,'' and ``the scandal'' is, of course, ``fabricated.'' Not to mention that Minister Pavlovic didn't bother to return the calls of Mrs. Reljic while her husband was abducted (Mrs. Reljic is also a journalist), and didn't accept calls from VREME.

But the minister said his worst on Sept. 28, when he met with an Austrian peace delegation, which included the editor of the ``Upper Austria News.'' ``The Reljic case is under investigation,'' Pavlovic told his guests. ``There are no data indicating that he was abducted by the officials of the state. It is possible that he was politely asked for cooperation. The incident has nothing to do with Mr. Reljic's journalistic work. Foreign countries want to gain influence on Serbian media, and we need to avoid a colonial status.''

How does Minister Pavlovic know that Mr. Reljic was ``possibly politely asked'' to put a black nylon bag over his head? Has he received this information from another cabinet member. Set aside the resemblance of what the minister said about ``foreign countries'' and their ``influence'' with the things the two kidnappers said to Reljic during his ``time of cooperation.''