The Return

Veljko Dzakula is back. He was recently elected vice-chairman of the Pakrac local council unanimously and has been working as director of the council renewal and development fund for two months. His titles may not seem great compared to the fact that he was once ruling SDS party secretary for Slavonia, chairman of the western Slavonia regional council, deputy Krajina prime minister. His political come back surprised some people. Following the mess with the Daruvar agreement when he was dismissed, arrested, beaten and released, he was kidnapped in Belgrade just a day after an appearance on NTV Studio B on February 4, 1994. He resurfaced in Pakrac 20 days later and spent the past year living in a village growing corn.

VREME got an exclusive statement from the victim of one of the most spectacular political abductions in the past decade:

"That day men I don't know forced me into their car and beat me," Dzakula said. "They took me to the FRY-RS border and turned me over to RSK police. They took me to jail in Knin where I spent four days on a single daily ration of food and water. There was no repression there nor contacts with my family, lawyers, no one except the guards. Then they took to me to a remote Lika village and turned me over to people whose behavior was all right but who couldn't hide their confusion over the whole thing. At times, others came to see and question me but I felt that they wanted to see if I was OK psychologically more than they wanted information from me. I spent eight days there and was later transferred to prison in Glina where I was in isolation and under strict control. I had the most interesting talk with an investigating judge who found out 12 days later that I had been kidnapped and brought to the RSK. He didn't hide his concern over the possible outcome and was obviously caught between the pressure brought to bear on him and his ethics. My lawyer Ninko Miric helped me a lot. I got a lot of support from people who were willing to help when the witchhunt started.

My release from prison was also a trip into uncertainty. I was released on February 24 last year when the Bridge across the Sava at Gradiska was blocked. Miric and lawyer Nikola Barovic and other friends helped me get through the blockade and arrive at Seovic, the village near Pakrac where I live now."

VREME: Does that mean you believe in the survival of the Serbs in Western Slavonia?

"Everything I do is aimed at improving the situation and preparing people to create conditions for the survival of the people in Pakrac and the return of Serbs to western Slavonia. Our faith in the future and survival of western Slavonia is as firm as it was four years ago and the proof that we are right is the fact that this area has stayed empty and unpopulated: Croatia has failed to bring in its people because settlers know that the owners of those houses are alive and only want to return home. Also, the Croatian authorities are under pressure from refugees from other areas and I think it's unavoidable that all forms of the peace process will start in western Slavonia regardless of whether they are economic or political."