Safari

"Serb Safari" was the headline of an article in the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti of 31 March, signed Tanjug. The sub-title went on to say that "rich clients from the West come in increasing numbers to spend 'war weekends' in Dalmatia", and that "they pay a lot of money to spend time on the front in the former Bosnia-Herzegovina shooting Serbs, after which they relax in the evenings in elite hotels in Split". The source of the information is an Italian press report from a non-government institution "The Standing Court of the People" held in Trento (Northern Italy). "Novosti (or Tanjug) carry selected excerpts from the Italian press which say that someone fired at unarmed civilians from snipers, and that the whole thing was organized by an unnamed military formation somewhere on the Balkan front. True or not, the story is gruesome. The same day however, the Belgrade daily "Nasa Borba" brought a report by its special Rome correspondent Ilija Mimica on the same topic. Mimica gives more detailed information on what was said in Trento: the matter concerns "a war weekend in Bosnia" or "sniper tourism", but in fact represents the "killing of women, children and old people with snipers from the hills surrounding Sarajevo"; the targets are "children on the streets of Sarajevo"; "a year or two ago... a gentleman in the Bosnian Serb army uniform" offered a Turin "Stampa" journalist the opportunity of shooting at passersby in "Sniper Alley" in Sarajevo (Marijin Dvor - The Holiday Inn Hotel.

With its usual tardiness the state-sponsored "Borba" carried a version of the "Vecernje Novosti" story on 4 April, and said that the matter concerned a "hunt on Serbs in the battlefields of the former Yugoslavia... the targets are Serbian soldiers, and often women and children". "Borba" then went on to quote practically identical parts from the Italian press, but did not give the exact geographical location of the "hunting grounds."

If the story is true and we must hope that it isn't, the question that crops up is: who is killing whom with sniper fire during these "tourist arrangements"? It is possible to accept the interpretation that Serbs in Sarajevo are being shot at - since 40,000 live in the city, but it remains a mystery how the sniper recognizes Serbs from a distance of 300-400 meters among all the other unfortunate people running between the Holiday Inn Hotel and Marijin Dvor. And how to explain the presence of "Serbian soldiers" (Borba) at the sights of the merry "tourists"? Perhaps they were thinking of B-H Army General Jovan Divjak? In that case it would be necessary to give the "tourists" his photograph, or at least a description of the car he drives around in. Or perhaps this is just another horror story concocted by the regime's "peace-loving" media...

Humanitarian Aid

Humanitarian aid coordinators have cautioned discreetly and semi-officially over the past two years that donors have become a bit tired. Is this weariness due to the duration of the "situation of need", or the increasingly smaller chances of a reasonable solution being found. At any rate, the conditions the recipients have to fulfill, are becoming increasingly complicated.

The Red Cross of Yugoslavia, apart from the current media campaign aimed at proving that all who are helping us are CIA agents or individuals with evil plans, have admitted that aid has decreased. In 1994 some 5,000 tons of aid were distributed monthly; in February 1995 the figure dropped to 3,150 tons, and dropped even further in March. It is expected that more aid will arrive in April, on condition that the convoys get through.

Something else has also changed. The refugees are no longer the most numerous recipients of aid but "socially endangered persons", or to put it more bluntly, the poor. Currently 20,000 free meals are prepared daily in Yugoslavia for this social category. It is expected that in cooperation with the World Food Program, this figure will grow to 35,000 free meals in the next six months.

Oblivion

Retired colonels Bosko Todorovic and Dusan Vilic, authors of the script for RTV Serbia's recently discontinued series "The Camera Recalls", said during the promotion of their book "The Breaking Up of Yugoslavia 1990-1992" that the series was finished as far as they were concerned. Vilic said: "We told Mr. Svetolik Mitic (author of the series) as much, and those who discontinued the series - and I don't wish to name them now - that we wouldn't participate in the sequel".

Following the recent scandal linked to taking the serial off the air, the authors mentioned their special connections with Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic and Yugoslav Army General Staff officers who were powerful enough to by-pass the head of the Information Service at the time, Colonel Ljubodrag Stojadinovic. This is how they arrived at an enormous quantity of "top secret" military material in the form of video, sound, photographic and written documents. After concluding that the series didn't fulfill their expectations, the authors withdrew all the material, which is probably locked up in some blockhouse until a more favorable time or a stronger need for the truth ("truth) about things that the competent or the powerful think the citizens should not know, comes about.

Sentence

The Criminal Council of the Higher Court in Podgorica sentenced Sava Marsenic, the general manager of the local furniture factory "Marko Radovic" to 3.5 years in jail. The court established that Marsenic was guilty of signing an unfavorable contract on 23 March 1994, selling 113,660 sq. meters of land for 100,000 dinars even though the land had been estimated at 1,574,000 dinars in 1992. The court did not accept Marsenic's explanation that he had made an error of judgement, i.e. he thought he had sold much less land. The court extended his pre-trial detention with the explanation that Marsenic might run, and because of a new investigation linked to dubious business deals with some firms in Kosovo was being conducted.

Even though it had been expected, the sentence shocked all those familiar with the scandal. Prior to his arrest Marsenic had symbolized the Montenegrin Government's success in business. He was even voted the 1993 "Manager of the Year". The "Marko Radovic" furniture factory workers don't know what has hit them, because Marsenic's arrest brought to light the losses and debts that he had incurred. The workers say that the number of those responsible should be much bigger, because the general manager could not have done it all on his own without important figures in the Montenegrin economy. It is interesting that none of those working in the Montenegrin Auditing Office have been held responsible, even though this institution estimated the value of the sold land two months before its sale, to the sum for which it was sold. It is difficult to say who else will be the held responsible from the obviously large circle of those responsible for the fate of "Marko Radovic". According to stories making the rounds in Podgorica, Marsenic would have a lot to say about his friends in the Government, of course, on condition that he were given a chance. The extended pre-trial detention is no accident.

Huntsman

Towards the end of last year Inspector Milan Vasiljevic of the state Security in Valjevo was forced to retire "in the interests of the service" after he and several of his colleagues pointed out that there were cases of cooperation between the police and criminals. But that wasn't the end of the story. He has now been found unfit to be president of the local hunting society. The way things have started, Vasiljevic can expect his former colleagues to declare him unfit to be a father and husband, and what is he going to do then?

Army Clean-ups

When stories started last year that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman was having a new uniform made ahead of Statehood Day (30 May) many wondered what rank he was going to give himself, and how far he was going to go in his tragicomic imitation of former Yugoslav President Tito. Most guessed that a marshall, generalissimos or even Leader would be the answer. When Tudjman appeared briefly in his new uniform with braids on his shoulders and RH on his lapels, none knew yet what rank the uniform represented. The dilemma was cleared recently when the Government sent a draft law on the Armed Forces's services for urgent adoption to the Sabor (parliament). Article 108 which deals with ranks says that: "The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia has the rank of Supreme One".