Serbia: Magda Trial in Subotica

Subotica and the surrounding area, the site of a multitude of crimes including murders by the so-called Belgrade Magda group, is now the site of the group's trial. The police said their security measures are aimed to prevent possible incidents and other surprises. The undisputed leader of the group, Marinko Magda, is being tried in absentia. The FRY citizen, alleged Foreign Legionnaire and most dangerous gang member has been in jail in Seged, rumored to be the best guarded prison in Europe.

The theory of inborn criminal tendencies could be supplemented by researching the other gang members including the five-member strike force made up of members of the Serb Volunteer Guard headed by Guard Colonel Zoran Macai who does not recognize any of the charges. He spent a long time telling the court about his patriotism and wondering why the trial drew so much publicity.

According to the charges, and testimony from other gang members, Macai "provided men to commit serious crimes, supplied weapons, ammunition, gloves, masks, handcuffs, ether to knock out victims, organized transport to Subotica, issued detailed instructions about the crimes". Macai got the equipment from the depots of the Guard in Erdut which Magda testified (in Hungary) was in financial difficulties. Allegedly, Macai told Magda: "I don't know what I'll do with my men, the Guard hasn't got the money to pay them". It's interesting how Macai got to jail considering that he is claimed to have been the second ranking man in the Guard. "I found out about the court proceedings from my supreme commander (Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan) who took me to see Badza (Radovan Stojcic, assistant Serbian police minister) to make a statement. I gave him my pistol. I was told that the investigating judge would have to interrogate me," Macai said. The judge put him in detention and he has been there for 13 months.

Among other things, Macai is charged with illegal possession of weapons although he says the police knew he was armed. "The police told me I could carry a pistol as long as it was concealed," Macai told the court. Informed sources close to the police said the whole thing broke down along the Arkan-Badza line.

Unlike Macai who only praises the Guard, Magda tells a different story. In an interview for Budapest daily Mai Nap, he said: "Naturally, they can't jail Arkan yet. He worked with the army, he knows a lot. In any case I'd like to talk to Slobodan Milosevic and ask him who he's got to do things. They can't fight, just rob."

In explaining the charges the prosecutor said: "The accused Magda admits crimes not listing a single reason or fact in his defence." In other words, the prosecutor implies, Magda is the only one in the group who can be trusted.

Guard member Sinisa Petric Zenica fought in the war and is said to have been trigger happy. He said Magda killed families they robbed which Magda denies. "I am a killer," Magda said in the interview, "but I've never killed children. If I ever get out I'll kill Sinisa first because he shot a 10 year old child in the head." Magda admits killing the boy's parents.

The defenses presented by Ivan Sinkovic, Aleksandar Sekaric and Goran Stavric were especially unconvincing. They claimed they went to Hungary to catch prominent Ustashi, bring them to Yugoslavia and cut arms smuggling channels. But something unexpected always happened and they never caught Seks, Boljkovac or Mercep and they couldn't explain how they ended up robbing innocent people.

Basketball: Political Qualifiers

Five national basketball teams are trying out for the last two places at the European championships in Europe in late June. The qualification tournament in Sofia is being attended by teams from Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Even before the first ball was bounced the tournament was hit by a classic political bombshell.

The Bosnian team refused to play Yugoslavia on the opening day of the tournament over events in their country; specifically because of the civilian casualties in the bombing of Tuzla and killing of Foreign Minister Irfan Ljubijankic whose helicopter was downed over Slunj by Martic's men.

A press conference after the game with Turkey was told by Bosnian coach Sabit Hadzic that his team won't play the FRY as a "sign of solidarity with our suffering people". A day later VREME talked to Mario Primorac, a Bosnian center, who said it was a joint decision by the players and management, while selector Mirza Delibasic noted that they had been "instructed not to play". Delibasic, himself a national team player in former Yugoslavia, said sports and politics should not mix but he shrugged and added that he "understands and justifies the decision".

Delibasic told VREME that basketball is being played on Bosnian government territory as a league game in two groups (Zenica and Tuzla; Sarajevo and Jablanica) with a final tournament by the four best teams in Zenica this year. Zenica won that tournament in front of a crowd of 3,500. The Bosnian national team includes two league players: Delic from Zenica and Admir Bukva from Sarajevo's Bosna. "We have to play and behave as if there wasn't a war, if we didn't then there would only be the war," Delibasic said. He added that Sarajevo has an indoor basketball arena but the situation is very difficult.

Delibasic met some of his former Yugoslavia national team friends in Sofia. He talked to Kicanovic ("friends are friends, you have to preserve that".) and he did not deny that he wants basketball in Sarajevo back at previous levels. "We have 20 young players who play college ball in America, we sent them there when the war broke out. They are the future."

Macedonia: Djuner Ismail, government spokesman

The ban on a large number of private radio and TV stations in Macedonia last month was the start of coordinated activities by the traffic and communications ministry, labor and social policies ministry and culture ministry in cleaning up the media.

It's hard to get exact figures but assumptions are that Macedonia had some 250 privately owned radio and TV stations before the action, and it's easy to guess at the upset and bitterness caused by the three ministries' decision among owners and audiences. The revolt grew when word got out that the three largest TV stations (A-1, Sitel and RTA, all owned by the richest Macedonian businessmen) were omitted.

VREME talked to Djuner Ismail, government spokesman (former culture minister) and one of the initiators of the whole thing.

ISMAIL: "So-called selectiveness is imaginary since A-1, RTA and Sitel have signed agreements and broadcast their programs through state channels. Some stations broadcast on "harmless" frequencies that do not obstruct flight controllers, the police and defense ministry, and they were not affected by the new regulations. The technical conditions that were set are easy to meet and a deadline of 90 days was given. Certainly we will continue monitoring programs after permits are issued. We'll make sure there are no pirates, that they don't import programs we won't like and we'll insist on own productions."

VREME: What are the programs you won't like?

ISMAIL: "We'll certainly be criticized over that but we can't allow stations to broadcast the news from TV Belgrade, Sofia or Tirana without airing a single minute of their own news.

There's no reason for that, the more so since it's easily achievable. There are international regulations and standards, we know how to protect authorship rights and intellectual property and we will monitor that in both state stations and private."

VREME: Has Macedonia received any bills for unauthorized satellite broadcasts?

ISMAIL: "They aren't bills but warnings and the bills will arrive soon. We have warnings from New York and we know they're no joke since our neighbor Bulgaria got a bill for unauthorized broadcasts. We'll do everything in our power to prevent that because we want to save face before the world and prevent unpaid authorship fees, program thefts and similar."

Slovenia: The Trail of Four, Seven Years Later

The publication of the pamphlet Seven Years Later on the seventh anniversary of Janez Jansa's arrest (May 31, 1988) started a new round of political clashes in Ljubljana. Jansa and three others were tried by the military tribunal in Ljbljana in 1988 for revealing state military secrets in an issue of Mladina magazine. The pamphlet was written by Jansa and two of his co-defendants.

The protagonists of the latest political clashes, headed by Jansa, believe they can bury Kucan, Drnovsek and other leaders.

Everything happened seven years ago when Slovenia's state security service officers searched Jansa's desk and found confidential military documents. The documents were brought to Mladina a few months earlier by Sergeant-major Ivan Borstner who handed them to David Tasic who showed them to editor Franci Zavrl and editor in chief Robert Boteri. The documents were interesting because they revealed the intentions of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) to go into action in case of demonstrations and riots. The army located Borstner quickly and the state security service provided the tribunal with Jansa. Both men confessed in jail (Borstner after 5.5 hours, Jansa after 12 days) and pulled Tasic and Zavrl down with them.

Mass demonstrations in front of the Ljubljana military tribunal were staged over the fact that civilians were being tried in Serbo-Croatian and without civilian lawyers. Those demonstrations later strongly affected the changes in the political mood in both Slovenia and Yugoslavia. Even some Serb intellectuals protested.

The role of Kucan and other political leaders in arranging the process was left unclear despite an investigation by parliament commissions. They knew about the security service action and that's no secret. What Jansa and the other two want to prove now is much harder; that Kucan and other Slovenian politicians planned the whole thing.

A critical glance at the pamphlet was provided only by Mladina which cynically concluded that there was much more fuss than the whole thing deserved and noted that it was disappointing that the pamphlet offered few new facts. Mladina said there was none of the promised proof that Slovenian state leaders were involved. It said that it was disappointed since the publication was announced as a response to claims by Zavrl that he was arrested only when specifically named by the other three.

It's amazing how easily Jansa and his friends omit facts that don't suit them. They kept quiet about all the mutual accusations in jail and they forgot Zavrl.