Poet and Politician

Place and date of birth: October 23, 1954 in Pozarevac under the name of Milan Nikolic. Father, an officer of the Yugoslav National Army, and mother, a teacher.

Nationality: "Serbian by birth, Yugoslav by determination, Slav at heart." (Nedjelja, August 1990)

Education and career: Finished elementary and high school in Travnik and Banjaluka. Graduated at University of Philosophy in Sarajevo. Enthusiastic advocate of Pan-Slavism, during his post-graduate studies in the USSR he changed his name to Srebrov. Later, manager of the library of the University of Philosophy in Sarajevo, where he completed his Ph.D. studies at the beginning of the war. Four books of poems published.

Political conviction: Susceptible to drastic changes. He was president of the Steering Committee for the foundation of the Serbian Democratic Party in Bosnia (on the inaugural assembly meeting he sat in the front row, between Jovan Raskovic and Radovan Karadzic). He was the leader of Young Bosnia (Mlada Bosna - a militant youth wing of the SDS), afterwards an official of the Serbian Revival Movement (Srpski pokret obnove) in Bosnia, but he left the party shortly afterwards due to a dispute with Vuk Draskovic. Immediately before the war, following the resignations handed in by Nikola Koljevic and Biljana Plavsic as members of the Presidency of BIH, he offered his services to Izetbegovic as a member - representative of the Serbs (his offer was rejected). At the now famous Congress of Serbian Intellectuals, held towards the end of March of 1992 at the Holiday Inn hotel, he wanted to accuse Karadzic publicly for corruption and to tell all present that by supporting a Serbian state in BIH they are leading the people into war and genocide (he was thrown out). For a while, he closely collaborated with Davor Perinovic, who was then the leader of the Croatian Party of Rights in Sarajevo and the former president of HDZ of BIH. At the beginning of the war, he firmly decided to remain in Sarajevo and founded the Civic Party, whose member he still is.

Why he was thrown out of the SDS: Due to extreme Serbian nationalism: following the call for JNA to take over Bosnia, and Srebrov's promise that his "iron guardsmen" will help them in that task, in 1990 Radovan Karadzic estimated that the "semi-military, almost militant remarks of M.A. Vladimir Srebrov are incompatible with the spirit of the Serbian people" and ordered that Young Bosnia be disbanded, and Srebrov suspended.

When and how he was arrested: On September 4, 1992, since he, following up on his personal initiative, and with the guarantee of the Bosnian and Serbian governments, went to Ilidza so that he could negotiate with Pale on the status of the Serbs in Sarajevo. The minute he arrived, they beat him, and then arrested him.

Why he was convicted: Because he, by speaking out on Radio Sarajevo, "committed a felony by attempting to weaken morale and introduce turmoil amongst Serbian soldiers, and some other material proof which lead to high treason". Following a verdict reached by the court-martial in Han Pijesak he was sentenced to five years in prison, but his sentence was later reduced to three.

What was the reaction in Sarajevo: The commander of the BIH Army at the time, Sefer Halilovic, offered a few POW officers of the Republic of Serbia's Army (VRS) in exchange for Srebrov. His offer was refused.

What was the reaction in Belgrade: The press of the regime applauded the sentence and wrote that "Srebrov had gained seven kilograms in prison" and that "he does not dare to go back to Alija's Sarajevo because they would slit his throat there, like they slaughter all Serbs". The Association of Writers of Serbia issued an announcement in which they stated that the arrest of Srebrov was "rushed". Of all the parties, only the Serbian Renewal Movement, Civic Union and the Serbian Liberal Party unambiguously condemned the arrest and asked Dobrica Cosic, the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at the time, to bring about his release. To no avail.

What was his conduct in jail like: In a few rare interviews given from prison (Radio B-92 and Borba) he consistently refused to "repent" and persistently kept repeating that Karadzic's SDS was leading the Serbian people into disaster. Consequences: three broken ribs and water on the knee.

What he said about his jailers: "I understand them completely. It was difficult for them to listen to me in those days. I was too well known, I was too independent in my way of thinking not to present myself as a threat to them."