Trying the Judge

Surprise and then revolt ensued after the court council of the Belgrade District Court partially accepted the defence's suggestions and scheduled the trial of Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic and Telegraf editor Dragoljub Belic, charged with 'damaging SR of Serbia's reputation", to resume on September 16-17.

As Serbia is currently legally personified by the figure of wheat merchant, Progres Director, co-owner of the highly-profitable monopolistic firm Progresgas trading, i.e. Mirko Marjanovic, the Serbian Prime Minister, the Belgrade District Prosecutor, who in such trials makes no decisions without prior consultation with higher courts, was officially obliged to raise charges against Djindjic and Belic, thus completing his part of the job. Despite the orchestrated campaign of the state media (RTS, Vecernje novosti, Politika, Politika ekspres) and pressures by the Justice Ministry and Serbian Prosecution to end the trial as soon as possible and reach a verdict as "it is clear as day both are guilty", the court council, however, decided to call to the witness stand the dismissed Serbian Agriculture Minister Ivko Djonovic and ex-Director of the Republican Commodity Reserves Zivojin Matic in September.

It was a real shock for everyone who had expected the court council to act under summary procedure: to request of Djindjic to present the court with indisputable evidence that Marjanovic "abused his official post and made a fortune for himself or someone else", i.e. "took for himself $200 million" as the incriminated Democratic Party ad published in Telegraf read, and to pass a verdict as the defendant has no such evidence. As this did not happen, the regime media launched an unprecedented campaign against the legislature, the Belgrade district Court Justice Goran Cavlina, chairman of the court council. Where does so much bile come from, whose hopes were dashed by the court decision?

According to a not so outlandish version, Marjanovic had a very hard time getting President Slobodan Milosevic's approval to prosecute Djindjic, but only under the condition that the trial end by mid-July at the latest, when Milosevic is going on holiday. Also, a marathon trial of the Democratic Party leader could be counterproductive to the ruling party ahead of the upcoming elections. Seems like Marjanovic promised the President this, expecting Serbian Justice Minister Arandjel Markicevic to do the job for him. The feasibility of this version is corroborated by the fact that the Prime Minister called the court three time on the last day of the trial, July 3, insisting that it end. No-one doubts that such an instruction came directly from Marjanovic's cabinet, which is standard practice when the Prime Minister, acting either as a firm's director or the PM, is interested in a trial and its outcome.

Prime Minister Marjanovic has obviously found himself in unexpected trouble during his litigation with Djindjic, as the force with which the papers supporting him criticised the judge and legislature shows. He should have had minimum respect for the court of the state whose PM he is and shown up in the District Court, saying he had stolen nothing for himself or his firm and submitted documents to corroborate that. He would have won public sympathy for himself and put Djindjic in dire straits. This way, no-one knows how the scandal will end.

Resorting to the old practice of discrete and clear deterrence, Politika carried an article on July 3 entitled "Djindjic Slanders Marjanovic without Proof". Beneath the report on the trial, the daily carried an article headlined "Investigation of Rekovac Judge and Mayor". Just to show what can happen to judges, too.

It is symptomatic that no-one in the ruling party stood up to defend the PM; this should not be understood as their belief that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, even Djindjic. Some political analysts prone to conspiracy theories say Marjanovic is counting his last days as PM and that a strong political clique is working on his toppling, that the trial adjournment is merely a minor detail of the plan. It is difficult to believe, however, that justice Goran Cavlina is working under someone's orders. He apparently wants to end the trial with a clear conscience, convinced his decision is just. The above analysts mention that the document from the PM's cabinet scheduling a meeting was not made public by mere accident and that a "mole" in the Government leaked it to the press.

On the second day of the trial, Dragoljub Belic, Telegraf's editor accused of damaging Serbia's reputation by front-paging the following headline "By Swapping Serbian Wheat for Russian Gas, Marjanovic Earned 200 million Deutsche Marks, Leaving Serbia without Bread", took the stand. Belic defended himself effectively by saying: "As a reporter and editor in charge, I had no reason to doubt the verity of the ad, because it is an ad of the Democratic Party, which is a parliamentary party, I believe a responsible one, because it is part of the system, so I thought the ad was written on the basis of their information and knowledge". According to the Criminal Code, Belic cannot be found guilty because he had no reason to suspect the verity of the published ad on the basis of which he wrote his allegation.