My Conversations With Mira Markovic

When last week at the Conference of the University Left (KUL), Ph.D. Mira Markovic mentioned the name of an editor in chief and publisher of a newspaper who supposedly told her recently that "Serbia ought to be bombed in order for sense to be driven into Serbians," no one was at a loss as to who she was referring to.  She was certainly not thinking of Dragan Hadzic-Antic from Politika, or Dr. Zika Djordjevic from the reddish Borba, who are in constant contact with the JUL chieftain herself, contact which lead Mr. Antic to conclude that Dr. Mira Markovic is "the ruby of Serbian culture."  The only editor and publisher of an independent newspaper who in recent years had the privilege of regular audiences with Ph.D. Mira Markovic (three to four times per year, as he himself says) is Slavko Curuvija, publisher and editor of the Dnevni Telegraf and the Evropljanin.  However, that didn't help him much: his newspaper Dnevni Telegraf was among the first to fall victim to the infamous, unconstitutional and bullying Decree, while his other journal, the Evropljanin was the first to suffer from the new and equally unconstitutional and bullying Law on Information.  Since then, neither of those publications can be printed in Serbia - entire issues of DT were confiscated on more than one occasion, while the editorial office property and the property of the executive director Ivan Tadic had been confiscated and sold at auction.  All this has been done in order to collect on the 2.4 million dinar fine issued to Curuvija's company, DT Press, because of a letter to Slobodan Milosevic which was published in the Everopljanin by Curuvija and Aleksandar Tijanic on October 19.

ACQUAINTANCES:  One of the lessons which can be drawn from this ongoing case could be that it is not healthy to expose oneself to the rays emanated by supreme power at too close a distance: for instance, former minister Tijanic spent so much time promoting Ph.D. Mira Markovic's book, and is now reduced to social assistance amounting to 360 dinars per month - as he stated in front of the court notary several days ago - for he has been left without any source of income as a result of the ban imposed on papers which employ him.  Slavko Curuvija looks at this from a different angle: speaking for VREME, he states that he met with Ph.D. Mira Markovic, but only in the capacity of a journalist and a professional, which is not under dispute, nor unprofessional; the entire matter concerns contact with an individual who is in possession of exclusive information.  On the other hand, we will add that this acquaintance must have been of some assistance in protecting DT and Curuvija from attacks by various elements of the regime, which is also neither under dispute nor suspicious sounding.

As to the evidence of having recognized himself in the cited statement by Ph.D. Mira Markovic regarding the publisher and editor of independent newspapers who stated that "Serbia ought to be bombed...", while speaking with VREME, Slavko Curuvija shrugs his shoulders and says: "I don't know.  I am neither a traitor nor do I answer to anyone abroad: I did not call for bombing.  They are scared, they fear upheaval and I think that they have reason to fear.  What they are doing is already dictatorship, and could be transformed into tyranny.  As far as I and my newspapers are concerned, we are already talking about tyranny.  In any case, Mira Markovic stated recently that she has been saying and writing for two years already what ought to be done with journalists, and that only now, in October, the government managed to understand her.  And Vojislav Seselj merely proved himself extremely useful at this juncture."

CONVERSATION:  "I met with Mira Markovic on the day that the new Law on Information was adopted, October 20, 1998, at 13:30 hours in the JUL headquarters on Djure Djakovica Street.  Before that, I went to see her two or three times, asking her to convince Slobodan Milosevic to revoke the Decree, and for the Law to pass through regular procedure, and not as an urgent matter.  There were other reasons also: to protest the ban imposed on DT, but also to tell her what I think about governing by the red-black coalition of SPS, the Radicals and JUL.  I used that exact expression, which she did not like.  I told her that dangerous things are happening in Serbia and that an end should be put to this - and above all to the coalition with Seselj.  It was a very strained and unpleasant conversation.  I told her everything: on the growth of fascism in Serbia, on the dictatorship and violence which will follow if no steps are taken; on the marriage between Bojic and Seselj as an extremely dangerous combination for Serbia.  I tried to explain to her that such dramatization of politics in Serbia could, in six to seven months time, go as far as bloodshed occurring in the streets of Belgrade and other cities across Serbia.  Along the way, I also attacked the Law on Information and Mirko Marjanovic."

"On previous occasions," states Slavko Curuvija, "we had similar meetings, especially during the 1996-1997 protests, after the fight on Branko's Bridge.  I told her about everything, I even gave myself the liberty of calling certain members of JUL 'criminals', and to explain exactly what I mean.  At that time, Mira Markovic took a benevolent attitude toward these kinds of conversations between us, sometimes even taking notes on things I said, asking me whether I would use the same language in front of Slobodan Milosevic; I answered that I would.

This time (October 20), she took it very badly what I had to say to her.  'Keep threatening, just keep threatening...' and then she proceeded to attack me.  The key points of her attack were that I am a traitor, that I answer to people in America and elsewhere.  She accused me - in a raised voice - of calling for bombing and criticized me for doing and writing whatever I wanted, sheer rubbish and stupidity, that the Dnevni Telegraf is 'a perverted and espionage-related' editorial office', for we published certain information about their associates from JUL, always referring to 'me and my friends'.  We parted with my saying that, as far as I could see, this was our last meeting, and to send my regards to Slobodan Milosevic.  She said that she would do no such thing, but that she would tell him exactly what I said."

"At that time I actually summarized my and Tijanic's letter to Milosevic for her, which had already been written and published in the Evropljanin, except that I might have dramatized the consequences of all that - which she mistook for my making threats," states Slavko Curuvija.  "That became evident several days later: according to statements made by reliable and well-informed sources (some of whom enter their homes), Mira Markovic claimed in the closest circle of her friends that Tijanic, Curuvija and their local friends - these include then chief of Serbia’s MUP Security Service, Jovica Stanisic, chief of staff of the Yugoslav Army Headquarters, Genera Momcilo Perisic, and then SPS vice-president, Milorad Vucelic - 'are cooking up a conspiracy.' I did not make any conspiracies with those people; I only met Stanisic once, at some function; I met General Perisic just like other journalists, on official occasions; and Milorad Vucelic has an even worse opinion of me than Mira Markovic herself," states Slavko Curuvija for VREME.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:  What's in store for the Dnevni Telegraf and the Evropljanin depends entirely on this government, says Curuvija: "They threw me out of here with court sentences and confiscations of property and entire issues.  That also is against the law; when requested to give explanations of such a decree, Vucic answered that he has no intention of giving explanations, but that he merely obeys orders.  As we all have to make a living, I reached an agreement with the printing press of the Pobjeda of Podgorica for publishing DT.  As in Subotica, they drove fear into the local Biografica printing press, which prints the Evropljanin, I found another printing press outside Serbia for doing this job also.  I sold the entire issue of Dnevni Telegraf in advance to domestic distributors and tonight (Tuesday, November 17) we are going to print.  All that remains to them is to confiscate the issue at the border with Montenegro, which will be yet another lawless act."

That is exactly what happened: on Wednesday the police set up roadblocks on all incoming traffic from Montenegro; traffic jams on highways were enormous, trains were stopped in Priboj, airplanes at the Surcin airport were being searched.  The police managed to confiscate 5,000 copies of Dnevni Telegraf in Brodarevo (Sandzak) and another 3,000 from a train in Priboj.  Slavko Curuvija states that about 12,000 copies of Dnevni Telegraf managed to enter Serbia and that a part of that day's issue was being confiscated on city streets from street sellers.

In this way, the story surrounding the Dnevni Telegraf and the Evropljanin has assumed proportions fit for Krleza, Balzak or Costa Gavras, has completely problematized relations between Serbia and Montenegro within the federation and has brought into question constitutionality, legality and rule of law in this country.  Had we not, unfortunately, already gotten used to the Balzac-like atmosphere of intrigues and endless paranoia at our royal court, Slavko Curuvija's story would be astonishing.  This way, listening to and reading everything that the dramatis personae of this distinctly domestic farce, bordering on insanity, have been saying and writing for over ten days already, the entire story appears entirely plausible, normal and expected.  A systematic and careful analysis of what Dnevni Telegraf and Evropljanin publish would not shed any light, for the curious reader, regarding the real reasons behind such thorough persecution of these journals.  The real reasons - judging by all accounts - are to be found in another sphere: the subconscious sphere of the self-enclosed universe of our government which has lost all contact with reality, losing one war after another and increasing repression on an ongoing basis.  Now, quite naturally, it is conspiracies which are the order of the day: whoever has any reason to criticize our politics must be either a conspirator or a traitor, for we, as a matter of course, are faultless.  In the self-sufficient, circular and smooth world of paranoia every argument, question, smile or wrong facial expression are merely further evidence of a diabolical conspiracy.  In this way even Stanisic and Vucelic, who applied themselves so wholeheartedly, have been cast from Royal Favor, let alone Curuvija and Tijanic who imagined that they could criticize freely and with good intention.  In this way the center of power is concentrating and gaining in mass - until it ultimately becomes a small, ill-natured, contracted black hole which sucks in everything, finally imploding, having swallowed itself