Serbia, A Country of Organized Terror

After the unsuccessful assassination attempt last year, the Leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement has not ventured outside of the safety of his home in Budva where the assassination attempt took place.  This interview with Draskovic was conducted at the moment when the Supreme Court Judge of the Republic of Montenegro, Svetlana Vujanovic, was issuing warrants for the arrest of suspects in this assassination attempt.  After this had been made known to him, Draskovic gave his opinion of the investigation being conducted by the Montenegrin police.

DRASKOVIC:  I am not familiar with the details of the investigation, but after I heard the first bullet fired at me in my home in Budva, it was clear to me that these shots were being fired by the same people who organized the criminal act on the Lazarevac Highway on 3 October of last year, and those people are the Yugoslav State Security Service, along with the ones who give orders, i.e. the heads of the Yugoslav state.

VREME:  What is the basic motive for someone being so persistent in trying to kill you?

DRASKOVIC:  I think that this is an illogical question, because I am the Leader of the leading opposition party in Serbia.  The regime thinks that in fact it could destroy the opposition in Serbia by liquidating me, more so today than ever before.

VREME:  What is your political response to this and what is the response of your party colleagues?

DRASKOVIC:  My party colleagues and the majority of the citizens of Serbia have reacted to this with great bitterness.

VREME:  What is your opinion on the series of murders taking place in Serbia and where is all that heading?

DRASKOVIC:  Well, since the criminal act carried out on the Lazarevac Highway I stated that my country is becoming the country of organized state terrorism.  The NATO aggression and the Hague Tribunal have made Milosevic into an out-of-control monster who is now doing what he is dong, heedless of any reactions from abroad, and even more heedless of any reactions from at home.  Surrounded by death squads, by policemen, by politicians-generals who are absolutely loyal to him, he thinks that he can strike fear into the Serbian people with brute force, with crimes, with murders, repression and terror, and that he can set the clock back in this county by several more decades.  I think that today Serbia is in a situation in which the Soviet Union found itself after the assassination of Kirov, and that there is not a single crime or assassination, starting with what happened on the Lazarevac Highway and right up to now, which has been carried without the knowledge and involvement of the Yugoslav State Security Service and the knowledge of those who commission such liquidations.  On the other hand, since there is no longer any law or legal system in Serbia, given that everything has been trampled underfoot, sentences and judgements are being issued by spokesmen-ministers of the ruling parties, in live coverage on television, feeding the Serbian people a horrible lie that some outside power is killing people in Serbia and that all this is the continuation of the NATO aggression.

VREME:  In light of this assassination, how do you look at the future of Serbia?

DRASKOVIC:  I think that Serbia is entering a very cruel period and how it will all end, I simply don't know.  I pray to God that it won't end up in bloodshed.

VREME:  Can you draw a parallel between the Montenegrin Police and the Police in Serbia?

DRASKOVIC:  Had this assassination attempt taken place in Serbia, I'm the one who would have been arrested, just as they arrested those youths in Pozarevac who were attacked and beaten.  Here the police reacted in the manner in which it reacted - decisively trying to catch the murderers and assasins, and will in all likelihood be successful in this.

VREME:  After several unsuccessful attempt on your life, you came to Montenegro and it happened that at the time of the assassination attempt against your life, you did not have your bodyguards with you.  How did this happen?

DRASKOVIC:  This happened because three months ago the Montenegrin Minister of Internal Affairs told me that I do not need any personal bodyguards in Montenegro because I will be fully protected by the Montenegrin Police here.  In May and June I went to Budva on several occasions and there was always high security which I saw.  However, this time there was no security presence.  How this came to pass I really don't know.  Admittedly, three months ago Montenegro was completely liberated - there were no crimes being committed here.  In the meantime, terrorism began to be exported in full swing to Montenegro and now the situation here is completely different.

VREME:  Still, the assassination attempt against you resulted in certain officers being fired in the Montenegrin Police.  Even Minister Maras offered his resignation.  What is your opinion of such gestures?

DRASKOVIC:  They are the gestures of responsible individuals in a lawful state?

VREME:  It is quite clear that the results of the investigation can further complicate the relations of Montenegro and Serbia.

DRASKOVIC:  And why would they further complicate relations between Montenegro and Serbia?

The results of the investigation can only uncover those who ordered terrorist assassinations in Serbia, and they are neither Serbia nor are they the Serbian people.

VREME:  You decided to stay in Montenegro even after this assassination attempt against you. What is your main reason for such a decision?

DRASKOVIC:  My doctor made that decision.  Now I am under medical care.  Besides, when I came to Montenegro, I came with the intention of spending my vacation here.

VREME:  How do you see the possible outcome of the Yugoslav crisis now?

DRASKOVIC:  I think that at moments like this and under conditions like this, given the situation the country finds itself in, it is still not the right time for me to speak on this issue.