All Out Defense

Last Friday at 7 p.m. a very unpleasant meeting of the DOS Presidium, the informal Serbian leadership, was held with three points on the agenda: first “the Vuk Obradovic affair” (which sounds familiar in a sinister way), second the issue of parliamentary mandates of members of the Social Democratic Party, and the third point being “general.”  As VREME learned, General Vuk Obradovic was markedly nervous and rigid throughout that meeting.  Prior to the meeting he addressed a public letter in which he claims that “a ruthless assault is being directed against him” by “powerful financial lobbies, with the support of certain politicians and even police officials;” that he hired the “prestigious agency SIA” and its director Boza Spasic; that Spasic’s private detectives “found two active bugs” on the night between Wednesday and Thursday “in my office in the offices of my party, and in the offices of three of my associates, who have been ousted from the Social Democratic Party, another two inactive bugs;”  that “hundreds of letters addressed to me as the President of the Social Democratic Party and the President of the Committee, which is a classic case of sabotage;” that “the my file in the former State Security Service which has not been made available to me, despite the fact that I requested it explicitly, it is stated that I can only be compromised with regard to ‘my cordial attitude toward women’;” that he “received a financial offer in order to withdraw from the position of party president;” and that finally “no one can hold lectures to him on morals and humanity” and that he does not “intent to submit his resignation because this is a staged affair.”

ALL OUT DEFENSE:  As VREME learned, this defense was received very coldly at the meeting of the DOS Presidium.  Zoran Djindjic presented facts which he was in possession of; Vojislav Kostunica was only interested in the fact whether Vuk Obradovic really accepted to submit his resignation, and then reneged; Vuk Obradovic was informed that files of all DOS leaders in the “former State Security” were offered to them, but that they refused to read them, including Vuk Obradovic (except for Zoran Zivkovic who was hardly impressed after having read his file).  The DOS Presidium adopted a decision that Vuk Obradovic must be stripped of his position as Vice-President of the Serbian Government and President of the Committee for Investigating Abuses in the Areas of Finance and the Economy.  According to the second point of that meeting’s agenda, the Presidium the eight mandates held by members of the Social Democratic Party will not be withdrawn.  These eight members sit on the Presidium of the Social Democratic Party and expressed themselves negatively against Vuk Obradovic.  Thus General Ph.D. Obradovic did not get a single mandate in the Serbian Parliament which he previously sought for himself and his supporters.  To the great surprise of the DOS Presidium, Vuk Obradovic remain seated at the session of the DOS Presidium, despite the fact that the two previous votes practically meant his exclusion from that body…

The fact that General Ph.D. Obradovic opted for all out defense was clear from public appearances by his associates and his supporters.  At first some of his people pulled out from public debates with the opposing side at the last minute; then lawyer Marko Nicovic and private detective Bozidar Spasic activate themselves.  This two local gurus for police and secret service issues were just waiting to go on the offensive, just waiting for their favorite themes: the conspiracy theory and endemic Balkan paranoia.  In his public statement made on May 10, which was evidently synchronized with Obradovic’s line of defense, Marko Nicovic mounted a direct assault against “a segment of DOS, people from the criminal underground and financial lobbies” (without naming any names) who are waging “a low campaign” against “the leader of the Social Democratic Party.”  Nicovic expressed hope that President Kostunca (of all people!) will put a stop to this campaign against Obradovic who “with his meticulous work in the Committee for Controlling Corruption presented an eyesore in the eyes of many members of DOS, and the financial lobby which used to be close to Milosevic and the criminal underground.”  He said that he expects Kostunica’s support of Obradovic “because they are both people without a stain in their careers.”  Carried away by his epic manner of speaking, Marko Nicovic made two other statements: “… no on in the Ministry of Internal Affairs will support the present leadership” and “the ladies who claim to have been molested haven’t a clue what they are in for when trial time comes” – more precisely, “those ladies will face some very difficult questions in the courtroom” (quoted according to the Beta Agency).  The question of whether members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs intend to “follow the present leadership” or not remains to be seen; and the part of the statement about “ladies” has already been interpreted as “a factual statement formulated in an unbecoming form of a threat; a lawyer cannot defend and action, but only the client,” Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco, Ljiljana Nestorovic’s lawyer stated for VREME.  In such cases, and especially in very traditional societies such as ours, questions are very unpleasant, but an act occurred, and that must not be forgotten.  “The political point is very interesting for newspapers, but must not play the role of a action, because an action is treated by the courts as a procedure, because a procedure is considered in terms of facts in court.  I am the least satisfied with the prosecution which had to follow procedure thus far, because ground for reasonable doubt with regard to criminal acts while in office and indecent behavior, perhaps attempts of rape has been opened,” Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco stated.  She adds that the job of a lawyer is not to convince the injured party not to prosecute, but to prove the innocence of her client.  Otherwise, she is convinced that she has a strong case in her hands, many witnesses and justice on her side.

BUGS UNDER THE TABLE:  Bozidar Spasic goes even further: at a press conference he stated that “a businessman of Serbian origin stands behind the attack on Obradovic;” that what is at issue is “a conspiracy” that has lasted for some time; that the next victims of this conspiracy are Mladjan Dinkic, Momcilo Perisic, nebojsa Covic, Dusan Mihajlovic, and finally Zoran Djindjic; in other words, all those who up until now did not offer their support to Vuk Obradovic within DOS – probably out of ingratitude and stupidity – and who will now see what will happen to them…  Bozidar Spasic stated that his “investigation” revealed that Vuk Obradovic’s office was bugged from offices of his closest associates – Slobodan Orlic, Ljiljana Nestorovic and Natasa Milojevic; and at the press conference he waved some small plastic bags with electronic apparatus in them.  The three people whose names he mentioned denied his allegations and questioned what was contained in the plastic bags and how Mr. Spasic intends to prove that those are bugs, that they are owned by them and that they used them.  Bozidar Spasic told VREME that he located “two active bugs in Vuk Obradovic’s office, one hidden behind the television, and two inactive ones, without batteries, in a room used by Ljiljana Nestorovovic, Natasa Milojevic and Slobodan Orlic.  The devices are amateur contraptions with a range of 800 to 1000 meters and operate on a frequency of 92.5 MHz” (the frequency of Radio B92).  Besides this, Mr. Spasic pointed out that in Slobodan Orlic’s table he found a “shock bomb” and in his computer “21 pornographic photographs sent to him from Switzerland.”

Bozidar Spasic points out that Orlic, Nestorovic and Milojevic bugged Vuk Obradovic; he merely states where he found what.  When asked whether he found the “devices” in any place that is readily accessible to everyone, or in tables to which only the three of them have keys, he confessed after certain hesitation to having searched their tables and having looked through their computers.  When asked on what legal basis he behaved in this manner, Bozidar Spasic stated that he was hired by Vuk Obradovic as an owner of a private detective agency; Spasic stated that during his investigation he had every reason to believe that he was working for the rightful president of that political party, because while he was doing his job, members of the “Head Committee of the party and its legal representative” were present”, and that “party quarters and a party computer was searched.”  He also stated that a telephone bug was also located (a primitive contraption that is connected to a tape recorder) and that he will present all these objects at a press conference on Friday.

Without considering the position that Vuk Obradovic will find himself in if it is established in court that after May 8, 2001 he was no longer the acting president of the Social Democratic Party and that he had no authority to hire detectives to search desks and computers; without considering the unavoidable expert examination of the located “devices” and their origin and ownership (unauthorized bugging is a criminal offence, and possession of these devices is also a criminal offence); private detective Bozidar Spasic managed to distance himself from all future developments – however they might turn out.  However, a very interesting question remains: who has the authority, beside the police, to search someone else’s rooms, to enter into computers, and all this without the presence of the rightful owners, witnesses, and without any official record.  Slobodan Orlic told VREME that two issues are relevant in this case: “Regarding these stupidities worthy of Goran Matic and Ivan Markovic, of spy conspiracies and bugging devices from the sixties, as well as ‘shock bombs’, but also criminal offences of slander, unauthorized entry and searching of official quarters and the planting of incriminating material, all this will soon come to court.”

SUSPICIOUS INDIVIDUALS:  Vuk Obradovic addressed a letter to Vojislav Kostunica on Tuesday in which he named the organizer of the “conspiracy” against him as Milan Panic, as well as certain parties in Coalition DOS.  In his public appearance on Tuesday he made a speech in the style of the Political Directorate of Tito’s Yugoslav National Army in which he leveled accusations even at the Serbian Ministry of Justice.  He also stated that there are “no love affairs” and that he intends to “run for to positions in the future.”  However, it appears that it is a little too late for intervention by the All Mighty: Vuk Obradovic is incapable of understanding that he has become a liability for DOS, and that the Committee for Corruption can do fine without him.  It appears that this is a case of giving too much importance to one’s own personality.  Milan Panic’s P.R. person stated for VREME that Panic explained such accusations in one sentence: “As a Christian I forgive him because he doesn’t know what he is talking about.”  The position of Panic’s ICN Galenika is more specific: “We have the impression that a degree of animosity is at issue on the part of Mr. Obradovic toward us.  He mentioned ICN in a negative light on more than one occasion: we invited his Committee on more than one occasion to come and look at out books at any time, but did not get a response, nor did we get any specific accusation for any abuses.”

In the meantime the accusations for sexual molestation (and even more serious accusations) are consolidating and multiplying.  It is unlikely that Vuk Obradovic’s political future can be salvaged by the Head Committee with increasingly fewer members.  There are less and less people now willing to give credit to conspiracy theories; what is needed is proof, witnesses and logic.  The very fact that the Radical Party suddenly changed from being the staunchest opponent of Vuk Obradovic to his strongest supporter merely bodes ill.